Muay Thai Boxing

Muay Thai, also known as Thai Boxing, is the National Sport of Thailand. It is a type of martial art that utilizes punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing, and grappling techniques within close quarters. Muay Thai has been an interwoven part of Thai history for hundreds of years that originally developed as a type of self-defense against foreign invaders. Over time it became a rite of passage for Thai men to take up training in this martial art and it even became required as part of military training. Muay Thai, along with soccer, is by far the most passionately followed sports in the country. There are numerous training centers and schools throughout the country where fighters start training as young as 7 years old with the ultimate dream to fight in one of the two famous boxing stadiums in Bangkok, Lumpini or Ratchadamnoen.

To see what the hype was all about, I decided it was time to experience my first Muay Thai match. We arrived at Lumpinee stadium about 30 minutes before the night fights began. The ticket window was closed but there were plenty of ticket agents walking around ready to make a sale. The agent informed us of the price, 2000 baht for ringside seats and 1500 baht for regular seats. She showed us inside the stadium so we could look for ourselves. My first impression was that this is the type of place I would expect to see secret, underground cockfighting to take place. The stadium was covered with low walls. Naturally, there was a boxing ring in the middle. The ringside seats were nothing more than 3 rows of plastic chairs along the 4 sides of the ring. Shortly beyond the ringside seats was a chain-linked fence where behind it was the regular seating consisting of wooden benches that makes a general bowl shape up the farther they are from the ring. There seemed to be much less lighting in this area as well. We quickly decided to pay the extra 500 baht for the ringside seats.

One note on ticket pricing – the price of Muay Thai tickets are different for Thai people than for non-Thai people. Non-Thai people must pay 4 times more per ticket than a Thai person! It is blatant discrimination, and of course it is very legal. This is Thailand we’re talking about, where it is not uncommon to see job ads in the newspaper specifically seeking workers that are young, female, and beautiful. I think the assumption is that most non-Thai people that will watch Muay Thay are tourists with money to spend. Also, the better fights are scheduled during the week rather than the weekends so that they cater to their Thai audiences.

We ended up getting front row ringside seats because of our early arrival. Here is one noticeable sign we saw in English. I suppose it’s not honorable for a woman to be in the ring?

Before the fights begin, they play the national song and we all stand to pay our respect to the King. Next, the first pair of boxers enters the stadium and get in the ring. Before each fight, both boxers perform their own unique dance to pay respect to their trainers.

Both fighters are performing their pre-fight ritual, called “Wai khru ram muay”.

So the first fight began, and the one thing that stood out was that these fighters were just kids! They looked to be about 12 to 14 years old weighing around 100 pounds each but carrying six-pack abs on them! While they didn’t show as much grace and power as the adult fighters, they were throwing around some vicious looking kicks and knees that left no question that these kids could kick my butt!

We were sitting near one of the ring corners and could see the fighters getting prepped for the next round and coached by their trainers. A Muay Thai match consists of 5 rounds that are 3 minutes each. Points are scored through execution of strikes and other techniques as observed by 3 judges. A match is decided by a knockout or by points.

During the fighting, there is a band that plays some sort of traditional music. This serves the same purpose as the soundtrack of a movie or television show in that it cues the audience about the emotional intensity of the events. As the fighting becomes more active or violent, the music increases its tempo and the audience gets louder. The whole thing creates an atmosphere that is unique in a sporting event - it is why fans pay money to see sports live rather than watch in on television.

The video above shows two fighters dancing in the ring as time was running out in the last round. I suppose the exhausted fighters were killing time until the final bell rang.

As we progressed through the 9 scheduled matches, the age and skill level of the fighters also increased. Knockdowns were more common and blood was even drawn on a couple of occasions.

As the night continued with better fights and more alcohol, the atmosphere became more lively and charged. The crowd would cheer and yell each time a fighter landed a hit. Looking at the stands between rounds, I noticed it was packed of people - mostly men that were drinking and smoking. I saw a lot of gambling going on with people madly waving their hands signaling their bets and discreetly passing money. Even the people with ringside seats were thoroughly enjoying the matches. There is nothing quite like a sports arena in a developing country filled with enthusiastic fans. The madness of it all is that we are all watching the spectacle of two people trying to hurt one another. Good stuff.

Excited fans during a particularly good match.





This fighter got knocked down with a couple of knees to the chest. Ouch!





Presentation of the main event fighters.





Top level fighting from the main event.

After the main event was finished, they formally presented the two fighters with their checks. There was one more mediocre fight afterwards but half the crowd had left already. The overall experience was very interesting. I didn’t expect to be entertained very much because watching live fighting really isn’t my thing. But I was pleasantly surprised at how captivating and thrilling it is to watch people fight each other amongst a crowd of people cheering and yelling. Though I admit that I feel a bit guilty about it as well. Muay Thai is a unique style of fighting that is brutal yet carries traditional aspects with the live music and pre-fight dancing. Having gone through the experience, I recommend that all visitors of Thailand, even those that don’t regularly watch fighting, attend a live Muay Thai match. It is an interesting aspect of the Thai culture that is best experienced in person.