Thailand Training Guide

T h a i l a n d Tr a i n i n g G ui d e
Table of Contents
THAI CUSTOMS......................................................................................................................................2
VISAS........................................................................................................................................................5
COMMON SCAMS...................................................................................................................................9
SAFETY...................................................................................................................................................19
THAI WOMEN........................................................................................................................................21
FOOD & SUPPLEMENTS......................................................................................................................27
TRAINING IN PHUKET........................................................................................................................33
MUAY THAI CAMPS IN PHUKET.......................................................................................................34
ENTERTAINMENT IN PHUKET...........................................................................................................38
GETTING AROUND PHUKET..............................................................................................................41
COST OF LIVING IN PHUKET.............................................................................................................44
TRAINING IN PATTAYA.......................................................................................................................47
MUAY THAI CAMPS IN PATTAYA......................................................................................................48
ENTERTAINMENT IN PATTAYA..........................................................................................................51
GETTING AROUND PATTAYA.............................................................................................................53
COST OF LIVING IN PATTAYA............................................................................................................55
TRAINING IN BANGKOK....................................................................................................................57
MUAY THAI CAMPS IN BANGKOK...................................................................................................58
GETTING AROUND BANGKOK.........................................................................................................62
ENTERTAINMENT IN BANGKOK......................................................................................................66
COST OF LIVING IN BANGKOK........................................................................................................69
Copyright Notice
All contents copyright C 2009 by FightPassport.com. All rights reserved. No part of this
document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means
(electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
So having got this book, you’re clearly thinking about coming to Thailand or you’ve already
decided, booked your flight and now you’re just anxiously awaiting your departure date. If it’s
your first time coming, you’re probably a little nervous since you have no idea what to expect.
The first time I came to Thailand was towards the end of 2007 and I had the trip all planned out
with a buddy of mine. We had been planning it for months. About a week before we were
supposed to leave I started getting a little nervous. You know - just the fear of the unknown
kicking in.
With each day that passed - and as my departure date grew closer and closer - my levels of
anxiety gradually increased. The night before I was booked to leave I was sitting in my room, just
adding some last minute items to my suitcase, and my phone rang.
It was my friend - and fellow ticket holder for the Thai airways flight to Bangkok - and he had
some bad news to deliver. I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. He called me the night
before we were supposed to leave to tell me that he changed his mind and wasn’t going anymore.
At least he had a good reason though. He was bailing on a one-in-a-lifetime trip to Thailand
because he couldn’t bare to be away from his girlfriend at the time. Genius, huh? Since then,
he’s obviously regretted his decision and prior to my second trip, he actually bought another
ticket but ended up bailing again for the same reason!
But it all worked out for the best. He ended up breaking up with the girl and at this very
moment, he’s stuck in a snowstorm working a ridiculous rent-a-cop job while she’s at a resort in
Cancun with some other guy.
So the lesson here is that if you have the chance to come, take advantage of the opportunity. It
can be scary (especially if you’re coming alone) but I guarantee you won’t regret it. As you grow
old and look back on your life, you’re definitely not going to regret traveling the world. You will
however regret it if you don’t. It’s a big world and we’re here once, so you might as well take the
time to see it while you can.
T HAI C USTO MS
Thai people love their King, as indicated by the hundreds of portraits of him displayed
throughout the country. Do NOT disrespect this man.
Alright, before you come here, there’s a few things you need to know. The first - and without a
doubt, the most important - is the fact that the Thai people love their King and if you disrespect
him publicly, you can expect everything from dirty looks, beatings, and even jail time.
Before Muay Thai fights and even before movies at the cinema, they play a tribute to the King
which you had better stand your ass up for. If you don’t, you actually run the risk of being
arrested and thrown into Thai jail - which they refer to as the “monkey house”. Just stand up
and save yourself the hassle, it’ll make your holiday a lot more pleasant.
And speaking of respecting (and disrespecting) the King, you also need to be aware that all Thai
currency has an image of him on it. Because of that, you want to avoid crinkling up your bills
and you certainly want to avoid stashing money in your shoe because in Thailand, the feet are
considered to be dirty and the lowest, less sanitary part of the human body.
So needless to say, placing something with the King’s image on it underneath your “dirty” feet
won’t go over well - although I doubt doing so will trigger the same uproar as refusing to stand
during one of the tributes or verbally bashing him to your foreign buddies and having Thai
people overhear what you’re saying.
Interesting story. During my first trip here, I strolling down one of the side streets (soi’s) on
Bangla road and I saw this unbelievably hot girl dancing on one of the table tops. I obviously
wanted to talk to her so when our eyes locked, I did what I thought would be a smooth move to
entice her to come sit with me - I kicked out the stool a bit from under the table to signal here to
come sit down.
When I did that, I didn’t quite get the reaction I was hoping for. Rather than hopping off the bar
and rushing to join me, she gave me a disgusted look and turned the other way. Wow I thought,
rejected by a bargirl (aka prostitute) in a third world country - it’s time to just give up on life.
Might as well stop showering and break out the mustard-stained sweatpants because I’ve
officially hit rock bottom.
Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration - but I probably rushed to the washroom to see if I had
anything funky in between my teeth. From there, I don’t remember all the details but I did end
up talking to her and as it turned out, the reason why she got offended was because I directed
the bottom of my foot towards her as I kicked the chair out. Girls - so emotional, huh?
So just keep that in mind. You don’t want to point the bottom of your feet towards Thai people.
In Muay Thai it’s obviously alright, but aside from that, they consider it to be very disrespectful.
Actually, if you go to watch the fights at the stadium and you see a Thai land a high front kick or “teep” as they call it - to another Thai guys face, there will be a major uproar throughout the
crowd since it’s considered to be so disrespectful. Buakaw does it quite often to his opponents
actually.
In addition to respecting the King and not pointing your feet towards people, you also have to be
aware that it’s considered disrespectful to touch a Thai person on the head. While the feet are
considered to be the lowest/dirtiest part of the body, the head - being the highest point on the
body - is considered to be the most sacred.
Now I don’t know if I’d classify the next piece of information as a “custom”, but it’s definitely
worth pointing out that in Thai culture, nothing is considered to be worse than “losing face” as
they call it. What that means is that you don’t want to do anything, either directly or indirectly,
that will cause a dent a Thai persons credibility and respect amongst their peers.
I was at the immigration office in Phuket one day and I overheard a foreigner and an
immigration officer in a dispute regarding a long stay visa. I don’t recall all the specifics but I got
the impression that the foreigner was right by the way he was thoroughly explaining not only the
details of the visa regulations, but also the steps he’d gone through and the paperwork which he
had obtained to meet the requirements.
Once frustrated by the lack of understanding and compassion he was receiving from the officer
he was dealing with, he requested to speak with a higher ranking official - sort of like how we
request to speak with a manager when we want to voice our opinions in our own countries.
When the officer came over, I could tell that he wasn’t going to do anything. As a matter of fact, I
don’t even think he was really listening to what the foreigner was saying because even if he was
right (the foreigner), then the Thai immigration officer wouldn’t have overruled his co-workers
initial decision on the matter because if he had, then the officer (the first one) would have lost
face.
You really need to be aware of the concept of “losing face” as you go about your day to day
activities. Don’t talk down to a Thai - or anyone for that matter - and especially don’t do it when
there’s other people around listening. Just use common sense, be as respectful as you can and
take a second to think before you act.
Another custom you should be aware of is that Thai people don’t usually shake hands. Rather,
they’ll place their palms together (in prayer fashion) and give you a slight bow. This greeting is
known as the “wai” and if you’re unsure as to what it looks like, Ronald MacDonald will show
you how to do it here.
Aside from that, don’t be loud and obnoxious. Don’t disrespect elephants since they’re
considered to be sacred animals and remove your shoes when you enter peoples apartments and
internet café’s. As for clothing, the Thai people have gotten used to seeing us foreigners wearing
tank tops and shorts - especially in tourist areas like Phuket and Pattaya - but you should never
show up to one of the temples dressed casually.
So that about wraps it up. I’m sure there’s a few things I’m leaving out but I’ve managed to get
by with the information profiled above so I’m sure you’ll be alright as well. Actually, to throw in
one last semi-related tip, Thai people are extremely family oriented and oftentimes, the children
are expected to take care of their parents as they age since the government doesn’t. So, when
you’re talking to the Thai girls, it never hurts to talk about your family and how much you love
them. Earn yourself some brownie points, they’ll appreciate it.
VISAS
For some reason, the Thai government keeps changing the visa regulations. Since the rules are
always changing, I recommend that you stay up to date by checking the www.ThaiVisa.com
forum every now and then. I find that forum to be the best resource for information and
whenever you have a question, just post it in there and you’ll get all sorts of detailed, educated
responses - oftentimes within just minutes.
At the time of this writing (March 23rd, 2009), the visa regulations are as follows..
If you’re a passport holder from one of the visa exempt countries, you will get a visa-exemption
stamp when you enter Thailand that is valid for 30 days (providing you fly in). In other words, if
you’re staying for 30 days or less, you don’t even have to get a visa from the Thai consulate in
your home country.
If you’d like to stay longer, you have the following options..
60 + 30 Day Tourist Visas
You’ll need to apply for a tourist visa from the Thai consulate in your home country. They are
easy to get, they’re relatively inexpensive and with it, you’ll be able to stay in the Thailand for up
to 3 months without having to leave.
Before your first 60 days expire, you’ll need to visit the Thai embassy and apply for a 30 day
extension. The extension fee is 1,900 baht and there’s no need to be nervous when doing this it’s a routine procedure. You don’t even need to wait until the 60 days are about to expire, you
can apply for an extension right away if you want to just to get it over with.
Staying Longer Than 3 Months?
The great thing about Thailand is that there’s always ways to bend the rules in your favor. What
most people don’t realize is that while they have to leave Thailand once the 90 days are up (with
the tourist visa), they don’t necessarily have to return to their home country.
Rather, you can just head over to a bordering country and apply for a new tourist visa at the
Thai embassy there. “Visa runs” as they’re referred too here are a big business. I’m in Phuket at
the moment and I’ve already done a couple of these visa runs to Penang, Malaysia (you can read
about the first time I went by clicking here).
Where you go is dependent on where in Thailand you’re located when your visa is about to
expire. People in Bangkok or Pattaya usually head over to Cambodia since it’s closer. I've been
once (the “Jack Golf” visa run) and it wasn't bad at all.
There’s all sorts of visa run agencies that will handle everything for you for a fee. A visa run from
Phuket to Penang (minibus transportation, food, hotel and assistance included) usually costs
approximately 4,500 baht - give or take 500 baht or so depending on where you book it.
The whole process is made simple for you and the minibus driver will usually walk everyone
through the motions of filling out the forms and getting set up with the passport photos since
there’s always people that are unprepared.
Sure, it’s a little bit of a hassle - and nobody looks forward to doing it - but the minor
inconvenience is worth it in order to get another 3 months in Thailand.
An alternative to getting back to back tourist visas is to apply for a multiple entry non-immigrant
type “ED” or “B” visa from the Thai consulate in your country before you leave. The
documentation that you’ll need to provide in order to obtain the education visa will likely vary
from consulate to consulate.
At bare minimum, you’ll need a invitation letter from the camp you wish to train at and in many
cases, you’ll be asked to provide a copy of their school registration forms as well. The forms
aren’t hard to get as most camps will be willing to accommodate you. However, not all the Muay
Thai camps are registered as an educational institution so if the consulate that’s handling your
application requires that you provide school registration papers, then you might have to do
things through a different camp.
Tiger, Rawai and the majority of the Muay Thai camps that cater to foreigners will be able to
provide you with the necessary forms. After all, the longer you stay, the more money they make
so it only makes sense that they have these forms on hand for their potential students.
These multiple entry non-immigrant visas will last you for a year. You’ll still need to leave and
re-enter the country every 3 months but the process is easier as you don’t have to apply for a
new visa each time. You simply leave, cross over into a neighboring country, get a couple new
exit/entry stamps on your passport and then come back into Thailand.
I went through the day trip visa run process once thus far and I went to Burma for it. I’ll admit
that it sucked but I really didn’t have a choice, and neither will you. I wrote about the experience
here so check it out if you want to know what it’s like.
Another way to get yourself a long term student visa (if for some reason the Muay Thai method
doesn’t work out) is to enroll yourself into some Thai language lessons. It’s rather expensive up
front - about 800 dollars or so - but if you consider that doing so allows you to stay long term
and enables you to learn how to speak Thai in the process, it’s not such a bad deal. Who knows,
those Thai speaking skills will not only get you better bargains in the markets, but I’m sure it’ll
improve your game with the ladies as well.
So while the Thai visa regulations always seem to be changing, you’ll usually be left with some
sort of workable option if you want to visit, and even stay for long periods of time. Tourism is
extremely important for Thailand’s economy and they especially respect those who come here to
learn their national sport, on account of how proud they are of it.
