International Muay Thai?

With the opening of the new Bangla Stadium and new gyms springing up all over the island, competition began to heat up! There is an increase in the number of foreigners training in Phuket too. However, instead of getting better fights, the overall standards dropped.


Bangla Boxing Stadium

Patong Boxing Gym

Before the opening of Bangla, there were only 2 fights per week at Patong Boxing Stadium on Monday and Thursday nights. Nowadays, there are fights everyday of the week! Unlike before, where you are almost guaranteed good cards, some of the cards are really terrible! What a waste of money! The promoters are eager to dish out ‘International Muay Thai’ cards in order to attract more tourists. Due to the increase in demand, the gym owners, eager to make quick commission, are throwing their fighters both Thai and foreigners into the ring faster (less conditioned) than before. My Dutch friend Barbara was actually upset even after winning her fight when she found out that her Thai opponent had an injury and was not even training a week before the fight! The standards of the fights have dropped for three main reasons:

1. Gym owners are matching foreign fighters against Thai fighters who are not even fit or young boys (as young as 15!) It is not uncommon to see a match between a fat Thai man against a better-conditioned foreign fighter and some kid against someone more than 10 kilos heavier. It makes money sense since these foreigners will be happy and will bring more of their friends and business to the gyms! It’s a win-win situation since the Thais boys are happy to get paid regardless of the results too.

2. Some promoters manage to convince the ‘not so bright’ farangs who barely started to train for a few days to step into the ring to fight! They usually get KTFO! Some end up with serious injuries.

3.The fighters are not as well conditioned as before and don’t usually last all five rounds. You see no technique. Just two guys slugging it out ending with a quick KO

Having said that, there are still great cards and fights to be seen in Phuket. You just need to be more seletive.

P.S. My comments are not representative of all the gyms and promotions. Its just the general trend that i have observed.

Good luck and happy watching!!