Jump to content

Best city in Thailand to go to fight for a big guy?


Recommended Posts

I am not actually seeking for gym advice here, more like area, or city where to settle.

I am a pretty big 205lbs (92kg) guy. I could easily go down a bit, maybe even to 175lbs (80kg), but for Thailand, 80kg is basically heavyweight or even more since I believe none of major stadium even have belt at that weight. In any case, I am no belt material. 

So I am planning a six months trip where I would like to have as many fights as I physically can and I am wondering where to go. I am not an elite Nak Muay, but I am not interested in fighting only Tuk Tuk drivers has the cliché goes. 

So I guess there are 4 major circuits. Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket. I believe that would be pretty much it, but please let me know if there is another place I forgot. Here are my thoughts on each. 

@Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu @Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu I would really appreciate your input on this!

Bangkok: Probably the worse place for me since Bangkok is focused on high level Thai guys competing for stadium etc. Maybe less of a small scene for lower lever nak muay.

  • Pro: Great gyms, great training, nice city, central so can travel to other cities for fights. 
  • Cons: Less lower level circuit, Bangkok is stressful, more expensive for everything, not much nature around, gyms focused on thai fighters.

Pattaya: I don't know much about the scene in Pattaya. I know there is Max Muay Thai and one or two bars where there are spectacle fights and real fights, but I can't say about other smaller places. 

  • Pro: Very central, access to Hua Hin, to Bangkok if fights happens. Great gyms to train. Cheaper than Bangkok. Closer to nature and the beach. 
  • Con: Not sure about the scene. Less gyms than Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai.

Phuket: If that would happen to be the best place, I would go, but would not be my first choice. Not a beach guy, not a party guy. But I know, there is more than beach and parties there. 

  • Pro: Probably more foreigners fighting there. Access to other Island where I could get fights. Cheaper than Bangkok, but probably more expensive than Pattaya. More foreigner focused gym so maybe more chance of finding a gym that would help in finding me fights. 
  • Con: Phuket. Isolated. No easy access to other circuits beside the Islands. Les traditional gyms. More party oriented. 

Chiang Mai:  I know nothing of scene there besides knowing it's a good place for women to fight. 

  • Pro: nice place, never been, good gym, more traditional, less touristic. More nature, mountainous. 
  • Cons: Far, more isolated, no access to other circuits. 

 

  • Nak Muay 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly, I would ask Paul Banasiak - https://web.facebook.com/MuayThaiTechnicianOfficial/

I forget his weight, but he's a pretty big guy by Thai standards. He's lived and fought out of Koh Phangan, then in Chiang Mai and I think he's now in Phuket. Several years of trying to find fights at his weight, and also a life-style in a city that is enjoyable and sustainable. At the larger weight classes he probably has the most experience on the variety of opportunities that are available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I don’t understand why everyone thinks Bangkok is the most expensive ...

phuket is waaaay more expensive then Bangkok you can get a condo for the same price as a shitty 1 bedroom room in Phuket + Bangkok is way more easy to get around in Phuket you will need a scooter or car .

 

Bangkok has many smaller fights that gyms organise like Kru dam gym does every few months boxing / Muay Thai I’ve seen a fight there with big guys like 100kg+ .

 

its all about who you know to get fights too not only how good you are skill wise or you’re weight a good promoter can organise any weight class 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, DrunkenMaster said:

I don’t understand why everyone thinks Bangkok is the most expensive ...

its all about who you know to get fights too not only how good you are skill wise or you’re weight a good promoter can organise any weight class 

Actually, for Bangkok, I wrote that because everyone says it, but you're right, it is actually not my experience that everything is more expensive. My experience was that the Islands and Bangkok are similar priced depending on what, but Pattaya was cheaper than both, and from what I heard, so is Chang Mai. In any case, money is not my issue. It's more about opportunities and quality of life. 

Now, if I come for six months, I do not know anyone, so the "all about who you know" is basically only luck. From what I heard, there is not that many lower levels circuits in Bangkok (and I am def. lower level), your experience is different?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/6/2021 at 4:47 AM, Joseph Arthur De Gonzo said:

Actually, for Bangkok, I wrote that because everyone says it, but you're right, it is actually not my experience that everything is more expensive. My experience was that the Islands and Bangkok are similar priced depending on what, but Pattaya was cheaper than both, and from what I heard, so is Chang Mai. In any case, money is not my issue. It's more about opportunities and quality of life. 