C O M M O N SCAMS
Thailand is an amazing country and for the most part, I find the Thai people to be extremely
friendly - it’s called the “land of smiles” for a reason. That being said, their economy isn’t very
strong and when they see foreigners who come from well developed countries, they’ll
automatically assume that you have money.
Just the fact that you’re there on vacation (in their eyes) gives them the impression that you’re
well off. Assuming that, and given their unfavorable financial situation, they’ll oftentimes
attempt to get a little extra money out of you each time you open your wallet - and
understandably so.
Now it’s not necessarily a dangerous place - and mentioned in the safety section - but you
certainly need to keep your guard up if you want to avoid being scammed.
So read over the list, remember it and hopefully the tips will prevent you from being taken
advantage of..
S c a m 1: D u e l P r i c i n g
I wouldn’t really call it a scam, but it’s certainly something to be aware of. There’s duel pricing
on pretty much everything in Thailand. Rarely will you ever see the prices listed on items. The
reason for that is because there’s a “Thai price” and a foreigner price. The “foreigner price”, in
most cases, is as much as they think they can get from you.
You’ll really notice it when you’re shopping in the markets. You’ll find something you like and
ask the question the vendors are hoping to hear - “how much?” If you’re asking “how much”
something costs, it’s because you don’t know - and they’ll quote you a ridiculous amount.
Of course, you can always bargain the price down but it’s so much easier if you have a general
idea what the standard prices are like so you can avoid the entire hassle.
With those prices, you don’t even have to ask “how much?” Just hand them the money and if
they try to ask for more, tell them that you live in Thailand and that’s how much you always
pay. They might question you a bit and ask why you don’t speak Thai, but it’s likely that you’ll
end up getting the items for the amount you initially hand them.
Now duel pricing at the markets is something you’d expect - after all, it’s all part of the shopping
experience in Thailand. But keep in mind, it doesn’t stop at the markets - it applies to pretty
much everything!
Here’s a valuable tip. If you visit the clinic, be sure to mention that you live in Thailand and if
they ask you what you do to support yourself, just say that you’re a Muay Thai fighter or
something - which probably isn’t that much of an embellishment for you anyway.
The reason why it’s important to tell them that you live there is because in a lot of clinics,
foreigners oftentimes get charged a “doctor fee” of about 500 baht in addition to the jacked up
prices on whatever services you needed.
During my first trip, I visited the clinic and I told the doctor that I lived in Phuket and he himself
told me that because I wasn’t a “tourist”, I didn’t have to pay all the additional fees they usually
pad the bill with.
During my second trip, I went to the clinic once again to get myself checked out. You know, just
out of paranoia. A little off topic, but never try to self diagnose yourself by performing a Google
search on your symptoms - that’ll drive you crazy. Everything - whether it be a bruise, a rash,
sore muscles, a common fever or even if you just feel exhausted - HIV always seems to pop up as
a potential cause in the damn search engine.
Anyway, this time the receptionists wrote out my bill and passed it to me. It was much more
than I thought it would be. Remembering what the doctor had told me during my first visit, I
looked at the bill and sort of pushed it back along the reception desk and said “oh no, I live here”
- just to see what sort of reaction I would get.
As it turned out, I played it well because the receptionist grabbed a pen and started crossing out
some of the charges. Just by stating that I wasn’t a tourist and that I lived there, I had my bill
reduced by about 50 percent.
So keep that in mind - the duel pricing applies to almost everything and don’t be afraid to test
your luck and attempt to get the local prices. And of course, the duel pricing applies to your rent
as well so when you’re apartment hunting - and doing so on a budget - be sure to find a nice
Thai local to help you out..
S c a m 2: T h e “Fre e” Ta x i Ri d e
You should know this by now - and I’m sure you already do - but very few things in life are “free”
and when a free taxi ride is offered to you by a complete stranger, it’s a pretty safe bet that he’s
not doing it out of genuine kindness.
You’ll come across this a lot in central Bangkok. A Thai guy will approach you and strike up a
little conversation. He’ll then offer to take you on a little tour of the city for free. How nice, right?
Well, they do make good on their promise of driving you around, but what they don’t tell you is
that they’ll take you to all sorts of gold shops, soapy massage parlors and ping pong shows (just
do a Google search if you don’t know what those are).
At this point - if you foolishly took him up on his offer - you’ll find yourself in the back of his silly
looking tuk tuk as he peddles all sorts of goods and services to you. Of course, the rate will be
jacked up a bit and he’ll make a nice commission for his efforts.
I’ve had a few motorbike taxi drivers offer me free rides in Phuket but the sales pitch wasn’t for
gold or massages - it was for cocaine instead. There’s a surprising amount of drugs here in
Phuket (specifically Patong) and it’s important to keep in mind that you’re not at home. Getting
caught with that stuff here carries serious penalties.
S c a m 3: Bi l l Pa d d i n g
This is pretty self explanatory. Just double check the bill before you whip out your cash and
hand it over. This usually happens at bars since intoxicated vacationers make easy targets. It’s
actually never happened to me personally - probably because I’m not really a drinker - but I’ve
heard a lot of stories about fights starting over this sort of thing.
And equally as obvious, always double check your change after you pay for something. I’ve
actually been short changed a few times. Once was in seven eleven of all places and another
time I went to a bar, ordered a water and paid with a 1000 baht note. About 15 minutes went
by and the waitress still didn’t bring my change back. I complained and brought it to their
attention and ultimately ended up getting it but I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a
commonplace practice in hopes that the drunk people just forget.
S c a m 4: “Si c k B u f f a l o”
This is sort of a long-running joke amongst the foreigners in Thailand. The “sick buffalo” is a
common excuse that Thai girls give to their foreign boyfriends when they request money. Of
course, the excuses aren’t only limited to the water buffalo's they have up at their villages.
They’ll say that their mom is sick, their dad is sick, their kids are sick - anything to play the
sympathy card.
Now I know you’re main purpose for coming to Thailand is to train but you never know who
you’ll meet along the way. If you do end up in a relationship with one of the locals, just
remember to keep your guard up and if you’re asked to “lend” them a large sum of money don’t!
I made that mistake once and I’ve learned my lesson. It was once I made the mistake that people
started telling me to consider all the money that I “lend” to a Thai girl as a gift because the
chances of them paying me back are slim to none - which would have been nice to know
beforehand.
Now that’s not to say that all Thai girls are shady and are set out to dupe you out of your hard
earned cash but I am saying that there are plenty of them that are. Just use your common sense
to decipher the difference and think with the big head, not the little one.
S c a m 5: Pi c k P o c k e t i n g
I never really understood how people got pick pocketed until it happened to me. I figured that if
someone were to reach into my pockets that I’d surely notice it. Not only that, but the egotistical
side of me assumed that people wouldn’t even try doing it to me on account of my size. I mean,
who would dare, right? Well, someone did and someone succeeded.
I didn’t even notice until a few hours later when I reached for my money to pay for some food I
had ordered. I checked my front left pocket - which is where I kept my money that night - and it
was empty. My stomach dropped and I immediately checked my right pocket - still nothing. The
back pockets? Nope. It’s a good thing I had a friend with me who didn’t mind covering the bill.
I tracked back my steps throughout the night and I was able to pinpoint when the money was
taken. There was a point while I was in Lucifer nightclub and looking back, I recalled a point
where it felt as though someone briefly reached into my pockets.
At the time, I actually just assumed it was another girl trying to feel me up and get my attention.
That’s not a cocky statement either because whether you’re fit and young or fat and old - you’re
going to be felt up by the girls as you walk through Lucifer nightclub in Pattaya, Thailand. That’s
just an enviable fact of life!
S c a m 6: M o n o p o l i z e d C a mp L o c a t i o n s
Training in seclusion is a great part of the Muay Thai experience since it allows you to
completely focus on your training without any distractions whatsoever - unless you consider
being ripped off a “distraction” that is.
A lot of the gym owners know that you’re coming from countries with well established economies
and they also know that you have no idea what the average room rates in Thailand are - which
allows them to jack up the rental cost on you and even when doing so, you may still consider it
to be “cheap” compared to the rates in your home country.
Well, the thing is, you’re not in your home country and the more you can save on
accommodation, the more you can spend on gifts for your family, training gear or even an
extended stay - which will ultimately make you a better fighter. Whether you’re a millionaire or
on a penny-pinching budget, nobody likes being ripped off and taken advantage of.
To get an idea of what I’m talking about, just check out the price page on the Fairtex Bangplee
website. They’re charging over 18,000 baht per week for their training package if you opt to stay
in a private room with air conditioning. There’s plenty of camps throughout Thailand where you
can get your training and an air conditioned room for 18,000 baht per month!
The training itself at that camp is reasonably priced at 650 per day (2 sessions) so it breaks
down to 325 baht for each workout. Not bad at all for a camp with so many elite trainers but
with the training itself being affordable, and with food being so cheap in Thailand, it’s pretty
clear that the rooms are being rented out at a rate that much higher than it should be. I actually
have Thai friends in the Bangplee area that rent their rooms for under 4000 baht per month.
Fairtex isn’t the only camp that jacks up their room rates. A lot of the camps do it. If you’re on a
budget, or if you just don’t feel like being ripped off, then it’s probably worth it to check out
some of the other rooms in the area - preferably ones that have absolutely no affiliation with the
camp whatsoever. In some of the remote areas, the camp owners will strike up a deal with the
nearby guest houses and work out a commission for all the people that they send. This of course
results in a higher room rate to compensate for the cut that the gym is getting.
S c a m 7: T h e La d y b o y s
The infamous "Emma" from walking street, aka - the
best looking dude I've ever seen..
I’m sure you’re already aware but Thailand is the tranny capital of the world. There’s so many
ladyboys here that they’re actually considered to be a third sex. You have guys, you have girls
and you have ladyboys - that’s just how they roll in Thailand.
A lot of these ladyboys just work regular jobs in salons, internet café’s and hotels but a lot of
them - and here’s why they make the “scam” list - work in the bars & nightclubs with the
intention of tricking guys into thinking they’re a legit female and taking them home. Now I know
you’re sitting there, reading this and thinking to yourself that it would never happen to you but
you’d be surprised at how convincing some of them look.
I was at the Muay Thai gym the other day and one of my buddies showed up for his workout
looking visually distraught. I could tell something was really bothering him since he wasn’t
acting like his usual self and with a little bit of questioning, he opened up and told me that he
accidentally had sex with a ladyboy.
I swear, it looked like this guy wanted to cry. Now, for the rest of his life - and if he was ever to
take a lie detector test - he’d technically be lying if he was to say that he’s never had sex with a
man. That must weigh on someone psychologically. And to think, the whole thing could have
been avoided if he read the how to detect a ladyboy post on my blog.
S c a m 8: Ja c k e d Up E l e c t r i c Ra t e s
This happens a lot actually. You’ve searched around and just when you finally think you’ve
found a good deal on an apartment, you find out that they’re going to charge you upwards of 10
baht per unit of electricity that you use.
The funny (or not so funny) thing about that is that the government only charges around 5 baht
per unit so I’m sure you can guess where the extra money is going - right into their pockets of
course. It’s a good scam on their part since most foreigners have no idea what the government
rates are and will more than likely just pay without any further questioning.
S c a m 9: T h e Pa t p o n g “Pi n g P o n g” S h o w s
The Patpong area - which is one of the red light
districts in Bangkok - is notorious for scammers
and this particular scam has been going on for
years. The fact that its been going on for so long
leads me to believe that the police know what’s
happening but they simply don’t care to stop it
because they’re getting a cut.
The clubs will have Thai guys standing outside with
brochures promoting various sex shows. Once they
have your attention, they’ll try to convince you to
check out one of the “shows” by telling you that it’s
free, and that all you have to do is purchase at least
As tempting as a "pussy magic razorblade"
or a "pussy electric" show sounds, just keep
walking..
1 drink - which is only 100 baht.
Once curiosity takes over and the “target” agrees,
the Thai guy will then walk them up to one of the bars. The places that are the most known for
this scam are usually located on the second level - although that’s not to say that you won’t get
scammed in the first level bars either.
As soon as you walk in and sit down, a waitress will approach you and present a drink menu
that doesn’t have any prices on it. People assume that the drinks are only 100 baht each
because that’s what they’ve been told by the man outside who brought them in so they rarely
question the prices further.
Once you order a drink, a group of girls -sometimes up to 8 of them - will come sit down and ask
you to buy them drinks as well. Apparently they pressure you quite a bit to do so. I’ve read
about one instance where somebody opted to order a single drink for one of the girls that he
thought was cute and as soon as he did, the girls signaled the bar and out came the waitress
with 8 drinks (one for each of the girls).
After watching some disinterested, middle aged women shoot ping pong balls out of their
pussies, you’ll decide to leave and when you do, you’re presented with a bill for an astonishing
amount of cash. Your tab, which you thought would be a couple hundred baht at the most, has
now turned into upwards of 3000 baht.
