Muay thai boxing

Muay Thai is the most popular sport in Thailand and I just couldn’t miss that. I managed to get a ticket to see 8 fights from 9pm to 11.30pm but I was not prepared to see what I was about to witness.

First of all, I was welcomed by 2 very cute ladies wearing very short skirts. So far so good. They had nice legs, huge boobies and something I was not expecting. An Adam’s apple. At school I was not so good at biology but this didn’t seem right. 

Then it was time to follow the ladyboys in that narrow alley filled with pink neon lights. That gives you an idea of the atmosphere. I entered the “stadium” -not just any stadium: the #1 stadium in Chiang Mai- and saw the shemale bar on the left, tables next to the ring and another couple of bars on the right hand side. Apart from the made in Thailand ladyboys and fighters everybody else was Caucasian. This is not the picture I had from Thai boxing. 

Where the heck was I? (This is a question that comes quite often here in Thailand) 

I was expecting a mean crowd of locals going crazy for the fighter they had put their wages on.

A bit like in the film “Kickboxer”. or was it “Hot Shots Part 2”? Anyways, it wasn’t either.

I joined the table were many beers had already perished. 4 English guys were seating there. That was not a surprise.

The English guys were as surprised as I was when we saw a 13 ish boy entering the ring. Never judge a book by its cover. 

Neither him or his opponent were here to exchange little kicks and weak punches. A couple of minutes later one of them was on the floor knocked out cold while the other one raised his fist. “Me Win” he seemed to say.

In between fights the crowd was delighted to admire the ladyboys dancing. 

Bare chest too. Eeek.  

Note: the "parenting fail" in the foreground :)

The next fights involved older local fighters until a white guy showed up. “Tony English” had been learning muay thai for the past 6 weeks and was boxing prior to that. In front of him was a shorter local guy, ready to do anything to put the white guy to shame, on front of the other Caucasians. 

I gave little chances to Tony but a fight it was not. As soon as the bell rang Tony started giving punches and kicks away like flyers outside a tube station and the Thai fighter was on the floor in less than 6 seconds! I didn’t even get the chance to set my camera on “video mode” that the fight was over.

I wanted to be amazed, surprised and witness something I had never seen before. I was served.

Next time I’d like to go to a real stadium but that was a surprising and interesting experience. 

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

:)

PS: how many of you zoomed in on the third picture?