Jump to content

July Phuket Trip Suggestions & Advice / Upcoming Travel Possibility


Recommended Posts

Hello Sylvie, Kevin and everyone else on this forum. I've been a big fan of the Muay Thai Library and the work put out by Sylvie & Kevin for a long time, hands down the best Muay Thai resources and content available. 

I am hoping to be able to travel to Thailand from the UK  in early July provided that tourism is re-opened. I've seen in an article that Thailand hopes to open three provinces if they are able to vaccinate 70% of the population.  I initially planned to go to Kru Manop in Chang Mai as I love his library session and detail orientated coaching style but it seems Phuket will be the only province open to go train at.  I plan to stay for 10 weeks if possible and I'd love a smaller, less commercial gym that still has a very high level team who would be able to give attention to those that want to work hard.

With that in mind, I wanted to ask if anyone had been to Phuket to train before or has any recommendations for gyms to train at. I'd like to stick to one gym for the entire 10 weeks and potentially have a fight or two- with me being a beginner I'd want to see how competent I felt after some proper training. I was looking at PhuketKing Muay Thai as I also enjoyed that library session and Kru Pot's demeanor, but would be open to any other suggestions, whether that's Sinbi or Rattachai gym. If it's worth noting whether it'll impact the training/fighting experience- I am 6ft 2 and around 81kg.

I also wanted to open a thread for people to discuss the likelihood of the ability to travel to Thailand to train in the near future- I'm sure theres a few of us who have wanted to go for a while but Covid has prevented it. 

Thank you very much in advance for any replies or comments. I just made my account here today but I'm looking forward to becoming a part of this community. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was going to suggest Kru Pot from the Library when I started reading your question. He just has a great energy, seems to take his fighters seriously. If you enjoy the Muay Khao style he teaches it very well, with a large vocabulary. It's a smallish gym which may add to the feeling of more personal attention.

As to Thailand and opening up, there is tremendous pressure within the country to open up to tourism, so it's going to happen more quickly than not. One can never guess accurately though, because if the open up and a variant comes in and sweeps through they will slam the doors shut very fast. The country has a kind of schizophrenic relationship with the West. On the one hand it loves and relies on Western tourism, with large parts of its economy tied to it, but it also has very insular elements, which is why it has been so successful in warding off COVID in the first place. So, it really depends on what happens in the first month or so once they open up the doors to the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your reply, Kevin! If I am able to visit Thailand in the summer before my university course starts again mid-September I'll be sure to visit Kru Pot based on your confirmation of his coaching style and gym. Insightful comment about thailand opening up, fingers crossed I'll be able to visit and more importantly that Covid numbers remain low. 

Edited by tsmith47
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

For 10 weeks, I'd say sticking to one gym makes sense. Building rapport with the trainers and fighters there can really improve your experience and progress. Your height and weight shouldn’t be an issue; just let them know your goals and level, and they’ll guide you from there.
Travel-wise, July could work out if Thailand’s reopening plans stay on track, but it’s always good to keep an eye on updates.
Flexibility with flights might help too. If you’re considering comfort for a long-haul flight, check out https://travelbusinessclass.com/  for options—it can make a big difference, especially when you’re heading straight into intense training.

Edited by derfasd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@tsmith47 I am not finding the information about three provinces. The updated info on Thai Embassy official site is here. From what I understand, the new "Test and Go" program has no geographic restrictions, once you meet the program requirements:

Quote

Fully vaccinated travelers from any country are allowed to enter Thailand without quarantine. Here are the requirements: Fully vaccinated for more than 14 days before traveling; Must book a SHA+ Hotel for Day 1 while waiting for the result of the RT PCR COVID test; must possess a COVID-19 Insurance.