You’ll question it and protest that you were told that the show was free and that the drinks were
100 baht each, at which point, they’ll tell you that the man who lead you up there doesn’t work
for them and that you’re obligated to pay the outrageous tab.
It’s at this point, where you’ve been presented with the bill - and you realize that you’re pretty
much being extorted - that things can turn very bad, very quickly. The moment you start
arguing, staff members (aka Thai thugs) will block off the exit and they’ll basically try to
intimidate you into paying the bill.
As mentioned here, the last thing you want to do is get into a physical altercation with the
locals and in this particular situation, it’s an absolute certainty that they have guns - either on
them or behind the bar - just given the probability that angry customers will lash out and attack
them as a response to what they’re doing.
The people that experience this scam aren’t left with many options. Fighting certainly isn’t
advised so you can either pay them and take it as a lesson learned or you can stand your
ground in a non-aggressive manner and state that you’ll be contacting the tourist police. Be
persistent about that. From the stories I’ve read, if they believe that you’ll be contracting the
tourist police, there’s a good chance that they’ll try to avoid the hassle and just let you go with
paying a few hundred baht for the drinks.
It’s definitely a situation you want to avoid though. To get an idea as to how often this is
happening, just check this out. And to get an idea as to how serious it can get, here’s an
excerpt from one of the comments on that page. The poster is describing a run in with a
foreigner who was exiting the rip-off venue just as he was entering…
“He was rather a large muscular guy, they kind you wouldn't want to be on the opposite
side to in a fight. He was shaking. Apparently what had happened when he had
disputed the overpriced bill, one of the staff had come up behind him with a knife and
held it at his throat to allow others to remove the contents of his wallet.”
So, if you go to the patpong area - which is great for shopping - you’re best off avoiding the sex
shows and gogo bars altogether. Now that you know, don’t be a victim! And if you want to do the
gogo thing, then just go to soi cowboy or nana plaza instead - they’re just a short sky train ride
away anyway.
S c a m # 1 0: T h e Ai r p o r t Ta x i S c a m
You’ll land in Bangkok, pick up your luggage, walk towards the exit and within your first 20
steps, you’ll most likely be approached by someone offering you a taxi ride. Knowing that you
just landed, they view you as being an easy target since the chances are pretty good that you
have absolutely no idea how much a taxi ride into the city would normally cost.
They’ll attempt to negotiate a flat rate with you and they’ll tell you that it’s cheaper if you don’t
go by the meter. Well, as mentioned in the Bangkok transportation section, it’s never cheaper
if you take the flat rate. You’re a foreigner, they assume you have money. There’s no way they’re
looking out for your best interest by trying to give you a better rate.
And to top it off, a lot of them aren’t even real taxi drivers. They’re just people who happen to
own their own cars that hang out in the arrivals area looking for foreigners to rip off. It’s
certainly not as serious and cold-hearted as what goes on in patpong though since they’ll
actually take you to where you want to go. I suppose they’re just trying to earn a bit of money in
a semi-legitimate/borderline-sketchy way but if you don’t feel like wasting your hard earned
money, then you can either take a real taxi and go by the meter or you can head down to the
very first level and catch a bus into the city.
The airport bus runs to various areas of the city and it’ll cost around 5 bucks. It’s actually pretty
comfortable and they’ll even drop you off at a specific location. One of the buses goes down
Sukhumvit and another goes to Khao San Road, which is backpacker central.
S c a m # 11: Je t Sk i Ex t o r t i o n
I’m not really sure how often this one happens but I had heard about it, and then I came across
this video. When you rent a sea-doo or a jet ski in Thailand, you run the risk of either damaging
it and having to pay a hefty fine or being blamed for existing damage that you didn’t even cause.
The guy in that particular video - who was a student at Rawai Muay Thai - almost got extorted
into paying 50,000 baht when he hit a wave and damaged the sea-doo he was renting. The
actual cost of the repairs (as he estimates) was around 3000 baht or so.
The police had gotten involved and they suggested that he pay 50,000 baht even though they
knew that it would cost nowhere near that amount to cover the repairs. As he states in the
video, he believes that the police would have gotten a cut of that 50,000 for siding with the jet
ski rental company.
He eventually negotiates the fee down to 10,000 baht - which is a lot better than the initial
50,000 they were requesting but still much higher than what the repairs would actually cost.
That just goes to show that if they initially requested 50,000 baht, and they settled with 10,000
baht, that they knew that their initial asking price was way too much, yet they still tried to get it
out of him.
It’s unfortunate that this sort of thing is happening. I’ve even heard of motorbike rental
companies leasing bikes to foreigners, then sending people to their hotel/apartment complex
(since they have your address) to steal the bike back. When that happens, you’ll be on the hook
for about 40,000 baht or so - depending on how much the bike will cost to replace. So, by doing
that, it’s almost as if the rental company is getting a free motorbike to add to their stable at your
expense.
So that about wraps it up, although I’m sure there’s plenty of other scams out there. And while
these scams exist, it certainly doesn’t reflect the country and the Thai people as a whole. As I
mention time and time again, the majority of the Thai people I encounter are extremely friendly
and all things considered, I think they’re the friendliest group of people I’ve ever met. But in a
country of 64 million people, you’re bound to encounter a scam artist every now and then. Just
use common sense and keep your guard up.
SAFETY
Aside from a political riot here and there, Thailand is a relatively safe place.
Although you might be a badass Muay Thai fighter, you’re probably still wondering about
whether or not you’ll feel safe when you come to Thailand - especially if you’re coming by
yourself. Having spent over 2 years in total here - and traveling throughout the country - I can
assure you that it’s a relatively safe place.
Of course, being a country with over 60 million people, you’re bound to get a few not-so-nice
people wondering the streets. I’ve encountered a few of them (read here), but all in all, incidents
like that are few and far between. After all, Thailand is known as the “Land Of Smiles” for a
reason.
As with anywhere else, you’ll obviously want to use common sense to minimize the risk of
anything happening. Keep your money in your front pockets to prevent pick pocking (happened
to me) and whatever you do, do not get into a fight with a Thai because you may end up like
this guy, or these guys.
I filmed both of those incidents and while they may look bad - especially the first one - those
fights could have easily been avoided. Actually, at the time, I was amazed at how tolerant the
Thais actually were. What the first video doesn’t show the several times that the “man” although I use that term loosely - attacked one of the female employees.
Even as he was being restrained, he was still pressing forward and attempting to throw punches
at the girl - who couldn’t have weighed more than 90 pounds. He then started swinging at the
Thai guys who were simply trying to restrain him and that’s when all hell broke lose and the
beat-down ensued.
Now, while that sort of behavior will get you beat up anywhere and I’m sure you have a lot more
common sense than that guy, you should take note of how the Thai people fight in packs.
Basically, you really want to avoid fighting here at all costs - especially with Thai people because if you get into a fight with one, you’ll likely get jumped by about 5 more within 10
seconds.
Even if you end up getting into a stupid argument with a foreigner, the best thing to do is just to
walk away because if you end up fighting - and if the police get involved - you’ll find yourself
with two undesirable options. The first is to go to jail and the second is to pay a visit to the ATM
and withdrawal some bribery money for the police. And believe me, there are far better ways to
spend your money in Thailand than handing it over to the “boys in brown” (the police).
The main thing to ensure that your trip is a safe one is just to use common sense. Treat people
with respect and if there’s a conflict/confrontation, you’re much better off “swallowing your
pride” so to speak and walking away. Doing so doesn’t make you less of a man. If anything, if
makes you the bigger man because you really don’t have anything to prove.
You’re a trained fighter and chances are that the drunk loudmouth that’s starting a fight with
you has never trained a day in his life. People who actually train don’t really have anything to
prove in the streets unlike drunk idiots who are looking for an ego boost . So just let it slide and
move on. You’ll gain nothing from involving yourself in an altercation.
T HAI W O ME N
While the main purpose of your trip may be for Muay Thai, a lot guys end up getting distracted
by the women - and understandably so. It’s a complete role reversal over here. In our home
countries, we’re used to pursuing the girls - oftentimes having to invest a lot of time, money and
effort into the process. But here in Thailand, we’re the ones that get pursued.
I was actually explaining it to an ex-girlfriend of mine back in Canada so she’d get a better
understanding as to what it’s like for foreign guys in Thailand. She’s an attractive Chinese girl (I
only ever date Asian girls by the way) and I just said “when you go out, you get a lot of attention,
right?” She said “yeah”. I said “pretty much everywhere you go, you have guys hitting on you,
right?” She reluctantly agreed again. I then told her that I likely get the same amount of
attention from the girls in Thailand as she gets from the guys in Canada.
It’s awesome actually. If you’re a single guy, you’re going to love it here. I mean, what straight
guy wouldn’t want to have women admiring him almost everywhere he goes? It also doesn’t hurt
that I happen to find Thai girls to be incredibly beautiful. They’re always smiling, they have nice
soft skin, nice eyes and so many of them appear to be extremely fit.
Not to mention the fact that if you treat them well, it’ll come back to you 10 fold since in my
experience, Thai girls go above and beyond anything that you’re used too when it comes to
pleasing their men. I’m not sure what the difference is, and I don’t want to label Thai girls as
being subservient, but they definitely know how to show their appreciation.
I think that’s a major reason why so many western men pursue relationships with Thai women.
There’s an awesome article that I came across (which can be read here) and in it, the author
describes a memorable dinner date he had with a Thai girl..
“ She was Thai with a good job, had a post-graduate degree, and was certainly not the
poor farmer’s daughter stereotype. We were having dinner and when the food arrived
she served me and then herself. When my water glass was half empty (or half full
depending on how you look at it) she would fill it.
I was a little uncomfortable with that so I indicated she didn’t need to serve me. She
insisted gently saying "You relax. I take care of you." As I thought about it, it made
sense. If she likes you then demonstrating that she can be a good girlfriend or wife is
very important to her. It would be the same as a guy holding a door open or pulling the
seat out for his date. This is her way of saying that she likes me and that this is one of
the qualities she intends to bring to the relationship.”
After reading that, I was reminded of similar experiences I’ve had while eating out with Thai girls
as well. There’s an all-you-can-eat Korean style BBQ restaurant on Nanai road in Patong that
frequent as often as I can. Each table has its own little hot plate that you use to cook the meat
and when I’d eat there with a Thai girl, they would insist on cooking the meat for me, serving me
first, filling up my water for me - pretty much everything the author of the article was describing.
He then goes on to describe what things are like when dating a girl in the West and I absolutely
agree with his perspective.
“It’s very difficult for a woman to screw up on a date unless she doesn’t show up, passes
out drunk, or belches at the table. It’s hard for her to screw up the date because she is
not the one auditioning. The man is primarily the one who is auditioning. So on a
normal farang / farang date the man is expected to demonstrate all of the qualities that
he can bring into the relationship and the woman will either approve (agree to a second
date) or disapprove (decline a second date) without ever revealing her hand.”
That statement is completely true in my opinion. Western women definitely have the upper hand
in the dating scene at the start because if they’re attractive, they’re the ones with the most
options. At any given time, they’ll most likely have several guys pursuing them - at which point,
they’ll just get to know them all and just weed the guys out one by one. So on the first date,
they’re not looking to impress you, there’s no need. They’re looking to be impressed themselves
and only if you come with a near-perfect “game” will you be granted a second date.
It’s more of an equal playing field with Thai woman as they’re just as willing to demonstrate
what they can bring to the relationship as we are. They’re not afraid of being labeled as
subservient, submissive or weak by their peers for catering to their man - providing that he
treats her well of course.
The author further illustrates his point by depicting the common relationship scenarios that are
portrayed in the mainstream media..
“One needs to look no farther than romantic imagery in the media to see how
imbalanced the relationship process is in farang / farang relationships. How does a
man show he loves a woman? He buys her roses, chocolates, diamonds, gold, and other
gifts. If he’s truly the romantic type he does something huge like fly her off to Paris for
an amorous holiday. How does a woman show she loves her husband? Well if we are to
believe the media representation of farang / farang relationships then a peck on the
cheek might be ample reward for those chocolates. Giving him sex might be the payoff
for a diamond ring or a Paris holiday.
The idea of a man constantly showering his wife with gifts and affection is seen as
romantic. The idea of a woman who showers her husband with signs of affection is seen
as weak and of low self-esteem. In fact, if we’re to believe the media then the best gift a
wife can give her husband is to leave him alone. How is the husband rewarded for
mowing the lawn and taking care of the manly household chores? He’s allowed to
watch football on television. What is the husband’s reward for taking his wife out to go
see a "chick flick" which bored him to tears? He gets to go hang out with his mates for a
boys night out.”
He’s right again. The media definitely makes it seem that way. I remember watching an episode
of King Of Queens where Doug had to take his wife (Carey) to a weekend spa in order to build up
enough “wife credit” so that she’d let him go to Vegas with his buddies. Here’s the episode if
you wanted to check it out.
