September
Back to Chemistry Class
Contributor:
Phongnarin “Non” Sukcham
Through working at APCOM, I have learned more than just about LGBTQI, Human Rights, Diversity & Inclusion. In particular, I was excited when the team said we were going to a gay sauna for our regular Mental Health Activity. My first thought was that it would be fun- I’d seen in the media and heard from friends that a gay sauna is a colorful place with handsome muscular guys walking around. However, the APCOM team did not go for a relaxing aroma massage with hot muscular guys, instead, we went for a workshop to make spa and massage products. 🙁
We all arrived at Krubb Spa in the warm afternoon. When I stepped into the place, I felt a sense of relaxation and tranquility. After refreshments, we started the workshop to learn how to make 3 spa products: massage oil, massage gel, and scrub.
The instructor for the workshop, Khun Pawat “Tee” Borisut, General Manager at The HIV Foundation Asia, warmly welcomed us and introduced us to the activity. I was surprised when I saw the list of unfamiliar ingredients with the long difficult names. It reminded me of the old schooldays in chemistry class, but he assured us that the products can be used on your skin, and are actually used by a lot of Thai massage parlours.
Khun Tee taught us how to prepare and mix the ingredients. We were divided into small groups to practice making the products together. The important thing that I learned from the workshop was to carefully prepare the ingredients, as the cleanliness of these products is crucial.
This activity didn’t teach us just how to make spa products, it also taught us about men’s health issues and the LGBTQI community. Our team enjoyed this learning session — we laughed a lot, and we got to take home the products that we made. Thank you to Krubb Spa and Khun Tee for hosting us!
