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Gym in central Bangkok recommendations-Yokkao gym any good?

Nina Nutting
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Nina Nutting Nong

Nina Nutting

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Hi Everyone,

 

I'm doing a short (10 days) trip to Bangkok and am after gym recommendations. I am going to be staying in the Sukhumvit/On Nut area and want somewhere not too far from there ideally. I know my trip is short but I want to get as much out of the time there as possible! 

 

I know Yakkao is central, but is it just foreigners? I dont mind a bit of travel on the BTS....

 

Any recommendations welcome!

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Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu Mentor

Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

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I know Yakkao is central, but is it just foreigners? I dont mind a bit of travel on the BTS....

 

I know that Emma Thomas just went to Yokkao and had a very good experience, better than she anticipated. I've also off-handedly heard this from several people. I'm guessing that it is a very expensive, western gym, though Manop (Saenchai's daughter who is 17) trains there, and she's said to be a top female Thai fighter.

If you are looking for a much more old fashion style gym and willing to travel a bit (it is NOT central) I'd recommend Dejrat Gym, which is the home of the Thai National Team, and is just amazing. Perhaps it would be worth a visit for a day or two. It's a very small gym attached to the house of Arjan Surat, and several top Thai women train there when they are in Bangkok and getting ready for a fight (Loma, Sawsing). There will not a lot of English spoken, but the Muay Thai there is classic in style, and very fight oriented. It's a gym that is largely unknown to westerners.

Here is Sylvie's 1 hr private with Arjan Surat.

Here is Sylvie clinching with Sawsing there.

Here is Sylvie's interview with former MMA fighter Kaitlin Young who spent a month there, along with video walk through of the gym.

It's extremely Old School, but the interesting thing about it is that Old School is often not very pro-female. In this case though Thai women train there sometimes, as did Kaitlin who had a wonderful experience.

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emma Nak Muay

emma

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I know Yakkao is central, but is it just foreigners? I dont mind a bit of travel on the BTS....

 

 

I visited Yokkao on Monday for a session and I really enjoyed it. It's not just for foreigners; they have a team of Thai fighters. Manachai, Singdam, Saenchai and Petchdam were there and happily trained and sparred with the foreigners, which was great. I've heard people say that some gyms have separated the foreigners and Thais, and while I don't know if that's a common thing, it's not what happened here. 

I know that Emma Thomas just went to Yokkao and had a very good experience, better than she anticipated. I've also off-handedly heard this from several people. I'm guessing that it is a very expensive, western gym, though Manhop (Saenchai's daughter who is 17) trains there, and she's said to be a top female Thai fighter.

 The fighter girl is Fah, she's Manop's daughter (Manop is Saenchai's trainer). I worked with Manop throughout my entire session and he was really great, I'd definitely recommend going to train with him. He admitted himself that the gym is very expensive. It's 500B a session and they don't seem to offer a monthly or weekly price. Instead, they offer blocks of 20 sessions, but since you're only doing 10 days, this might actually be better for you. 

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Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu Mentor

Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

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 The fighter girl is Fah, she's Manop's daughter (Manop is Saenchai's trainer). I worked with Manop throughout my entire session and he was really great, I'd definitely recommend going to train with him. He admitted himself that the gym is very expensive. It's 500B a session and they don't seem to offer a monthly or weekly price. Instead, they offer blocks of 20 sessions, but since you're only doing 10 days, this might actually be better for you. 

 

lol - yes, not Saenchai's daughter. #braincramp - Though Saenchai's daughter is looking pretty badass herself! Interesting that the top Thai fighters spar with all the westerners very cool. If I remember right you said that a private with Saenchai is 5,000 baht?

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Nina Nutting Nong

Nina Nutting

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cool thanks,

I notice they don't have a price for training 2 x a day either... but I guess that is due to who is there and location. 

 

the hours on the website are confusing, some pages say it opens at 8am others 7am, which is it?!

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Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu Mentor

Kevin von Duuglas-Ittu

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4,000B/hr with Saenchai. But you can do privates with some of the other fighters for less than that. The price list is here: http://www.yokkao.com/bangkok/muay-thai-camp-price-list/

 

That is a really cool pricelist! But wow, 2,000 baht with Manop?! smh.

Might be interesting if Nak Muay Nation wants a Saenchai private, maybe they would spring for it.

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emma Nak Muay

emma

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cool thanks,

I notice they don't have a price for training 2 x a day either... but I guess that is due to who is there and location. 

 

the hours on the website are confusing, some pages say it opens at 8am others 7am, which is it?!

 

The training session starts at 8, but the fighters go for a run at 7. 

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radarjam Nong

radarjam

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I don't know whether you might be in Thailand right now or sometime this month, but I've heard great things about Yokkao! I follow them on Facebook too and its nice to see their live videos when they're training. It is pricey but Manop (Saenchai's trainer) is pretty awesome at pad holding and you might even get the chance of meeting Saenchai! (I'm a huge fan of him lol)

In terms of possible recommendation, I will be in BKK from Aug 13-28 to attend Khongsittha Gym's Thailand Training Camp. So I can't really say much since I'm not there yet, but following their FB/Instagram page, I can tell that their atmosphere and trainers is amazing! The training camp is running until the end of August, but I believe you can still attend other classes and possibly inquire if they can offer you a private training with one of the trainers. Here's the link if you're curious! https://www.facebook.com/ThailandTrainingCamp/

Hope everything works out :) 

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Lei Nong

Lei

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I've heard nothing but good things about the trainig at Yokkao gym from one of the lads at the gym I train at who just came back from Thailand. I've tried making enquiries with them but they aren't very quick to reply to emails.

 

They gave me prices for training and accomodation but have been waiting a good week nearly for a reply from them regarding more info about their on site accomodation. We found somewhere close by to stay for a fair price but its a bit frustrating their only form of contact being an email or a very expensive phone call, taking into account you have to book via email with them unless you take the chance on drop in.

 

Hope to hear back from them soon because my partner really likes the idea of training there, especially as it's actually a fair price and a good standard of training.

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