So everything considered, it comes to no surprise why so many men end up falling for the Thai
ladies. They’re approachable, they’re beautiful, they’re fun and they’re willing to contribute
everything they can to the relationship.
Now, with that being said, you really want to avoid making the same mistakes that so many
other guys seem to make when they come here. And as for what those mistakes are, well, here
are some tips..
The gogo bars: not exactly the best place to search for your soulmate.
Don’t look for a relationship in the wrong places. Upon first sight, places like Patong and Pattaya
might seem like great places to meet girls on account of the fact that there’s so many of them.
However, the truth is that the girls in those areas are their for a common purpose, and that’s to
make money.
Most of them are victims of circumstance and they’re working there because they absolutely
have too. Some are single mothers trying to provide for their children. Some are trying to take
care of a sick family member. Some are trying to take care of their aging parents who the Thai
government doesn’t support. And of course, some are doing all of the above.
Where guys go wrong is that when getting to know the girl and listening to her life story, they’re
saddened and they feel like they can save her. They want to be their “knight and shining
armour” and show them a better life.
That’s perfectly understandable but what the guy doesn’t realize is that the girl he wants to
“save” already has a few other “saviors” from different countries that are sending her money
every month. I have quite a few bargirl friends so I get to see things first hand. I actually used to
spend a lot of time at the internet café across from my apartment and every night (after the bars
close of course), the girls would be in there chatting with their boyfriends.
I’ve sat there and listened to the same girl chat with 3 different guys, all back to back, as if each
one of them was the love of her life. The conversations were all pretty much the same and the
girl even asked each guy to send her money. They’ll make up some sort of excuse and there’s
certainly no lack of creativity either.
A sick family member is probably the excuse I hear them use the most, but from time to time, I’ll
hear them give other reasons as well. Their roommate stole their money and they can’t pay for
their room; they have to pay for their kids school - the excuses go on and on. It’s really a shame
that guys are being manipulated and used by a girl who they believe to be their girlfriend.
These bargirls are experts at deception and while you may think that your girl is different, that
she genuinely cares about you and that she’s not after your money - more often than not, you’ll
be wrong. Regardless of how cute, built and charming you think you are, the girls family will still
come first, and her priorities will never change.
Sure, she might actually be into you. She might even love you. But unless you’re able to
financially provide for not only her, but for everyone who she’s been taking care of, then she’s
not going to stop working in the bars.
And as much as you’d like to “save” these girls, the truth is that some of them become so
hardened - so “damaged” if you will - that they become emotionally unavailable. There’s a great
site that I follow called “Stickman Weekly” and in a recent entry, the writer - “stick” as he calls
himself - gives his take on how bargirls get lost into the “pay for play” scene. Here’s an excerpt
from the entry (the full version can be viewed here).
“I once wrote that guys had 6 weeks to get them out of the industry, after which point
they changed. Their sweetness went, their attitude changed and they started to see sex
and their body simply as a means of making money. I probably didn't quite get that
right, or perhaps, the bar scene has changed - read become more commercial - and that
rule may no longer apply. I don't think there is a time period you can put on it but
rather, a Thai woman entering the bar industry can be saved by the first farang guy she
genuinely falls for. It is he, and only he - that first guy she really falls for - who can
take her away with minimal damage. But if for any reason it doesn't work out, then noone will find the same sweet woman she once was. Farang guys just won't be viewed the
same.”
Of course, every situation is different because every girl is different. However, I’ve seen these
girls in action first hand. I’ve sat there and heard them flat out lie to their “boyfriends” on the
phone and on msn. I actually came across a couple youtube videos that someone uploaded
showing exactly that - a Thai girl lying to her boyfriend/sponsor while she was sitting there with
another man. Here’s one of the videos where the girl is feeding her boyfriend some bullshit
excuse as to why she wasn’t answering her phone (she was really have sex with another guy)
and here’s a video where a different Thai girl is kissing and snuggling with one man while
asking another to send money to her via msn.
Another mistake that guys make here that ends up getting them into some trouble is that they
bounce around from girl to girl without letting each of them know up front what your intentions
are. Thai girls can be pretty possessive and jealous at times so if your intent is to be a player - or
as they call it, a “butterfly” - while you’re here, then just let them know up front. If you were to
hook up with a girl one night, and then go back to the same bar the next night and pick up a
different girl, you’re just asking for drama. It just goes back to the whole “losing face” concept
that was mentioned in the Thai customs section. The surgeons in Thailand are the best at reattaching severed penis's for a reason. You don't want to get these women angry.
So that about wraps it up. My experience with the local women has been pretty mixed. I’ve met
some wonderful girls and I’ve definitely met some psychos. Just use common sense and just
remember you’re on vacation so don’t be falling in love with any of the bar girls.
I've mentioned a Thai dating site on Fight Passport before, but I didn't give up the name simply
because I didn't want to negatively influence the guy-to-girl ratio, but since you bought this
book, and since I'm not using it anymore anyway, here's the site.. Do yourself a favor though
and don't tell too many people about it.. It's a gold mine when it comes to finding quality,
educated, “high society” type Bangkok girls..
FO O D & SUPPLEME NTS
I’m sure you’ve had Thai food in your home country at some point. It’s delicious. The main
difference between eating Thai food in your home country and eating Thai food in Thailand is
that the cost of eating it in Thailand is about 80 percent less than what you’re used to paying. A
lot of it is also very, very spicy so if you don’t like spicy food, be sure to mention that as you
place your order (“Mai Pet” is how to say “not spicy” in Thai language).
Now depending where you order from, eating out can actually be cheaper than cooking the food
for yourself. Actually, every single meal I eat here is from a restaurant or Thai food stall. I never
cook, I don't need too. Life in Thailand is great in the sense that the tedious daily tasks back
home - like cooking and doing laundry - are so cheap that it’s easier to just outsource them.
The cost of food - even for the exact same dish - will vary from restaurant to restaurant. The
cheapest way to eat here is from the Thai food stands. The quality of the food is the same, the
only difference is the price. For example, on the same block here, there’s a restaurant targeted
towards foreigners and a restaurant that’s targeted towards the Thais..
A plate of chicken fried rice at the tourist restaurant is priced at 100 baht while that same
chicken fried rice meal costs 40 baht at the Thai place. Also worth noting is the fact that the
tourist restaurant requires you to purchase your beverages separately while the Thai place
provides water (with ice) for free.
The tourist restaurant = 100 baht for the meal + 25 baht for a drink + a tip (expected)
The Thai restaurant = 40 baht for the meal with free water and tips aren’t expected (but
appreciated)
You don’t have to be a mathematician to realize that you can save a lot of money by eating the
Thai food at the food stalls with the Thai people.
The meal I eat most frequently is just a boiled chicken breast sliced up and served over a bed of
rice with chopped up cucumber slices at the side. It also comes with a mini bowl of soup - which
tastes amazing. During my entire first trip, I didn’t even know about the dish. I’d always walk by
the food stalls and see a boiled chicken just hanging there but I never thought anything of it.
It was only about 2 months into my second trip here that I got tuned into it and since then, I’ve
ate it pretty much every day since it’s so cheap (30-40 baht) and the chicken is how I get my
protein since I foolishly forgot my protein powder at home.
To order it in Thai, you can do so by asking for “cow men guy” - I’m unsure of the exact spelling
but at least that’s how it’s pronounced. If you want it without skin, you can either say “no skin”
and hope they understand or you can say “cow men guy (chicken & rice) Mai ow nan (no skin).
Once again, I’m writing it based on how it sounds..
Here's one of the food stalls..
And here's what the meal looks like..
Fresh fruit here is both easily attainable and inexpensive. There are markets all over which sell
all sorts of fruit and vegetables and the street vendors sell pre-prepared fruit for as little as 10
baht a bag. The street vendors sell everything from pineapples to bananas. They’ll even crack
open a coconut for you and stick in a straw. Here’s what the fruit stands look like..
If you take protein supplements - or any other supplements for that matter - I recommend that
you bring them from your home country because they’re very overpriced here in Thailand. The
protein selection is limited to a only a few brands. The two most common brands I see here are
PVL and GNC - both of which retail for between 2 and 3 times what they cost back in Canada.
If you don’t bother to bring protein from home - or if you forget like I did - you’re much better off
just getting your protein from the inexpensive meat sources. If I was to buy a single protein
shake here, it would cost me around 100 baht. For that same 100 baht, I can buy 3 plates of
chicken and rice or I can even buy 10 BBQ chicken kabobs - street vendors sell chicken, beef
and pork kabobs for 10 baht each.
Here’s a photo so you know what to look for..
Aside from protein, the supplement selection is very limited here. You can find creatine, but
they’re about a decade behind the times so it’s just the pure monohydrate powder. Finding
multivitamins is no problem at all since there’s pharmacy’s all over the place that sell them. For
everything else though, don’t get your hopes up. If you’re looking for something fancy, you’re
better off bringing it from home.
I find that supplementing with beta alanine before my training sessions makes a huge difference
but since they don’t sell it here, I really have to ration my supply. Beta alanine is a supplement
that helps buffer the accumulation of lactic acid by the way - which basically allows you to train
at a high intensity for a longer period of time before reaching exhaustion.
Also worth nothing - since it’s somewhat related - is the fact the steroids are actually legal here.
Most pharmacies have a binder containing a price list of everything that’s available. I don’t know
much about the regular cost of steroids in Canada and the States but I do know that they’re
much cheaper here. Now don’t mistake this as a recommendation since I don’t recommend it at
all but if you’re going to do it - you’re going to do it. To each his own.
TRAI NI N G I N P H UKET
Phuket is an awesome place to train. Just look at the picture, it's paradise. The air is clean, the
views are beautiful (depending where you are), the training camps are great and it's just a really
fun place to be. Phuket is definitely my favorite place in the world. Whenever I go there, even
when I have the intention to leave, I always end up extending my stay. It's just so hard to leave a
place so awesome.
The transportation sucks, as mentioned below, but aside from that, everything else about the
place is pretty good. As for the training itself, just have a look at the next section. Hopefully it
gives you a little more insight into things and helps you with your camp selection.
M UAY T HAI CAMPS I N P H UKET
There’s quite a few Muay Thai camps in Phuket - most of which cater to foreigners. These
foreigner oriented camps are marketed heavily on the internet so there’s a good chance you’re
already familiar with a few of them - Tiger, Sinbi and Rawai Muay Thai are the most popular at
the moment. Phuket is one of the best places to train simply due to the clean air and the
beautiful beaches.
The gyms in Phuket are quite “beginner friendly” and compared to Bangkok, the overall skill
level of the foreign students isn't as high. Another main difference when comparing training in
Phuket vs Bangkok is that in Bangkok, you're training alongside active Thai fighters (oftentimes
fighters that are ranked at the main stadiums) and in Phuket, at most gyms anyway, your fellow
students are exclusively foreigners.
I’ve been to most of the camps on the island but there’s still a few of them that are on my “to do”
list. For the reviews of each individual camp, just use the search option on Fight Passport and
you should be able to find the camp you’re looking for. And if not, then keep checking - it won’t
be long before the rest of the reviews are up there.
Here’s a list of the camps throughout the island..
Camp Name
Location
Patong Boxing Gym
Click for Information
Sing Patong
In the hills on “Pee” road
Siam Muay Thai
Next to Patong Stadium
Tiger Muay Thai
Click for Information
Dragon Muay Thai
Click for Information
Suwit Muay Thai
Click for Information
Rawai Muay Thai
Click for Information
Sinbi Muay Thai
Click for Information
Phromthep Muay Thai
Click for Information
Phuket Muay Thai
Click for Information
J Prapa Muay Thai
Click for Information
Chang Muay Thai
Click for Information
Nai Harn Boxing Gym
Click for Information
Kiat Thanachot Gym
Click for Information
Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to book your entire stay prior to showing up. Your
best bet is to show up, book yourself into a guest house for a few days and try out some of the
gyms before you decide. In my opinion, the 3 main things to consider are..
1. Yo u r T r a i n e r
When you’re training at one of the gyms in Thailand, more often than not one of the trainers will
sort of take you under their wing. You’ll work with them a couple times and when you show up
from that point on, it’ll just be understood by the other trainers that you two are working
together so the other trainers won’t approach you for pad work.
If you don’t get a good trainer right off the bat, you may find yourself in a tricky situation. If you
request a change, your original trainer might get offended and in Thailand, nothing is worse
than “losing face” as they call it. This is a big reason why I recommend trying out the gym(s)
before you pay your money up front and make a long term commitment before you know what
the training is going to be like.
If you’re lucky enough to find a good trainer who you vibe with and who makes it their personal
mission to help you improve as much as possible, then you should definitely stick around.
Finding a great TRAINER is key (not JUST a pad holder). I’ve had some bad ones, some good
ones and some great ones. For the most part, the trainers I’ve worked with all over the country
have been awesome.