Now, if I come for six months, I do not know anyone, so the "all about who you know" is basically only luck. From what I heard, there is not that many lower levels circuits in Bangkok (and I am def. lower level), your experience is different?

Yes many low level and amateur even starter fights so with shinpads etc both boxing and Muay Thai ...in Phuket I’ve seen new people Fight but they start with no protection at all depends on what you prefer l.

gyms are expensive anywhere in Bangkok you can find some for 4000-6000 ,Muay Thai academy is only 2000 a month even 

Chiangmai/ Phuket and most other places are 10000 a month for most gyms .

If you can get down to 78kg even only for the weight in that’s mostly a day prior you will be fine to get fights and to be honest it doesn’t come that close a few kg give or take is fine I’ve seen it a lot here .

ive had a lot of opportunities myself and I’m fighting around 78kg , it’s mostly about finding a trainer who cares and he will help you out I’m based in Bangkok myself but my trainer offered my fights everywhere , I think most of them are connected with promotors anyway from their past .

But if you are alone I would definitely choose Bangkok more contact with other foreigners / more Thai that speak English and easy public transport (cheaper grab and taxis too in other city’s they can be way more expensive ,Chiangmai and Bangkok are the cheapest , Phuket and Pattaya really expensive)

send me a pm if you want some specific info 

Edited by DrunkenMaster
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
On 3/5/2021 at 9:47 PM, Joseph Arthur De Gonzo said:

Actually, for Bangkok, I wrote that because everyone says it, but you're right, it is actually not my experience that everything is more expensive. My experience was that the Islands and Bangkok are similar priced depending on what, but Pattaya was cheaper than both, and from what I heard, so is Chang Mai. In any case, money is not my issue. It's more about opportunities and quality of life. 

Now, if I come for six months, I do not know anyone, so the "all about who you know" is basically only luck. From what I heard, there is not that many lower levels circuits in Bangkok (and I am def. lower level), your experience is different?

Pattaya for me, nice environment, plenty of local gyms, and I have seen farang v farang in heavier weights in Best friends and sailor bar....you can fight very often there..I did

