Anime Kawaii Shop

Greetings from Santitham. Anime Kawaii Shop is a budget-friendly, Japanese-style massage house with private rooms and a short, cheap menu: Thai or oil massage from ฿400 an hour, and an Akasuri body scrub from ฿500. It suits travellers staying around Santitham and Chang Phueak who want a scrub and massage combination for well under ฿1,000, and long-time regulars clearly love it. Skip it if you want consistency: the Google rating is 4.0 from 87 reviews, and the complaints are pointed, covering rude staff, sessions cut short and thin walls. It's also quietest in the evening; one reviewer found nobody available at 20:00 and was told the daytime is busier.

Anime Kawaii Shop is at 18/2 Mengrairasmee Road, Tambon Chang Phueak, opposite the YMCA in Santitham. According to its website, it offers a Japanese-style service with private rooms, and it publishes price menus in Thai, English, Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

The menu itself is simple: Thai massage, oil massage and Akasuri, a Japanese body scrub, alone or in combination. Reviewers mention a pre-massage scrub, costumes that change often (one recent reviewer liked the selection of outfits), clean rooms and ice-cold air conditioning. One reviewer describes the rooms as very simple, with thin walls. Several mention a friendly owner or manager who answers messages and speaks good English, while the therapists' English varies.

Its rate card:

• Thai Massage 60 min: ฿400
• Oil Massage 60 min: ฿400
• Akasuri (Japanese Body Scrub) 60 min: ฿500
• Thai Massage 90 min: ฿500
• Oil Massage 90 min: ฿500
• Thai Massage & Oil Massage 90 min: ฿500
• Thai Massage + Japanese Body Scrub 90 min: ฿600
• Oil Massage + Japanese Body Scrub 90 min: ฿600
• Thai Massage + Japanese Body Scrub 120 min: ฿800
• Oil Massage + Japanese Body Scrub 120 min: ฿800

The cheapest items are the 60-minute Thai or oil massage at ฿400. Recent reviewers report paying ฿500 and ฿600 for 90 minutes, matching the card, and one long-time customer calls the scrub the best value in Chiang Mai.

Book through LINE; the website lists two LINE contacts and several phone numbers. Payment methods aren't published. Two reviewers say their session ended well before the booked time, so agree the length before you start.

It's open every day from 10:00 to 22:00. Look for the YMCA on Mengrairasmee Road; the shop is across the road. Chiang Mai has no metro, so take a Grab, a red songthaew or a tuk-tuk from the Old City or Nimman, or ride a scooter. One reviewer was told by staff that most therapists work between 10:00 and 18:00, so daytime is the better bet. For the rest of the city, see our Chiang Mai guide.

Budget travellers and repeat visitors who want an hour or two of scrub and massage for ฿400 to ฿800, ideally in the daytime. It suits less those who want plush rooms, a guaranteed full session or evening flexibility. For other options, compare our happy ending shortlist for Chiang Mai.

Anime Kawaii Shop has a 4.0 Google rating from 87 reviews, and opinion is split. The positives repeat: clean rooms, cold air conditioning, a friendly owner or manager who replies to messages, and good value. Several reviewers say they've been coming back for years, one for almost eight, and describe it as consistent.

The negatives repeat too. Two reviewers say their session ended early, one after 20 minutes of a paid hour because of the next booking. Two describe rude staff, one in some detail. One reviewer found the rooms basic with thin walls and the therapist's English weaker than promised, and was told few staff work in the evening. Two older reviews raise concerns about privacy and how the shop treats people, without giving specifics. Read a range of recent reviews before you go, and fix the price and length at the start.