Leaderboard

I don't think it is a dumb question at all. I remember Sylvie training with the legend Kaensak who described the purpose of padwork as "charging the battery", which is probably how it was used in the Golden Age of Muay Thai when he reigned. It was pure power, tempo and fatigue, priming you for a fight. You had already developed your technique since youth. This older purpose of padwork comes into direct contrast with the western preoccupation with Thai cleanness of technique, and with padwork itself. A padman, generally, in Thailand, is just a worker, someone pushing the fighters physically. Not some elevated teacher (in most cases). Holding pads of someone is just doing work. In the west though it is used to teach technique, put to a different purpose. So it really depends where you fall on the spectrum. Generally though, you should be really pushing it on the pads, developing your ability to hold your technique, your tempo, your balance, even though fatigue. Padwork is exposing you to fight fatigue pressure and pushing you through ideal responses, I think.

Steroids are pretty plentiful and available, and some people use Thailand trips to cycle onto them on a regular basis. You can find lots of articles like this one from 2013 about this: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-30/bodybuilder-gives-insight-into-thailand-steroid-holidays/4723980 Given these patterns, and also that lots of retired men come to Thailand for hormone replacement therapy, it's just going to be present and prevent. I say this without every running into it directly in a gym, but it just is something you have to assume is out there, and part of some people's preoccupation, both in and out of Muay Thai. There is very little to no drug testing in Muay Thai in Thailand (I'd say zero, but maybe there are some rare instances.) If this is making you nervous about fighting I don't think it should be a determining factor. Just assume the fighter might have some advantages that you need to counter, and trust your gym to find your a fair match up that they believe you can fight well in. Having trust in your gym, and their knowledge of opponents is more important than drug testing, I believe.