2. T h e C a mp L o c a t i o n
Phuket is a big island and since the public transportation in Phuket isn’t all that great, the
camp location can be a decisive factor when it comes to deciding where to train. Chalong for
example is home to 3 camps; Tiger Muay Thai, Suwit Muay Thai and Dragon Muay Thai. There’s
a lot of good training in that area but aside from training, there really isn’t much to do. The area
itself is quite uneventful and the areas that are busier (such as Patong) aren’t as accessible as
some people would like.
So when deciding if you want to train in Chalong - and other remote areas - you really need to
ask yourself if you want to isolate yourself and focus on nothing but your training. If you’re not
there to party, if you’re not there for the girls, and if you’re not there for anything but training then Chalong might be a good option for you.
It also comes down to your will power as well. A lot of guys come with the intention of focusing
strictly on their training but as soon as they’re tempted with some of the things that Thailand
has to offer (women and partying), their training sort of takes a back seat to the other
“activities”.
Chalong and Rawai are both located on the southern part of the island and there’s not a whole
lot to do in those areas in terms of nightlife. It’ll take you about half an hour to get from Chalong
to Patong so I suppose if you wanted to have a few Saturday nights out, you could certainly do
so. It’ll cost you about 15 bucks to get back to the camp when the nights over though - which
definitely isn’t that much if you’re only staying for a short time.
Kata beach wouldn’t be a bad place to train. The beach itself is beautiful and it’s a little more
developed and touristy than some of the other areas. There's 3 gyms there at the moment; J.
Prapa, Phuket Muay Tha and Chang. I haven't been to Chang yet but I've been to J. Prapa and it
was surprisingly bad. I trained once at Phuket Muay Thai and from what I remember, it was
alright – although it was years ago. Actually, come to think of it, that day at Phuket Muay Thai
was the first time I ever tried Muay Thai.
Then, 2 beaches up from Kata, you have Patong. Patong is the most developed beach on the
island and it’s the center for the nightlife. I’m not a big drinker at all and when training is my
priority, I don’t really give into the temptation that’s present in Patong - but that’s just me. I’ve
seen guys get caught up in it all and end up skipping training sessions as a result.
The way I see it though, as long as I don’t fall into a lifestyle that’s going to negatively effect my
training, then there’s really no harm in staying in that area due to the convenience of everything.
There’s lots of apartments, a modern shopping mall, convenience stores on every block, 2 Muay
Thai stadiums and it’s the nightlife central of Phuket. As long as I’m not drinking alcohol, there’s
no harm in sitting at the bar, ordering a diet coke or a water and watching some MMA fights on
the screens. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a lot of hot girls everywhere either.
All that being said, if you’re coming with your girlfriend/wife/kids or if you don’t think you’ll
have the willpower to train there without being distracted by the partying, then you’re probably
better off staying somewhere outside of Patong.
3. T h e P r i c e
Everyone’s financial situation is different and if you’re on a tight budget - as I’m sure a lot of you
are - the cost of the gyms can be a limiting factor. As I mentioned above, a lot of the gyms in
Phuket are geared towards foreigners and unfortunately, that oftentimes means that the prices
for things are going to be jacked up a bit simply because the owners assume that we won’t know
the difference.
The average cost for training throughout the island is 8000 baht a month. Some gyms cost a
little less, some cost a little more. A couple of the really touristy camps will even charge you a
VAT tax which is NOT the norm. I’ve trained at a lot of gyms throughout the country and the
only camp that charges the additional tax (out of the camps I’ve been too) is Tiger Muay Thai.
Not telling you that to detour you from going there (because the trainers there are excellent), but
if that’s the camp you had in mind and if you’re on a tight budget, just keep in mind that you’ll
need to pay a 7 percent tax in addition to the 9000 baht per month for the training.
Out of the camps that I’ve visited, the ones that delivered the most bang for the buck would have
to be Patong gym and Suwit. (Patong gym recently changed locations and raised their prices a
bit but it's still an good value). If you’re on a tight budget - and you want to get a lot of one on
one time with the trainer - then both of those are good gyms to consider.
In the common Thailand scams section, I have “monopolized camp locations” listed as one of
them. What that means is that a lot of the camps will jack up the room rates well beyond what
the normal Thai rates are. To give you an example, Sinbi gym rents out a private room with air
conditioning for 22,000 baht per month. Patong gym on the other hand rents out a similar room
(with air conditioning, large bed, balcony and internet) for 10,000 baht - less than half of what
Sinbi charges. Edit: The room price at Patong is now 12,000 baht per month with an additional
charge (1000 baht per month) for internet.
In Phuket, it seems as though most of the camps that are in isolated locations charge a lot more
for accommodation - which hardly makes sense. It’s like buying a house out in the country as
opposed to the city - the place in the middle of nowhere should be a lot cheaper. Likewise, it
doesn’t make sense that I can find decent rooms in Patong - which is the busiest, most well
developed beach in the island - for 5000 to 10,000 baht per month while in a remote area like
Rawai (where Sinbi is located), the rooms are so expensive.
Now that’s not to knock the Sinbi Muay Thai camp as a whole, I recently visited the gym and the
training wasn't bad at all. As a matter of fact, I could even recommend it providing that you stay
off-site and don't pay for their overpriced accommodation. I wrote up an entire review of my
experience here. Here's a quick rundown of my experiences/impressions of these gyms..
J. Prapa: I always thought it was a serious gym but I was wrong. The skill level amongst the
students is quite low and the training isn't up to par with the other gyms on the island. This is
the only gym I've ever been too in Thailand that has “group” pad work. Here's a detailed review I
wrote up on the place.
Patong Boxing Gym: I've spent more time training here than at any other gym in Thailand. The
The first time I trained here, the gym was located on small little street surrounded by “happy
ending” massage parlors leading to the beach. From there, they moved to a new location up in
the hills of Patong. Unfortunately, they had some issues with the land lease and despite the gym
being in the perfect location, they had to re-locate to a spot between Patong and Karon.
The gym is now partnered up with the “Secret Cliff” resort and under a new management. Bow,
the original gym manager is still there but she's unable to run things the way she always has
because she now has more people to answer too. I recently just spent a couple weeks training
there (start of 2011) and I wasn't happy with what I saw.
First of all, with the gym being located between two beaches (and two communities), there isn't
much around in terms of basic living essentials. The new location doesn't have an on-site
restaurant with affordable meals like the old gym had. Rather, you're expected to get your food
from the overpriced restaurants at the resort. The laundry service is laughably overpriced as
well.
Another downside to the new location is that the running path I once boasted about on my
original review is now obsolete. Now, the road is busy and personally, I wouldn't even feel safe
running on it. They've also jacked the room rates up by 2000 baht per month (bringing the total
to 12,000) and they've decided to charge an extra 1000 baht per month for WIFI internet as well.
At first, I felt really bad because this was the gym that I recommended to everyone simply
because I genuinely felt like they were providing the best value in Thailand. I figured they got a
taste of success and were starting to get greedy. However, upon questioning things and voicing
my displeasure, I found out that Bow, the gym manager, wasn't happy with the new “changes”
either and that she was “butting heads” with the management of the resort. Now, it looks as
though the gym will be re-locating once again to a spot in Karon (one beach over from Patong).
The new site should be completed within the next 4 months or so.
One thing that remained a constant however is the quality of the training. If anything, the
training there has actually improved. They're now timing the rounds and rest intervals (4
minutes with 1 minute rest). The consistency amongst the trainers here is awesome as well. You
can work with 4 trainers throughout 4 days and get great training each time. I usually work with
Ming, and I can highly recommend him, but at this gym, regardless of who you get matched up
with, you won't be disappointed.
Dragon: Several of the trainers at Dragon are former trainers from the Patong gym. While I
haven't trained at the Dragon facility, I can attest that the trainers there are more then capable
having worked with them in Patong. The facilities at Dragon are rapidly expanding due to the
increasing popularity. Dragon has built itself up on taking in unsatisfied customers from Tiger
Muay Thai since the two gyms are located right next to each other.
Tiger Muay Thai: Tiger is by far the most popular gym in the country. Sometimes they have
upwards of 300 students training at a given time. They're one of the only gyms in Thailand that
offer both Muay Thai and MMA. At Tiger, it's almost like there's multiple gyms in one facility.
When you arrive, your skill will be assessed (they'll just ask you to kick the bag) and based on
what they see, they'll tell you to go to either the beginner, the intermediate or the advanced
class. I believe there's a “fighters” class as well now. When I was there, my opinions on the place
were mixed (read about it here).
The trainers were good, yet oftentimes a bit over worked. There's plenty of structure, which
includes bag work, pad work, sparring, clinching, technique etc.. I never did the MMA while I
was there simply because I focus solely on Muay Thai while I'm here so I can't comment too
much on that. The main thing that I didn't like was the whole vibe of the place. It seemed very
commercial and, in other words, with a couple hundred foreigners in an isolated location, it felt
more like I was at a summer camp than in Thailand (if that makes any sense). Dragon, Tiger and
Suwit are all located close to each other so if you're set on training in the area, be sure to try
each of them before you decide.
ENTERTAI N ME NT I N P H UKET
A Fight Night at the New Bangla Boxing
Stadium
Phuket is a major tourist destination so there’s all sorts of things to do when you’re not training.
Of course, your options are influenced by your exact location on the island. If you’re staying in
Patong - which is the most developed beach - you’ll have entertainment options everywhere you
look.
Patong is home to the major nightlife district - which is mostly located on Bangla road.
Technically, I’d label Bangla road as a red light district but it’s unique in the sense that it has
regular bars and huge nightclubs mixed in with the go-go scene.
In Patong, you’ll also find a huge western style shopping mall, all sorts of markets where you can
pick up some high quality knockoffs, a bungee jump station, 2 Muay Thai stadiums, massage
parlors literally on every block, a cinema, a bowling alley and of course - a beach where you can
relax, go swimming, or even go rent a jet ski or go parasailing.
There are plenty of camps in more isolated areas on the island such as Chalong and Rawai.
These areas are a lot quieter and less convenient but you’ll still have access to some beautiful
beaches and just a short motorbike ride away, you’ll have forms of entertainment such as go
kart tracks, a zoo and shooting ranges. The nightlife scene in these areas is practically nonexistent though.
Phuket is also a land of bootleg DVD’s so you’ll have no trouble finding movies to watch when
you’re too exhausted from training to do anything else. The DVD’s in Phuket are cheaper than in
both Pattaya and Bangkok so if you wanted to stock up - this is the place. The cost for DVD’s in
Phuket (as mentioned here) is 50-60 baht so don’t pay any more than that. In Bangkok and
Pattaya, I found had a hard time getting vendors to sell me the videos for under 100 baht.
After a hard week or month of training, you might want to head somewhere where you can really
kick back and relax. Well, for about 15 bucks, you can head to Phi Phi island - which is where
they filmed the movie “the beach”. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful places on earth. Here
are a couple videos of the place..
Video 1
Video 2
A lot of companies offer island tour package deals where they’ll take you around to 3-4 different
islands in 1 day. If you decide to go with one of the packages (it’s more expensive), just
remember that all prices in Thailand are negotiable so don’t pay the first price you see
advertised.
In terms of places to train, Phuket is a good option if you’re looking to blend a typical beach style
vacation in with your Muay Thai getaway. The beaches in Phuket - and especially the
surrounding islands - are much nicer than the beaches in Pattaya. The air in Phuket is also a lot
cleaner than in Bangkok. More on the training in Phuket is available here.
GETTI N G ARO U N D P H UKET
With westernized pricing and mafia associated drivers, tuk tuk's aren't the best way to
get around - unless you're travelling in a group.
The transportation in Phuket is extremely inconvenient. Unlike Pattaya, Phuket doesn’t have
baht busses that you can just hop on the back of for 10 baht. Rather than baht busses, Phuket
has “tuk tuk’s” but unfortunately, “tuk tuk’s” are a complete rip off.
The first tip I got back during my first visit turned out to be a valuable one - don’t mess with the
tuk tuk drivers! There’s a reason why there isn’t a convenient form of transportation from beach
to beach and that reason is because the tuk tuk drivers are actually the Thai mafia.
Tuk tuk’s are actually about 4 times more expensive than the metered taxi’s in Bangkok and
unfortunately, you won’t find any metered taxi’s here in Phuket. Of course, this is also due to
the fact that the Thai mafia wants to preserve the valuable income stream that the tuk tuk’s
provide.
The motorbike taxi’s are the most affordable form of transportation in Phuket - providing you
don’t act like a tourist. The absolute worst thing you can do - and I see so many people make
this mistake - is to hop on the back of the motorbike, have the driver take you to your
destination, then get off and say “ok, how much?”.
You will get ripped off if you do that. Try to avoid asking “how much?” in general. Locals know
how much things cost while tourists don’t - which makes them easy targets. Through
experience, I’ve learned that the best thing to do is to approach the driver, tell them where you’re
going and just hand them the money before you even get on the back.
