Bangkok, Dec 13 (TIWN) The back-cracking traditional Thai massage has been added to a prestigious Unesco heritage list, it was reported on Friday.

Originating in India and practiced in Thailand for centuries, the massage was popularized when a specialty school opened in the 1960s to train massage therapists from around the world.

Nuad Thai's addition to UNESCO's list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage" practices "is historic," said the Thai delegate at the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization meeting in Bogota, Colombia.

"It helps promote the practice of Nuad Thai locally and internationally," he said.

From upscale Bangkok spas and Phuket beach fronts to modest street-side shophouses, "nuad Thai" is ubiquitous across the kingdom, where an hour of the back-straightening discipline can cost as little as $5.