Reset, rebalance, renew: This luxury wellness resort in Bangkok is helping guests live – and age – better

I felt my stomach rumbling at 8am as the nurse took my blood pressure. It wasn’t because they were starving me at Rakxa – quite the opposite, more on that later – but because I had to fast for a blood and body composition test. 

Everything that followed was smooth and straightforward: they took some blood (never pleasant), measured my weight (always nerve-wracking) and determined my metabolic age (apparently I’m 14 years younger than my biological age, pretty good news). 

I was at Vitalife Scientific Wellness Clinic, one of the three main buildings at Rakxa, a luxury holistic wellness destination that’s been making waves since it opened in 2020. We’ve all been conditioned to think that to truly reset, you need to travel great distances. But Rakxa in the fringes of Bangkok – only a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Singapore and an easy 30-minute drive from the Suvarnabhumi Airport – flips the script.

Nestled in Bang Krachao, a protected area called Bangkok’s “Green Lung”, Rakxa is the textbook definition of a tropical oasis. It’s hugged by the Chao Phraya River on one side and an enormous lake on the other, with the entire 80-acre estate shrouded in greenery. You can make out Bangkok’s skyline above the treetops, but you don’t hear anything but the sound of flowing water, the breeze rustling through leaves and beautiful birdsong that works as an alarm in the morning. 

OLD, NEW, EVERYTHING FOR YOU

It’s been a few years since I had been on a proper retreat, and the world of wellness has evolved a lot since then. Serious wellness retreats can sometimes feel intimidating but Rakxa has a friendlier vibe overall, from a medical facility overlooking a serene lake to the relaxed way the doctors and specialists speak to you.

I chose the Rebalance programme, which helps bring the body back to optimal health. According to Rakxa, the idea is to create “physical and mental stability, brain and body coordination, chakra alignment, flow of vital energy, and gut-brain axis”, using mindful exercises like tai chi, Ayurvedic treatments, acupuncture and more. While the number of treatments is set at 13 over five days, everything is tailored based on the screening and consultation that happens weeks before you travel and on the first day you arrive.

“No one really comes here without a goal,” joked the doctor during our in-depth anti-ageing consultation. According to her, I’m just like the typical guest: incredibly busy and stressed, perpetually connected to digital devices but generally healthy. Of course, there are guests who check in to drastically lose weight or to recover from a chronic illness, but many, like me, are on a quest to live longer and better.

My personal aim was simple: get a complete picture of my health, find areas to improve, and hopefully lose some weight in the process. 

As I began my stay at Rakxa, what really stood out was the sheer diversity of treatments – over 250 at last count – rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Traditional Thai Medicine, Western medicine and more. They also have a state-of-the-art cosmetic practice, providing advanced facial treatments. This integrative, multi-cultural approach is unique to Rakxa; it’s one of the few places in the world where you can access an entire universe of health and wellness specialists from every discipline in a single place. 

DESIGNED TO HEAL

My home for four days was Din 28, a garden villa that’s double the size of my first apartment. With low-slung Thai pavilions and minimalist interiors, it looks just like any other stylish villa but I discover they don’t leave anything to chance here.

“The villa design is the result of close collaboration between leading medical professionals and wellness architects, ensuring spaces that don’t just look beautiful – they actively promote healing,” said Dr Tal Friedman, wellness operations director of Rakxa.

Case in point: The bed is set at a height of 70cm for ease of access across ages and abilities, the surfaces are made of warm wood to help ground you, and the fabrics are made of natural materials to promote well-being. “Every furnishing decision is informed by medical science to create a deeply supportive environment for rest and recovery,” he added.

The same can be said for the rest of the resort. Rakxa Jai, where all the treatments take place, is crafted from the same materials – local wood, cool stone, red brick – accented with tumbling greenery and textured art. It was a pleasure to be in this airy space, which I visited multiple times a day, and I’ve mentally bookmarked it as a future design if I ever build a villa in the tropics.

One of my first sessions was with Kool Jhar, a jovial TCM doctor, who assessed my health solely by looking at my tongue. Less than a minute examining it was enough for her to say that I need to take probiotics and focus on my gut health, something I had known since I was diagnosed with gastritis in my early 20s.

Over the course of my stay, I had several treatments to help bring my gut to a more balanced state. A standout was Zen Na Tai, a cranial and abdominal massage. During the treatment, the therapist taught me how to feel my diaphragm and my own organs, as well as practice the elements of self-lymphatic drainage. 

A cycle ride away was Rakxa Gaya, housing the gym, reformer pilates studio and a green-tiled lap pool that could be in an Aman. After a comprehensive functional fitness assessment, I was given a plan that focused on strengthening my core, obliques, and left glute. During a private suspension session, my instructor Bokie identified that my right hip is slightly raised and that my left side is tighter and weaker – something that can be addressed through targeted exercises. Everyday had an active element to it, including group classes like sunrise or sunset yoga and cardio in the pool where you meet fellow guests.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Some of the most renowned wellness centres in the world are known for their food (not entirely in a good way) where guests reach weight targets largely because of deprivation. Rakxa is different – I don’t think I’ve eaten as much or as frequently in any other wellness retreat, and this is considering I was on a calorie-restricted programme.

Everything served here follows an anti-inflammatory philosophy – from the addictive cookies in the room (limited to three a day) to the global dishes on the Unam restaurant menu. At breakfast, you can order as many dishes and I enjoyed the delicious vegan French toast and satisfying salmon poke bowl. There’s no dairy allowed, but I still had an oat matcha latte and an almond milk with my Americano that scratched the itch.

Lunch is a three-course Thai meal with dishes like a raw tuna salad, a curry with scallops and broccoli with heirloom rice, and even a dessert. Dinner was like a celebration every night. They start you off with what I’ve nicknamed a “mar-tea-ni”– a refreshing herbal tea concoction in a martini glass – that tasted nothing like an aperitif but nevertheless made me smile. Every evening they served four original courses with highlights such as crab mille feuille, which tasted like it had mayonnaise but it was tofu and sesame oil, grilled lobster tail, and a chocolate mango taco.

WELLNESS FOR GOOD

My days at Rakxa were filled by a new rhythm: leisurely healthy meals, several exercise sessions per day, treatments from massages to IV drips. While the sprawling resort seemed disorienting on day one, towards the end, I was cycling around the village like I actually lived there.

On my last day, I had a Pranamaya session with Dr Smita revolving around the art of breathing. She told me that I have shallow breathing because my mind is always at work, and that I’m prone to rushing. It’s something we all do every few seconds, but little did I realise how powerful the breath is. From Ujjayi breath to deep breathing, these mindful techniques seem simple and they are. It’s the one thing I faithfully practice every day since returning home: I breathe deeply to set me up for the day ahead and wind down in the evening.

The last day consisted of a final assessment: a weigh-in and the results of the first blood test. Despite the tasty meals I had, I had lost 1.1 kg – a healthy rate of loss given the time I spent there. I met with the wellness doctor and she gave me a last piece of advice: To take what I’ve learned but not to dwell on it. Focusing too much on the findings and recommendations cause Virgo types like myself to stress and she says stress wrecks everything.

“Everyone who comes here is a perfectionist – do what you can little by little. It counts,” she said. Not only did I leave Rakxa looking and feeling like a much better version of myself, I felt empowered. That, and less guilty whenever I treat myself to that cheeky little cookie.