Of course, the amount you give them depends on how far you have to travel but for a 10 minute
ride or so, I find that 40 baht does the trick. In Phuket, you will also notice that the price for
motorbike taxi’s increases at night and around the nightlife district. So if you’re on a tight
budget, try to avoid putting yourself in a situation where you’ll have no choice but to pay those
jacked up rates.
Another option you have is to rent yourself a motorbike. If you chose to do so, you really need to
drive carefully because the rest of the people on the island don’t! Motorbike accidents are the
leading cause of death here in Phuket and whenever I see a Thai person with a scar and ask
them what happened, the answer is always the same - “motorbike accident”.
A guy I met while training at Tiger Muay Thai put it best. He was also from Canada and here’s
what he had to say about driving a motorbike here in Thailand..
“In Canada, the only thing you have to worry about while on the road is a bad Asian
driver.. But here, you’re in ASIA!”
It’s ok, he was Asian - he’s allowed to say that..
Aside from everything I mentioned so far, you do have another option if you need to go long
distances throughout Phuket. There is public transportation - but it sucks! Every half an hour
or so (up until 5pm), you can catch a bus along the beach in Patong which will take you all the
way to Phuket town and vice versa - from Phuket town to Patong.
The cost per ride is only 25 baht but the ride seems to take forever. The bus goes extremely slow
and there has even been times where I’ve been waiting for it along the beach and it just never
came by - so it’s not very reliable. So that about wraps it up and lastly, if you do chose to rent
yourself a motorbike, make sure that you don’t get ripped off. One guy I met told me he paid
6000 baht a month for his. I’ll tell you this, the average cost of a motorbike rental is between
3000-4000 per month, so don’t overpay!
C OST OF LIVI N G I N P H UKET
Most people will tell you that Phuket is one of the most expensive places in Thailand and for
certain things, I’d have to agree. However, that’s not to say that you can’t get by here on a tight
budget. Judging by the people I talk too here – bar girls excluded - the average monthly wage
seems to be anywhere in the 6,000-10,000 baht range. Family mart and 7 eleven workers earn
around 1US dollar per hour and they seem to get by.
So yes, Phuket can be expensive but if Thai people are living on such small sums of money, that
just means that there are rooms to be found with low monthly rates and there’s food to be found
at very low prices. After all, the Thai’s have somewhere to eat and sleep right? The hard part (as
a foreigner) is finding these places.
Ac c o mm o da t i o n
The best thing to do when you’re apartment hunting is to get a Thai local to help you out. If you
go apartment hunting on your own, it’s likely that you’re going to be quoted monthly rates that
are double and oftentimes triple what Thai people would be charged.
When I went apartment searching here, I tried it on my own for a while and granted it was high
season at the time (November - February), I was blown away by some of the quotes people were
giving me. Thailand is a second-to-third world country where the average earnings per capita is
almost 4 times less than the average earnings in Canada and the US and yet, some of the
monthly price quotes for a single room were comparable to the mortgage payments on a house
back home.
It didn’t really make much sense and yes, I’m familiar with the concept of supply and demand
but this was right after the protesters shut down the airport so while it was technically “high
season”, the vacancy rates were pretty high due to the political turmoil.
I did end up finding a few rooms that were seemingly affordable but upon further questioning, I
discovered that they intended to charge me 10 baht per unit of electricity that I used. Funny how
they planned on charging me 10 baht per unit when the government only charges around 5 baht
per unit. This is actually one of the most common scams - and understandably so - since
tourists have no idea what the government rates are.
It was at this point when I decided to enlist the help of a Thai friend. We went apartment
hunting and within 20 minutes, I had found a nice room, right by the boxing stadium for 5000
baht per month and the government rate for my electric bill. It wasn’t the Hilton but it served its
purpose. Here's a photo of the place...
If you’re not staying for a long time and can afford to splurge on a more luxurious place to stay,
you’ll certainly find what you’re looking for. Phuket is a very popular tourist destination - the
majority of the Muay Thai camps are even geared towards foreigners - so you’ll find all sorts of
amazing resorts throughout the island.
S h o pp i n g
As discussed here, there’s duel pricing on almost everything in Thailand. The prices fluctuate
and are dependent on how much the vendor thinks they can get out of you. They might “size you
up” a bit at the start by asking you “where you come from?” and “how long you stay here?” By
asking you those questions, what they’re really trying to determine is if you’re from a country
with a good economy (how much money you have) and if you’ve been in Thailand long enough to
what the real prices are.
So as for the real prices, here’s what you can expect to pay for select items in the markets here
in Phuket..
Billabong Shorts
250-300 baht
CD’s
80-100 baht
DVD’s
50 – 60 baht
Tank Tops
100-150 baht
Twins Gloves
1400-1900 baht (buy in Bangkok for best price)
Sandals
150-300 baht
Hats
200-250 baht
T-Shirts
150-250 baht (depending on the quality)
Muay Thai Shorts
Approx. 600 (fluctuates depending on quality).
Fo o d
Food in Phuket is slightly more expensive than in Pattaya and Bangkok but it's still cheap as
long as you eat at the Thai food stalls. In Bangkok and Pattaya, the average cost for a plate of
chicken and rice at the food stall is about 30 baht and in Phuket, it's 40 baht. 40 baht is slightly
over 1 dollar so it's not a big deal. They also have subway's (the restaurant) all over Patong and
they have a “sub of the day” menu and you can get a 6 inch sub for around 2 dollars (69 baht).
TRAI NI N G I N PATTAYA
As mentioned throughout the section, Pattaya is a fun city that draws men by the flocks from all
over the world. They come here to let loose, relax, eat good food, drink good beer and hook up
with hot women. That's really the main attraction here; the booze and the women.
Of course, there's great Muay Thai here as well but with a quick look around at all the fat old
men, it becomes quite evident that the vast majority of the people that come here aren't here for
boxing lessons.
It is what it is though. I'm not against having hot women all over the place. Call me crazy, but I
kind of like it. That being said, some people – actually, most people – would find Pattaya to be a
little too distracting. So keep that in mind. If you want to limit all distractions and focus 100
percent of your efforts on your training, then Pattaya really isn't the place.
However, if you're coming to Thailand to train AND party, then you'll probably have yourself a
wild time here. Keep in mind, a lot of criminals flock to Pattaya and it has a rather high crime
rate..
M UAY T HAI CAMPS I N PATTAYA
While Muay Thai certainly isn’t the main attraction in Pattaya - which is evident upon first
glance at all the old, overweight sex tourists that populate the city - there’s a surprising amount
of great gyms there. I spent about 3 months here and during my stay, I got some great training
in.
I trained at the legendary Sityodtong camp and while at the Fairtex resort, I got to share the ring
with Yodsanklai - who’s a former lumpinee stadium champion and the winner of the contender
Asia reality series. I also spent a lot of time at Scorpion gym (now “Golden Glory”), which I felt
was the most convenient and reasonably priced of them all.
Here’s a list of the camps in Pattaya (I may be leaving some out)..
Camp Name
Location
Fairtex Pattaya
Click for Information
Sityodtong
Far .. Take a Taxi
Golden Glory
Click for Information
Sipholek Gym
Sukhumvit Soi 34
Kombat Group
Click for Information
RMB Gym
Click for Information
WKO Gym
Click for Information
Sor. Klinmee
Click for Information
Fairtex Pattaya: Of all the gyms in Pattaya, the Fairtex one is by far the nicest. Actually, in
terms of the actual facility, it’s definitely the nicest in Thailand. It’s a full out resort with rooms,
basketball and tennis courts, a pool, a fully equipped weight lifting gym and to top it off, they
basically buy champion fighters so you’ll have the opportunity to train alongside some of the
best fighters in the world.
If money was of no issue, I’d go to the Fairtex gym at least a couple times a week. I’ve only been
there once but it was a good experience. If you’re going to be in Pattaya, I definitely recommend
checking it out at least once. The cost per session at the Fairtex gym is 800 baht per session,
which is a lot more than not only the other gyms in Pattaya, but it’s most likely the most
expensive gym in the country. But the high price is somewhat justified when you consider how
much money they invested into the place.
Sityodtong: Sityodtong is off the beaten path. To get to the legendary Sityodtong camp from
central Pattaya, it’ll take you about 15 minutes and about 80-100 baht via motorbike taxi. My
overall experience at Sityodtong was a good one as well. They’re not money oriented there
whatsoever and the cost per training session is only 250 baht.
Like any gym, Sityodtong had it’s positives and negatives. The positives would be the
affordability, the history and the authenticity of the place. By “authenticity” I mean that
Sityodtong has brought up a lot of champions (training the fighters from childhood) and just the
fact that the place is so well known and respected. I wrote up a few Sityodtong articles on Fight
Passport (read here and here).
The location can be a positive or a negative, depending on how you look at it. If you're solely
about the training, then being isolated away from the Pattaya mayhem would be a good thing.
However, if you're on somewhat of a “training holiday”, and you want to enjoy the nightlife as
well, then you may be a little inconvenienced having to commute to the gym every day.
A lot of top fighters have been produced at the Sityodtong camp, most notably, Samart
Payakaroon – who is widely considered to be one of the best Muay Thai practitioners in the
history of the sport. The training intensity at the gym varies depending on the purpose of your
stay. They're still training children in hopes that they become future champions but also, since
the gym is so respected and is welcoming to foreigners, you get a lot of Pattaya “sexpats” that
train there as well. It's definitely worth checking out though.
Golden Glory: I spent a few months based out of Scorpion gym and I really enjoyed the training
there. About a year ago, Scorpion gym was purchased by Golden Glory (famous team based out
of Holland), and the team is now using the facility to prepare for their fights in Japan, Korea etc.
Alistair Overeem held a portion of his training camp in Pattaya prior to the K-1 tournament this
year. The idea of having the gym here in Thailand is to prevent jet leg when the fighters fight
overseas. The gym is still open to the public and they've kept the same drop in rate of 250 baht.
Whit, who was a trainer at Scorpion, is still holding pads for students there. Unfortunately,
Somphot, who was the most technical trainer I've ever worked with, isn't training there anymore.
Kombat Group: When I was training at Scorpion, I took a day off and tried out the “Kombat
Group” gym. The owners of the place were really nice and let me try out the gym for free, but to
be honest, I wasn’t really impressed. I did a couple rounds of pad work (it may have been only 1
round actually) and during the rest period, the trainer just started training another student and
that was that. I was left to hit the heavy bag on my own.
It could have just been an isolated bad experience since I only went there once but if I’m basing
things on that training session, I can’t really recommend the place - especially considering how
many other good gyms there are in Pattaya.
There’s so many good gyms in Pattaya that you can even find them by taking a wrong turn, and
that’s how I found this one. I don’t remember the name of it but it was just off of the Sukhumvit
road sort of near the Tesco Lotus. Training at that place was cool because I was probably the
only foreigner who had trained there in years. The true definition of a back alley gym.
WKO Gym: The World Kumite Center is located on Pattaya central road just 1 block east of
Carrefour. Not much is known about this gym since they don't even have a website. They offer
boxing, MMA, and Muay Thai. What's interesting though, is that apparently Sakmongkol is one
of the Muay Thai trainers here. Sakmongkol is a legend of the sport, a lumpinee and raja
stadium champion and he has wins over fighters such as John Wayne Parr and Ramon Dekkers.
However, I heard a rumor that he was moving to Denver to teach out of a school there. If that's
true, hopefully it'll be a temporary thing and he'll make his way back to Pattaya.
RMB Gym: Not a bad place to train at all. There's not much structure and the training is very
independent. You just sort of arrive, “book” a trainer, warm up and then go through the pad
work. Everything else is “up to you” as they say here in Thailand. That being said, the gym is
easily accessible via baht bus (10 baht) and I've always gotten a full 5 rounds with the trainer.
They've had some good trainers working here as well, Sudsakorn being one of them.
Unfortunately, he's not there anymore though. I think he's splitting his time between a gym in
Italy and his family gym, Sor Klinmee.
Sor. Klinmee: Sor. Klinmee is located in Bang Lamong, which is just outside of Pattaya. The
head trainer here is “Tappaya Sit Or”, who's a former Rajadamnern stadium champion, channel
7 champion and WMC world champion. Not only is he an accomplished fighter, but he's also
trained his nephews, Ramba Somdet “M-16” and Sudsakorn to titles as well. At the time of this
writing, Sudsakorn is involved in an 8 man tournament at Omnoi stadium and in the second
round, which was on TV last weekend, he defeated Kem Sitsongpeenong on points.
I haven't had a change to visit Sor. Klinmee but as soon as I do, I'll put up a review on Fight
Passport. It seems like it could be a “hidden gem” though, especially considering that training
there is only 200 baht per session.
