Besides enjoying Ian Brewis’s British sense of humor, our dinner conversation was also insightful. First, I learned that the beautiful well known photograph of the first Shangri La Chi spa in Bangkok – the one with all the bold red colors, two massage tables, high quality woods, etc. – was not an actual spa suite at all. It was a prototype! Apparently they first build a prototype of their rooms to make sure that all of the details work out, and then use it as a model for the construction workers – kind of like building it twice. It makes sense that this is one of the reasons that the workmanship in their spas is so noticeably superior.

And then we discussed the popularity of gambling among Asians – especially the Chinese – and how this is affecting the spa world…