{"id":2165,"date":"2017-03-26T15:20:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T22:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2165"},"modified":"2017-03-26T15:20:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-26T22:20:47","slug":"spouses-spar-at-unique-thai-spa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2165\/spouses-spar-at-unique-thai-spa","title":{"rendered":"Spouses Spar at Unique Thai Spa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The

The Residences at Anantara Layan Phuket Resort – a soothing place to settle post-fight differences<\/p><\/div>\n

Studies have shown a surprising number of brides and grooms argue on their wedding night. Maybe newlyweds should just fight it out right on their honeymoon? In fact, boxing gloves, a ring and a referee are offered at Anantara Layan Resort and Spa on Thailand\u2019s lush Phuket Island \u2013 an idyllic honeymoon getaway.<\/p>\n

The word Anantara translates to \u201cwithout end,\u201d which is ostensibly the idea of marriage \u2013 especially in the blissful beginning. But in addition to a wedding chapel, private residences with elaborate infinity pools, sunset views from the beach or balcony over the Andaman Sea, and the usual rose-pedal, romantic amenities offered to cooing lovebirds, Muay Thai Boxing lessons are offered at Anantara Resorts, including its\u2019 Riverside property in Bangkok \u2013 an hours\u2019 flight north of Phuket.<\/p>\n

Instead of the oils and incense of a couples massage in the spa, imagine lacing on boxing gloves, climbing into an actual ring, and working out passion (or aggression) with punches and kicks instead of kisses and hugs. Undoubtedly, some laughs will follow, since the hour-long session ends up being an aerobic workout that pumps up the adrenaline.<\/p>\n

Muay Thai is an ancient art in which the combatants master the skills of the eight limbs, relieving stress and raising fitness levels. Couples don\u2019t actually hit each other, but they do take swings and jabs at the instructor who is wearing pads while prompting punches in patterns and combinations: \u201cright, left, cross, jab, kick, knee, elbow, sweeping kick!\u201d The blocks and blows come high and low.<\/p>\n

Ananrata\u2019s Layan Resort\u2019s ring is in an open-air, garden setting but is shaded, as the Anantata Riverside\u2019s rooftop ring. The couples \u2013 or any Muay Thai Boxing Student do not get to actually hit each other – which seems like it would make the kissing and making up less exciting \u2013 but they do take swipes at the instructor, who wears and holds pads and is very skilled.<\/p>\n

In order to avoid a \u201csplit decision\u201d (so to speak), couples, or groups of couples, can then retreat to the beach, spa, or the resorts infinity pools \u2013 the most inspiring of which comes with each of the Anantara\u2019s \u201cResidences,\u201d private, butler-serviced, open-air lodging with multiple bedrooms, living room, and kitchen\/dining room independent of each other but linked by open-air breezeways and a swimming pool courtyard with a gazebo and a sweeping view of the sea below.<\/p>\n

Anantara\u2019s other outstanding \u201cbonding experience\u201d for couples is \u201cSpice Spoons,\u201d an afternoon cooking class \u2013 after a guided visit to the local market with the chef \u2013 to cut, craft and cook your own personal lunch \u2013 in La Sala, the resort\u2019s Thai restaurant \u2013 again in a lovely, open-air, scenic setting.<\/p>\n

For information on varied packages, visit phuket-layan.anantara.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at\u00a0<\/em>InviteYourself@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or via TravelTattler.com\u00a0His talk show can be heard weekday mornings in\u00a0Lansing\u00a0on 92.1 FM.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Studies have shown a surprising number of brides and grooms argue on their wedding night. Maybe newlyweds should just fight… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[161214,691,6259,998833,106,998835],"class_list":["post-2165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-spa","tag-thailand","tag-phuket","tag-anantara","tag-asia","tag-muay-thai"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2017\/03\/anatara.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}