by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Shai Plonski

Nickname: Shai Thai

Age: 31

Occupation: Massage therapist

Bio: This earthy Outremont stud had been “hanging out in Asia, teaching English in Japan, doing volunteer work in Nepal, this sort of thing” when first introduced to the ancient art of Thai Massage. Returning to Montreal in 2000, Shai found “a pretty good job” in marketing and Web design, but quickly discovered the 9-to-5 world was anathema to the way he wanted to live his life. Seeking a pathway out of the misery known as the traditional working week, he ventured south to the Omega Institute in upstate New York, “a place where hippies and artists hang out,” to explore pretty well every massage and meditation technique under the sun. Already a practitioner of yoga and Vipassana Meditation, when Shai started sinking his teeth into Thai Massage, “the light bulb flicked on immediately. Here was something I really loved, which I could also earn a living from.” Coming home to Montreal a few months later, Thai masseuse credentials in hand, Shai was thrilled to discover that none other than international Thai Massage superstar Kam Thye Chow was teaching at the Lotus Palm School of Thai Yoga Massage just up the street from his apartment. He soon began both working and studying there and today travels the globe teaching future instructors the glory of Mr. Chow’s particular Thai Massage techniques. He drives a 1989 Mazda 626.

What makes Thai Massage so special: “For starters, it’s a fully clothed massage, done on a mat on the ground, combining stretching, yoga and massage manipulation. As with any Asian practice, it’s based on energy pathways that run through the body. No, you can’t see this energy under a microscope, but it’s there. When this energy gets blocked in your body it creates discomfort. So we release it, making for a healthy balance and flow of energy in your body. This is a vital component of this massage.”

So essentially it’s yoga for the very lazy? “It’s assisted yoga for bliss.”

If the massages are done while fully clothed, how can he possibly finish off the job with “a happy ending”? “There are always happy endings, but no, I don’t jerk people off.”

What a Thai massage will run you: $60 an hour. Go to www.lotuspalm.com for more details.

Something he’s prepared to offer if you hire him: “Guaranteed bliss—absolutely! At the end of a massage you’ll go, ‘Wow, I feel 10 years younger, I feel two feet taller, I feel my body like I haven’t felt it in 20 years.’”

Does it hurt? “In Thailand they say, ‘no pain, no gain,’ but here the whole idea is to create a feeling of deeper bliss in your body. I take you to your optimal limits. It’s that delicious pain. Of course, if you just want a relaxing massage we can do that as well—it’s all catered to the individual.”

Musical preferences: King Khan, Wilco.

Last book read: The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche.

Words of wisdom: “That’s for you to find out.”

Comments? dimwit@hdot.net