So, the training here is of good quality and it’s affordable. The main thing to consider though
when trying to decide if Pattaya is an ideal place for you to be training is whether or not you can
block out all the distractions and stay focused. And by distractions, I’m referring to the
“entertainment” options around the city.
ENTERTAI N ME NT I N PATTAYA
Forget Vegas; Pattaya Thailand is the real sin city! And if you have any doubt, then check this
out. Mention Pattaya to a friend in-the-know or even type it into Google or Youtube and your
immediate feedback will be all based around the same topic - girls, girls and more girls!
I read somewhere that there’s just under 100 go-go bars (strip clubs) in Pattaya alone. To put
that number into perspective, try to imagine your home city with over a hundred strip bars. The
girls and alcohol don’t stop there though. In addition to the hundred-or-so strip clubs, there’s
likely between 700-800 “beer bars” - all of which have a bunch of girls available for the
customers as well.
As soon as you walk out of your hotel room and witness the scene for the first time, you almost
laugh to yourself in disbelief that a place like this actually exists in the world. As you walk
around, you’ll have packs of beautiful women screaming and waving you over to come and sit
with them.
A lot of guys come to Thailand to train and get caught up in the party scene. That’s fine and all,
do what makes you happy but don’t get drunk and make stupid decisions. If you’re going to
involve yourself in the “P4P” (pay for pleasure) scene, then I recommend you get the girls from
the gogo’s and beer bars rather than the street and in the nightclubs.
Reason being is because most of the girls working for proper establishments undergo mandatory
HIV tests every 1-3 months and their results are required to be kept on file at the club. Now that
doesn’t guarantee that the girls are clean - especially considering that it takes up to 3 months of
even being infected to stimulate an HIV positive result - but the tests, along with your own
protective measures (condom use) will certainly reduce your risks.
When a girl is freelancing, you need to ask yourself why? Sure, some of them just prefer it
because they don’t have a boss to answer too, they can work when it’s convenient for them and
perhaps they’re trying to avoid the stigma of being a “bargirl”, but then there’s always the
possibility that they’re freelancing because they’ve been kicked out of the beer bars and gogo
bars due to a failed STD test.
Not to mention the fact that picking up freelancers puts you at more of a risk. If you get
drugged, if you get robbed, if anything happens whatsoever - you may never be able to track this
girl down again. If something like that were to happen with a girl you picked up from a proper
establishment, you could go there the next day to find out exactly who she is.
Women and alcohol aside, there are still plenty of other ways to entertain yourself in Pattaya
while you’re not training. There’s a stadium (Fairtex stadium) where you can go and watch live
Muay Thai fights. There’s a couple beaches where you can go to relax - although the beaches in
Pattaya certainly don’t compare to the beaches in Phuket.
There’s a big shopping mall (Mikes shopping mall) with a rooftop pool that most people don’t
even know about. There’s go kart tracks and shooting ranges. There’s huge movie theaters and
great gyms. Actually, there’s a California Wow gym in Pattaya that’s coincidently located right
next to the movie theater. If you’re staying long term, I’d recommend training at California wow
but if you’re only there for a short time, and you’re on a budget, then just train at the Tony’s
gym off walking street since it’s only 100 baht per visit. Of course, that’s if you have any energy
left after all the Muay Thai training.
There’s also a tiger zoo, a crocodile farm and various markets and temples. If anything, there’s
almost too many things to do in Pattaya. If you’re someone who gets easily distracted, then you
might get caught up with in the wild Pattaya lifestyle and your training my suffer as a result. If
you’re a single guy who’s looking for a balance between training during the day and partying at
night, then you’ll probably enjoy what Pattaya has to offer.
GETTI N G ARO U N D PATTAYA
The Pattaya "Baht Buses": Just wave one down and hop on the back. The cost is a
mere 10 baht.
Pattaya can be pretty overwhelming when you first arrive but once you understand how the baht
buses run, getting around is both convenient and affordable. The baht buses in Pattaya run
constantly and all you need to do is wave one down and hop on the back. The cost for doing so is
a mere 10 baht (you pay when you get off) but the downside to this is the fact that you have to
understand the pre-determined routing in order to get to where you want to go.
And oftentimes, the routines will randomly change so you really have to know where to get off if
the driver decides to take an unexpected turn. It took me about 2-3 weeks to really understand
the routes. I also saw a lot of people make the mistake of asking the driver the question that all
Thai people want to hear - “how much?”. In one particular instance, their destination was on the
pre-determined route but that didn’t stop the driver from quoting them 100 baht each when had
they known, they could have just hopped on the back for 10 times less.
Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that when riding these buses, you should make sure
that you have exact change to pay with because on more than one occasion, I paid with a 20
baht note and even a 50 baht note and the driver just said thank you and tried to drive away in
hopes that I didn’t know any better. Can’t really blame them for trying though, most tourists
either don’t know or just don’t care because 50 baht really isn’t a lot of money at all. But of
course, when you’re staying for a long time - it all adds up.
Another good way to get around is via motorbike taxi. As I also mention in the Phuket
transportation section, the best way to save money when it comes to motorbike taxis is to give
the cash up front before you even get on the back. You’ll need to have a general idea regarding
how much to pay but here’s a little guideline..
From central Pattaya to Jomtein I would pay 60 baht (although you can take a couple baht
busses instead). From central Pattaya to Sityodtong I would pay between 80-100 baht, and as
mentioned in the Pattaya Muay Thai camp section, the Sityodtong gym is pretty far away.
Based on the fact that you can get all the way out to there for 100 baht or less, you can get
pretty much go anywhere in the Pattaya region for the same.
Once you get used to taking the motorbike taxis, the right amount to pay will become evident
but remember, if you ask before hand, you’ll usually get quoted an inflated amount. And if you
get tired of paying someone else to drive you around all the time, you can just rent your own
motorbike for approximately 3000 baht per month or so.
If you decide to rent a motorbike, just make sure that you carry around your license and
passport at all times and make sure you wear your helmet in the zones where you’re required to
do so. Thailand is weird in the sense that it’s not required that you wear a helmet at all times,
but rather, you only have to wear it in certain areas.
Being a foreigner, you’re a target for police officers who are looking to line their pockets with
some bribe money. Cops in Thailand don’t exactly get a lucrative salary so oftentimes, they rely
on bribes to make ends meet. Since Thai people assume we all have money, it’s likely that you’ll
be pulled over at every opportunity they have. Just follow the rules of the road, make sure you
have all the necessary documents (photocopy of your passport is important) and don’t give them
a reason to even pull you over.
So, between renting a motorbike, taking a motorbike taxi and hopping one of those baht buses,
getting around in Pattaya is a piece of cake once you know your way around. The convenience of
getting around in Pattaya is something I really missed when I flew down to Phuket.
C OST OF LIVI N G I N PATTAYA
Another thing that I liked about Pattaya - aside from the Muay Thai and the hot girls everywhere
- was the fact that it’s quite inexpensive compared to Bangkok and Phuket. Sure, you can get by
on a tight budget in both those places, but it requires a little more effort when it comes to
searching out the deals. In Pattaya, it’s not hard to find cheap food, a cheap room, cheap
training and well, whatever else it is that you’re looking for.
As always, the best way to find a cheap room is with the assistance of a Thai. However, even
without a local helping you out, you have a pretty good chance at finding a nice, yet reasonably
priced room on your own. There’s something for every budget in Pattaya.
There’s guesthouses all over the place with the average nightly room rate being between 500 700 baht. If you stay for a month and up, you can get yourself a discounted rate. I stayed in the
rooms above “club blu” for a month and paid 12,000 baht. The room was pretty small, but it was
modern and comfortable. I also had maid service there, which as I’ve come to learn, is something
that I absolutely need. Here are some photos of the place.
Another decent place to stay is in Jomtein at the View Talay condos. You don’t get the room
cleaning there but they’re nice buildings in a quiet area. Building 1 and 2 are the least
expensive. The other view talay buildings are a lot nicer, but they’re more expensive as well. I
lived in the view talay 2 building for a while. Once was with a Thai girl who was paying 6000
baht per month for a fairly large room and the second time was on my own - after the Thai girl
went crazy - and as I recall, I was paying a higher rental rate than she was, but it was still
pretty reasonable. Here’s a photo of the complex..
And if you’re really on a budget, you can certainly find rooms in the 5000 baht per month range.
You won’t have maid service and you may have to pay for your electricity usage separately, but if
you’re staying long term and you‘re trying to limit your spending, there’s no shortage of
inexpensive rooms.
As already mentioned in the Pattaya Muay Thai section, the training is pretty cheap as well.
Scorpion and Sityodtong both charge 250 baht per session and if you’re training at the camps
long term, you can get those rates discounted further. If you’re training once a day, you can get
a month of training at Scorpion for under 4000 baht.
So, the rooms are cheap, the training is cheap, the transportation is cheap (as mentioned in the
“getting around Pattaya” section) and the food, well ..the food is cheap all throughout the
country as long as you at the Thai food stalls.
If you’re here strictly for the training, then Pattaya is very affordable. That being said, while the
necessities in Pattaya are inexpensive, the people that come here end up spending more than
they would have if they had went somewhere else.
And the reason why people end up spending so much here, as mentioned in the Pattaya
entertainment section, is because there’s just so much to do. There’s a lot of temptation here
so if you’re on a budget, you really need to exercise a lot of restraint to stay away from the
naughty nightlife - which is where most people end up dumping their money.
And if you’re in a good financial situation and you have money to blow, then enjoy it because
Pattaya is a place where you can live like a rock star for the same amount of money that you’re
likely spending in your home country to sustain a modest, uneventful lifestyle.
TRAI NI N G I N BA N GKOK
For myself personally, Bangkok isn't an ideal place to train. It's overly populated and overly
polluted. I like having my space and I especially like having clear air to breathe while I'm
running, so the population and the pollution really turn me away from the city.
That being said, some of the best gyms, with the best fighters, are located here so thats a major
advantage that training in Bangkok provides. The entertainment options in a city like this are
endless and the cost of living – providing you live like the locals – is very affordable.
Since the international flights arrive and depart from the Bangkok airport, you'll likely be
arriving in Bangkok prior to embarking on your final destination, in which case, I certainly
recommend that you spend a couple nights here, check out some of the gyms, swing by
lumpinee stadium and pick up some cheap training gear and just check out the sights.
M UAY T HAI CAMPS I N BA N GKOK
Bangkok is, as they say, “where the big boys are”. The best fighters in the country tend to live
and train in the Bangkok area simply because the most prestigious stadiums are located here.
The Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadiums are the pinnacle of Muay Thai and the fighters that
fight here are the most respected in the country. And it only makes sense that if they’re actively
fighting at those stadiums, that they train nearby as well. As for where they’re training, well,
here’s a list of some of the Muay Thai camps in (and around) Bangkok.
Camp Name
Location
Kaewsamrit Gym
Click Here for Information
Sasiprapa Gym
Click Here for Information
Ingram Gym
Click Here for Information
Fairtex Bangplee
Click Here for Information
Por Pramuk Gym (Outside Bangkok)
Click Here for Information
Bangkok Fight Club
Click Here for Information
Chacrit Muay Thai
Click Here for Information
Fighting Spirit Gym
Click Here for Information
Jitti Gym
Click Here for Information
Jockey Gym
Click Here for Information
Kiatphontip Gym
Click Here for Information
Muay Thai Institute
Click Here for Information
Rompo Gym
Click Here for Information
Sor Vorapin 1
Click Here for Information
Sor Vorapin 2
Click Here for Information
13 Coins Gym
Click Here for Information
Keatkhamtorn
Click Here for Information
Sitsongpeenong
Click Here for Information
Muay Thai Plaza 2004
Click Here for Information
Poptheeratham Gym
Click Here for Information
Eminent Air Gym
Click Here for Information
Chuwattana Gym
Click Here for Information
Pinsinchai Gym
Click Here for Information
Saengmorakot Gym
Click Here for Information
Many of these these camps have a lot of history and a solid track record for producing quality
fighters. I haven't been to them all, but I'm working on it. Here's a quick breakdown of a few of
them..
Por Pramuk Gym: Perhaps the most famous of these camps due to the success of Buakaw Por
Pramuk in the K-1 Max tournament. I haven't been there yet personally, so I can't comment on
the training but I have a friend who's been there a couple times and he provided a valuable tip..
If you look at their website, it says that they’ll pick you up and take you to the camp for 2000
baht. Two-thousand baht may not seem like a lot of money but regardless, it's too much to pay
when you can get there for 300. To do that, here’s what you need to do..
•
Go to the Ekkamai bus station (Ekkamai station via BTS skytrain)
•
Buy a ticket to go to Shaoshensao (about 90 baht and an hour and a half away)
•
When you arrive, get a tuk tuk to take you to the gym (150-200 baht)
Kaewsamrit Gym: Won the prestigious “gym of the year” award on several occasions. Anuwat is
the most famous fighter out of this camp, followed by “Bovy” Sor Udomson. Both fighters have
aggressive styles and while they're exciting and get a lot of knockouts, they take a lot of damage
as well. The gym has gained a lot of popularity and based on what I hear, it's oftentimes quite
busy. I'll be visiting and reporting on the gym soon so if you do a search on Fight Passport in the
near future, you'll be able to get some more information.