 

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

    • Heard that Cambodia has closed down the booking of Muay Thai fights, which were a pretty big alternate avenue for trad style fighting opportunities for a lot of Isaan fighters, and farang too, paying better than many BKK fights. It was a somewhat lessor known alt trad Muay Thai scene. Seems like the ideological battle of Muay Thai, nation to nation, is heating up. The border near Ubon is very contested right now.
    • Golden Age styles and techniques are only going to survive and surface in fragmented, incomplete ways, but it is worth noting that as a tall fighter Mongkutpet deploys an advance that is very close to that used by Dieselnoi at times, with the bouncing lead league, and a long guard. She teeps out of this extended denial of the "middle", as Dieselnoi sometimes did, and she's mixed in a little jabbing action, or sometimes just phantom jabbing high, to keep the eye passing between low and high. This is honestly probably the most "Dieselnoi" a fighter has approached a fight of today, as I've seen, which is really cool. She is missing some of Dieselnoi's spider web pressure of corralling footwork, which he was really good at, as well as his trademark devastating knees when he got you on the ropes, which really just finished fights, but she is very much in the style of advancing long that Dieselnoi employed. Again, very cool to see it survive and be forwarded. The whole fight below.    
    • In the aftermath of the Muangkutpet vs Duangdaonoi belt fight interestingly on a page that feeds a lot of ONE viewership comment, you get a negative comment on Duangdaonoi for continuously retreating back to the rope:   This is one of the subtle sadnesses of the ONE influence on trad Muay Thai. Duangdaonoi actually was a pretty high level fast-twitch femeu female trad fighter (Sylvie fought her many years ago and got bloodied quite badly). Her skill set trended towards accurate, fast femeu counters and the management of distance. One of the telling changes in her style is the attempt to visually sell-out on every single strike, to throw it as hard as possible, even with some dramatic "umph" to it. The reason behind this really is likely the entire aggro affect change that ONE has brought to the sport. You want this kind of aesthetic "violence" being expressed (which is really quite contrary to the rhythmed expression of control and SOME punctuated violence or explosion at the right time). She changed her muay to fit the aesthetic (and in throwing with so much intensity over and over, probably lost a lot of accuracy). But...this is the thing...its not enough for the Thai ONE crowd. They want not only continuous 120% striking, they want you to continuously coming forward. They want trade, trade, trade. It's actually amazing how much Duangdaonoi has modified her style to fit into the new highlight-driven versions of the sport. She used to feature a few explosive reverse elbows in a fight, but the majority of her style was distance control and fight management, a careful art of space, coupled with a very difficult to defend lead (openside) kick, which she would double or even triple up on. Now we get a fighter throwing 30 elbows. She's trying to give the new fans what they want. She was in the lowest weight class so she wasn't going to be a "power" fighter in style, but clearly she's made herself physically much stronger. Big, full-bodied clinch throws. But its never enough for Thai ONE-inspired fans. They want that red meat.  Mongkutpet on the other hand had brilliant, old school approach that was distinctly ANTI trade. Don't trade at any cost. She basically fought with the old Dieselnoi approach, in long guard and bouncing, teeping lead leg. Long I've argued that the way that Thais can beat "Entertainment" ONE style fighters, especially foreign ones, is to just refuse to trade. Mongkutpet just marched Duangdaonoi to the ropes...and then ground out a win with her height and some knees. This is the perfect anti-trading approach to opponents. Fight the fight where you have your advantages.  But really I'm posting here about how its never enough for the new Muay Thai fan. It wasn't enough that Duangdaonoi threw everything with all her might. She has to march forward and trade. She has to fight "like a foreigner". This is just more combo-itis that is spreading like an invasive species. Duangdaonoi fought with tremendous heart, and to the best of her abilities threw with as much Entertainment style as she could. She put all of it out there. Back To the Ropes Art I should of course also add, retreating back to the rope is the Hallmark of Thai combat sport superiority. The greatest fighters in Thai history did much of their work back at the rope. If you want a prime example, check my notes on Somrak vs Boonlai:   
  • 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
      11.4k
×
×
  • Create New...