
When you learn traditional Thai Massage, online training courses can be convenient and cost effective. When is this a good choice for you? Find out the pros and cons.
Your options for learning Thai Massage
The question is not if you can learn it online – you can! Thousands of Thai Healing Massage Academy’s students have been successfully learning Thai Massage – also called Thai Yoga Massage – online since 2009.
We have thousands of forum posts, emails, and testimonials that demonstrate their success.
The question is when it is the right choice for you, and what you can expect from this style of learning compared to live classes

Therefore, let’s dig deeper into this subject and look at the details and your options.
We will be looking at the advantages and disadvantages of learning Thai Massage in live training courses compared to online study.
LIVE Thai Massage Course Advantages
LIVE Thai Massage Course Disadvantages
ONLINE Thai Massage Course Advantages
Potential drawbacks of ONLINE Thai Massage training
This is what sets Thai Healing Massage Academy’s online courses apart from others:
We provide unlimited, personalized instructor support via email, forum, Facebook group, and even phone contact. There is plenty of interaction and exchange in our Facebook group.
When is a LIVE Thai Massage class your best option?
When is an ONLINE Thai Massage course your best option?
Visit Thai Healing Massage Academy’s online training library with 20 Thai Massage courses for all your training needs and all levels of skills.
How good is an online training course?

- Is there a money-back guarantee?
- Is there an easy and quick way to get support?
- Is it possible to contact the instructor?
- Is there a convenient way to communicate with the instructor like email, Facebook messaging, skype, or even telephone?
- Try sending a support email message with a question before you buy. Are you getting an answer? How long did it take? Was it helpful, courteous, and personal, or canned and automated?
- What is your feeling about the instructor? Do you know something about him or her? Can you see a teaching sample before you put your money down?
- Are you just getting a DVD with lots of material that you have to figure out yourself or is there a structured and supportive learning environment?
- Is there a way to contact other students who have taken the online training and find out if they liked it?
Now you have an outline for deciding what is right for you – live massage classes or online training. And you know what to look out for before investing in an online training course.
Features of Thai Healing Massage Academy’s online courses

You now have the information to make an informed decision about learning Thai Massage through either live courses or our online video-based training.
If you decide to enroll in one of our online Thai Massage courses to expand your skills or learn new ones, we will be there at every step to help you succeed.
If you are like most of our students, chances are that you will really enjoy the experience.

For detailed information about how you can learn Thai Massage or improve your existing skills, check out Thai Healing Massage Academy’s extensive online Thai Massage training course library:

The author, Shama Kern, is the founder of Thai Healing Massage Academy. He has been practicing and teaching Thai Massage for over two decades, and he is the creator of 20 Thai Massage online training courses.
Additional Resources
Study Thai Massage in Thailand And An Online Alternative
4 Methods How To Learn Thai Massage
How Thai Massage Can Save You Massage Career
I think it’s really great to live in these times where we have access to so much technology so easily. I’d say that both “live training” as well as “online courses” make for the ideal. Taking any course (on-line or live) from another teacher, in addition to your own primary instruction is very effective in broadening your scope, repertoire and understanding of this magnificent modality. I don’t think it’s possible to get too much training since it will just serve to improve and increase your abilities as a practitioner, elevating your work to the form of Art that it really is. Thanks for all the good content, Shama – I know how much work it takes to stay consistent. Be Well.
You are absolutely right Deon, both live and online courses need to be in our repertoire. Especially when we already have experience in a particular modality, it is quite easy to learn more from a video course.
And I really appreciate your encouragement, it means a lot to me!
Hi shama. Another great post from you, I don’t know where you find the time! I agree very much with what you say and have done both and the facility to go back and refresh your memory is such an important part of having the instruction on dvd for me. I have three of your courses lined up to buy on the new year. The only other issue you don’t mention is cpd (continuing professional developement) qualifying points. In the UK we have to be able to provide evidence of so many hours study each year to maintain our registration and, as far as I know, can only get verification from a taught course. With metta.
Hi Sue,
thanks for your comment. I am not so familiar with the rules in the UK. In the US you need CEUs (continuing education units), which all massage therapists have to get every year or two. Those CEUs can come from both live and online courses, depending on the rules of the state of residence of the therapist. Thai Healing Massage Academy is approved in the US as a national continuing education provider by the NCBTMB (national certification board for therapeutic massage and body work).
You might want to check on the rules in the UK. We have students all over the world – US, Russia, Australia, Europe and Asia. Therefore it is difficult for me to be up to speed on specific licensing and other requirements.
I have been told by some of our students that in the UK the insurance companies have to accept a course in order to insure you which is what allows you to practice massage. We have students who have obtained UK insurance based on our certificates.
If you have additional knowledge about the UK system, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Shama
Hi shama. I’ll find out what the rules are here and let you know. All the best for Christmas and thank you for your posts.
Another great article. I do live and work here in the US and truth be told I feel your passion for what you do and I want the entire course. Plenty of schools can show you techniques but to have a true TEACHER who is showing you the real life ins and outs of their experience in the field is not something that you get from a traditional school.
The school I attended in IL. was so dry it was painful and I couldn’t help but feel that the instructor was holding back to of course sell you more lessons.
The problem I have is that living here in the west means I need credentials. Your certificate states that the course is an online one. I do get shopped by my competitors who take advantage of the lack of regulation regarding Thai Massage here where I live. There are many just using it to do massage without going to school..so the first thing they are going to do is see that my certificate was obtained online and go get it themselves to copy me and have a certificate on their wall without any other training.
That’s something you don’t need to worry about. It is not possible for your competitors to “just go and get our certificate”. We have a very specific qualification process which enables us to see whether someone is actually practicing and working with the course material.
For our Complete Thai Massage online training course this certification process takes 3.5 months. Nobody can simply buy the course and get a certificate without doing the work. We only issue certificates to course students who have demonstrated that they have seriously practiced the course material and are qualified to practice Thai Massage.
I am not a massage therapist but am a licensed certified occupational therapist (COTA/L) and am currently working in an outpatient clinic specializing in John Barnes Myofascial Release. I have taken 5 courses for far in JB MFR and have been practicing MFR at the clinic now for over 2 years. Since I have a license to touch, can I be certified in tai massage or do I have to go through basic massage school therapy first?
Thanks for your time and attention.
Jennifer, that’s a tricky question. First of all, I don’t know which country you live in. Assuming that you are in the US – the issue is that every state has its own rules and laws regarding massage practice. The best course of action would be to call your state licencing board (or whatever agency handles massage licences in your state) and ask them. They should know since they made the laws.
I suggest that you read this article which clarifies many questions that people typically have about massage licencing:
https://thaihealingmassage.com/facts-about-thai-massage-certification-and-licensing/