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Most Recent Topics

  • Latest Comments

    • I thing that many people miss in assessing ONE's future, or even capacity to do anything, is that almost everything you know about ONE (aside from financial declartive documents, and the few voices that escape NDAs and non-disparagement agreements), has been told to you by ONE. So every concept of "reach" or success that is measurable or on a scale comes from the ONE picture building. And...its a bit like asking Trump how his Casinos and buildings are doing. A good, if small, example of this is how RWS is far exceeding ONE Thailand in revenue, by a factor of about 6.  source It just shows a very different concept of business. RWS actually wants to generate revenue at the gate, ONE much rather would pack houses with loads of given away tickets and project massive success through its social media agreements and message control. ONE is trying to generate (one might even say "fake") the feeling of a massive moment...because everything is basically a commercial for the next investor round. They much less want actual fans, so much as the vast impression of fans, and spending everything they can to create the impression is a priority...because the "real" revenue" is a massive investment round, unfortunately something that seems to be drying up. They aren't selling the sport to fans, they are selling it to investors. Sizzle, not steak. So any kind of picture we draw from is already part of this enormous Image creation, which it was hoped would bootstrap itself through dramatic gestures of largess. Flaunting huge payment numbers, etc. A form of "Mystery"... Which isn't to say that none of this is good. The world, and especially the "good" of Capitalism, is made from ostentatious pretension. There is in the world the whole "escape velocity" theory, the fake it until you make it, and when fueled by more than half a billion dollars there is a lot one can fake, in fact the faking becomes quite real, affects real lives, turns into power, creating new capacities and opportunities.  So, one of the most compelling questions about what comes now is that the actual question of revenue and profit making, peeled away from the presentation of profit-making, gets put up against other forms of Thailand Muay Thai that are pulling revenue. And, because so much of what has come to us has come through the filter of ONE's image making its very hard to know where anything is at all. Everything is bigger, better, about to break through. It's the Golden Rule of Trump-like positive image driving, which when looking at the world does lead to power itself. Invest now! Buy now! You don't want to miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity! A certain kind of power.  We of course should not be lead astray into thinking that Thailand's Muay Thai does not develop and express itself through all kinds of power relations, many of them institutional, many strongly divided by class differences and entrenched hierarchies, There is no "innocent" Muay Thai in the sense of a Muay Thai without efforts of domination and control, in fact the art and sport arguably is the ritualized performance of such. It's more though that maybe this form of economic magical portrayal, as it is so globalized, so hyperstated, so flowing from that which is outside and beyond Thailand, feels like it could be destructive. Too much sizzle...too little steak?   
    • This is my wild guess about the possible future of ONE with the rumored loss of both big investors and Amazon Prime: My take...I suspect it will morph into a significantly contracted phase that is something the Thai gov will support as part of its Soft Power commitments which will somewhat balance out the loss of big investors. There may even be rule changes to bend a bit closer to trad elements (maybe glove changes? maybe a touch more clinch?); guessing there will be a significant downgrade of top end pay and bonus rates, and probably significant cuts into the all-important marketing budget too. It will fall more in line with Entertainment offerings like Thai Fight and RWS. The challenge is the struggle over the shrinking Thai talent pool, which is also no longer producing transcendent talents like Superlek and Nong-O, and how it will compete against other Entertainment promotions without big top end pay and bonuses (I believe RWS revenues were reported as much as 6x ONE's in Thailand). It may have difficulty continuing to snipe the high level names produced by other promotions. It still has a well-built-out, massive digital media footprint in a very small info ecosystem and that proven strategy, and has secured a place in the Thai combat sport imagination, two very big assets.
    • It's pretty amazing that ONE has under contract the woman who at least as an argument for being the greatest female Muay Thai fighter of all time -- but hasn't fought a "real" full rules Muay Thai fight for maybe 7 years now -- and they don't even have her fighting their version of "Muay Thai", or have her face their own very qualified female Muay Thai champion...who is having trouble finding opponents. Phetjee Jaa was a VERY good, multi-skilled, every distance Muay Thai fighter before she became an amateur boxer, and then an Entertainment Thai Fight fighter...now in the service of Kickboxing. Properly, Phetjee Jaa should be representing female Muay Thai to the world. It was her true art, that which she was raised in...until she ran out of opponents. Female Muay Thai has historically missed out through her absence. She's not really a Kickboxer, though she can handle the sport and ruleset. She's a Muay Thai fighter. 
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Hi all, Does anyone know of any suppliers for blanks (Plain items to design and print a logo on) that are a good quality? Or put me in the right direction? thanks all  
    • The first fight between Poot Lorlek and Posai Sittiboonlert was recently uploaded to youtube. Posai is one of the earliest great Muay Khao fighters and influential to Dieselnoi, but there's very little footage of him. Poot is one of the GOATs and one of Posai's best wins, it's really cool to see how Posai's style looked against another elite fighter.
    • Yeah, this is certainly possible. Thanks! I just like the idea of a training camp pre-fight because of focus and getting more "locked in".. Do you know of any high level gyms in europe you would recommend? 
    • You could just pick a high-level gym in a European city, just live and train there for however long you want (a month?). Lots of gyms have morning and evening classes.
    • Hi, i have a general question concerning Muay-Thai training camps, are there any serious ones in Europe at all? I know there are some for kickboxing in the Netherlands, but that's not interesting to me or what i aim for. I have found some regarding Muay-Thai in google searches, but what iv'e found seem to be only "retreats" with Muay-Thai on a level compareable to fitness-boxing, yoga or mindfullness.. So what i look for, but can't seem to find anywhere, are camps similar to those in Thailand. Grueling, high-intensity workouts with trainers who have actually fought and don't just do this as a hobby/fitness regime. A place where you can actually grow, improve technique and build strength and gas-tank with high intensity, not a vacation... No hate whatsoever to those who do fitness-boxing and attend retreats like these, i just find it VERY ODD that there ain't any training camps like those in Thailand out there, or perhaps i haven't looked good enough?..  Appericiate all responses, thank you! 
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.5k
×
×
  • Create New...