One thing worth mentioning though is that Kaewsamrit makes their own line of Muay Thai
equipment and the Kick Pads are considered to be the highest quality and the preferred choice
at many of the gyms throughout Thailand. You might want to pick yourself up a pair while you
can since they're only available at the gym.
Sasiprapa gym: Has also won the “gym of the year” award and unlike Kaewsamrit and Por
Pramuk, I’ve actually trained at this camp. The gym is located near “The Mall Bangkapi”. I've
lived in Bangkapi for a few months and during that time, I was cross training between 13 coins
and Sasiprapa.
Sasiprapa is a small, modest facility but it provides quality training. The skill level amongst the
foreigners training there is quite high though so you may find it intimidating if you're a complete
beginner. The training is serious, with timed rounds/rest intervals. If I was to have a complaint
about this gym, it would be regarding the inconsistency of the pad holders. Some are great,
while others are rather old. Not that they don't have extensive knowledge regarding technique
and whatnot, but I imagine it's rough for them to be holding pads for hard kickers.
–
I've profiled Sasiprapa here and here, so check it out for some more information..
Sor Vorapin: Has 2 branches, one being located on the infamous Khao San Road. I've been to
the Khao San Road branch and to be honest, I hated it. I don't recommend this gym at all and
here's why. I haven't been to the 2nd location though so I can't comment on it.
13 Coins: I've spent about 3 months training here. When I arrived, things were awesome but by
the time I left, there had been a lot of negative changes. Most of the foreigners students left due
to poor training, mistreatment and the departure of the in-gym superstars (Saenchai and
Pornseneh). The area is great (I'm writing this update right now from an apartment down the
road from the gym), but I can't recommend training at the gym at the moment. I put together a
detailed review of the place here.
Fairtex: The Bangkok Fairtex facility is located in an area called “Bangplee” - which is somewhat
near the airport. I stopped by once to check out the facilities, the training and the overall “vibe”
of the place. The on-site facilities are great (fitness center, pool etc) but the accommodations are
laughably over-priced. For some reason, when I went to check it out, training was canceled so I
can't comment too much on that.
If anything, if you're into Fairtex gear, I'd recommend stopping by the place to pick some up.
There's some great deals in the on-site shop (cheapest prices around for unfilled training bags).
There's also a Fairtex facility in Pattaya (profiled here). Something worth noting about the Fairtex
gyms is that Yodsanklai Fairtex does his training out of the Pattaya facility and the head trainer
at the Bangplee location is Apidej Sit-Hirun – who was named the “fighter of the century” by the
King of Thailand.
Rompo Gym: Rompo was, and perhaps still is, the training home to Ramazan Ramazanov. At
the time of this writing, Ramazan the world heavyweight Muay Thai champion. That’s what's
awesome about the sport of Muay Thai. You have these current and former world champions
and for about 10 bucks, you can actually go train with them. I can’t think of any other sport
where you can do that.
The Rompo gym is located in a district of Bangkok called Klong Toey. Within the Klong Toey
district lies the largest, most crime-ridden slum in the city. I haven't been to Rompo yet, so I
can't comment on the exact location of the slum in relation to the gym but if you're planning on
training at the gym, it's at least something to take note of.
Jockey Gym: Here's a secret that not too many people are in on. Jockey gym is OPEN – despite
the fact that their website says otherwise. Some of the top fighters in the sport have trained out
of Jockey. Saenchai, Kaoklai, Jean Charles Skarbowsky, Lerdsila Chumpairtour, Somrak
Khamsing; the list goes on and on. I've trained at Jockey a few times thus far and I plan on
making some more trips. It's a long journey (all the way to the Bang Sue MRT station) followed
by a 50 baht taxi ride. You'll need to ask the driver to take you to the “Kalad Te Ma” market, at
which point, just ask a local to point you in the right direction (it's a 5 minute walk from there).
The 2 trainers there are the original trainers that trained all the champions. Lerdsila is still there
as well as a few other Thai boys. The gym is very quiet and unique in the sense that after
training, they all crack open bottles of whiskey and start smoking cigarettes. Jean Charles
Skarbowsky, who was “made” at this gym, is one of George St. Pierre's Muay Thai coaches and
on season 12 of the “ultimate fighter”, he made an appearance. If you haven't seen it, here it is.
Now I know where he got the drinking habit from..
Kiatphontip Gym: is located in the outskirts of Bangkok and it’s owned by Rob Cox. Rob is
originally from London, England but he’s now living in Thailand, running his gym and he’s been
working as a Muay Thai journalist for the past few years. He speaks fluent Thai and which is a
plus since I doubt many people speak English in the area. Although I’ve never been to this gym,
I’ve heard good things about the training so it might be worth checking out. I'll be going soon
because it's main appeal with me is that it has a “countryside feel”, which means FRESH AIR,
yet it's still about a 13 dollar taxi ride from central Bangkok.
Sitsongpeenong: I have mixed feelings about this gym. I absolutely love the area. but as for the
training, it's hot and cold. The gym is situated next to the Rama 9 park – which is beautiful. It's
a nice quiet area with great scenery. I can just imagine starting my training sessions off with a
run through the area. I was planning on training out of the gym and I even had my apartment
all picked out. Before committing, I decided to try the gym one more time but unfortunately,
neither me or my friend were impressed with it..
It was the same old story. You know, punch, punch, punch .. kick, kick, kick – get you tired and
they collect your money. They train hard here, but they're not a technical gym. The rounds are
timed (4 minutes) with only a 30 second rest period. I'd say it's a serious gym, and it's certainly
not “beginner friendly”. The owner has even told me that he wants a “fighters gym”, so if you're
just starting out, you may feel out of place.
The training facilities are great, as are the on-site rooms. However, as of April 2011, people who
stay off-site (get your own apartment) will NOT be admitted access to the training. This is
horrible. The rooms, while nice, are quite expensive and by restricting training to only the onsite guests, it shows that the number 1 here is to turn a profit.
The students who are the most serious about learning Muay Thai (and eventually taking it back
and spreading the art in our home countries) are NOT the ones who can afford to pay 50,000
baht per month for training and a room. Rather, we're usually the ones who stay in Thailand for
a long time and live on a budget to stay as long as we can to ultimately learn as much as
possible. I don't agree with what they're doing and I just hope that the other gyms don't follow
suit and do the same.
Eminent Air: I stopped by the gym to check out a session and the training appeared to be high
quality. The atmosphere was great, the skill level amongst the foreigners was high and the
trainers were friendly. The downside is that the cost for training was much higher than the
norm. At 15,000 baht per month just for training (roughly 2x the average Thai salary), the cost
to train might be a roadblock.
However, when we were there, my friend started to negotiate and he was able to get 2x per day
training for 12,000 baht per month. Still overpriced, but much better than 15k. I imagine that if
the owner was willing to knock off 3000 baht off 2x per day, she might even be willing to knock
3k off 1x per day training – which would bring the cost down to 7000 baht per month.
Price aside, the training and atmosphere here seemed to be top notch so if it's in your budget, I
can certainly recommend the place.. Here were my impressions of the gym.
Saengmorakot: I went to this gym with high hopes. It was hard to find (as its located within the
temple gates) but unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I saw. The gym has a great
reputation for producing quality fighters and it looked as though they were in the process of
doing so. However, the majority of the Thai fighters at the gym were young and tiny. There were
a couple bigger guys, but they were few and far between. I took some videos while I was there
and included a price list as well. Check it here.
Keatkhamtorn: They train hard here and the gym is known for their clinch work. They sort of
break their afternoon session down into two phases. Things will start off with a run, which is
followed by bag work, pad work and some technical sparring. Once all that's done with, everyone
sort of takes a break, takes a quick shower and meets back in the ring for clinching.
Keatkhamtorn is known for their clinch work simply because they spend more time on it than at
other gyms.
At 1200 baht per day for training/accommodation (36,000 baht per month), Keatkhamtorn is
extremely overpriced. It's the same old story. If you go with one of these all-in package deals,
they're going to rip you off. For that price, you don't even get your own room. Rather, you get a
shared room with a couple mattresses on the floor. If you want to train here, you're much better
off paying for your training and staying off-site. There's plenty of nearby accommodation
available in the 5000 baht per month range.
I've trained here once, but I have a few close friends who trained at the gym for a long time. It's a
serious gym. The training is structured and hard. Nopparat Keatkhamtorn is the top fighter at
the gym although they have a few other high level fighters as well.
Here's some footage and my initial impressions of the place from when I went.
Jitti Gym: Jitti is a modest gym with a long history. It's located directly across the street from
the Ratchada MRT station – so the location is extremely convenient. The purpose of the gym is to
make money rather than produce fighters. When I went in, my initial conversation with the
owner went something like this..
Jitti: “Do you want to train?”
Me: “Yes”
Jitti: “Can you pay me now?”
Me: “Um.. alright, I suppose”
I was asked for money before I even set down my bag. Actually, I was asked for the money before
I was asked for my name. Jitti Gym is an “international” Muay Thai school which means that
cater specifically to foreigners. There are no Thai fighters training out of this gym. There's 1 ring,
a few run down bags and usually a lot of students. The website says that the cost per session is
300 baht but when I got there, I was charged 400. The monthly cost for training is 12,000 baht.
My pad work wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It was average. I won't be going back.
Poptheeratham Gym: This is a fairly new gym that's owned by Samart Payakaroon. Samart,
who was brought up at the Sityodtong gym, is a 4 time lumpinee champion (4 different weight
classes) and a WMC boxing world champion. He's widely considered to be one of the greatest
Muay Thai fighters ever and he's extremely famous here in Thailand (he's also an actor). His gym
is expensive (as expected) but if the price suits your budget, it might be worth checking out. I'll
be going soon to report on it and hopefully pick up a few pointers from Samart himself.
Chuwattana: Chuwattana is a “heavy handed” gym so if your boxing needs work, Chuwattana
may be a good option. The gym is located in Chinatown and from what I hear, it's pretty hard to
find. I haven't been there yet, so I can't comment on the training but if you head there before me,
here's a guide that will help you find the place. The top fighters at this gym is Lamsongkram –
who is a WMC, S1 and Raja stadium champion.
As for the other gyms listed, I haven’t visited them yet. I can’t exactly recommend them and I
can’t necessarily say anything bad about them either. However, I do plan on visiting them all
and as I visit new camps, this training guide will be updated and as previously mentioned, I’ll be
sending out revised editions to everyone as content as added.
GETTI N G ARO U N D BA N GKOK
Since Bangkok is a mega city with over 11 million people, the traffic situation is a nightmare.
There’s been a few occasions where I’ve spent upwards of an hour in a taxi just to get to a
location that’s about 5-10 blocks away. The only good thing about taking a taxi in Bangkok,
providing you avoid the busiest districts during peak hours, is the fact that they’re unbelievably
cheap.
However, being a foreigner, a lot of the taxi drivers will try to get you to agree to a flat rate
instead of going by the meter (just in the tourist areas though). They actually claim that the flat
rate will be cheaper but it’s definitely not. If you’re a foreigner visiting their country, they
automatically assume that you’re rich simply based on the fact that you can afford to take a
holiday so believe me, the Bangkok taxi drivers are not trying to save you money. So just hop in,
tell the driver where you want to go and if he refuses to go by the meter, just get out and find
another cab since they’re all over the place.
An alternative to the taxis are the “tuk tuks”. Honestly, don’t waste your time with these. From
my personal experience, which I’ll admit is limited, a lot of the tuk tuk drivers in Bangkok are
extremely pushy and annoying. Regardless of where you’re going or how rushed you seem,
they’ll bombard you with fliers for soapy massage parlors and try to convince you to go because
they’ll earn a commission if you do.
As mentioned in the common scams section, these tuk tuk drivers will oftentimes offer you a
“free” ride and claim that they’ll take you anywhere you want to go. They’ll even take you on a
little tour of Bangkok “out of the kindness of their hearts”. Don’t fall for this trick either because
as we know all too well, nothing in this world is free.
So, the taxi’s are affordable providing that the driver turns the meter on for you but the traffic is
insane most of the time. The tuk tuk drivers in Bangkok are scammers so I don’t really
recommend taking them. So when it’s busy and you don’t want to take a taxi, then you have two
other options - the BTS and the MRT.
The BTS is the sky train and the MRT is the subway. Both are clean, quick, affordable and very
convenient. People oftentimes have to use a combination of both to get where they’re going
because they cover different aspects of the city. For example, to get to Lumpinee Stadium, you’ll
need to take the MRT but in order to get to the MRT station, you might have to take the BTS.
The prices for both are dependent on the distance you want to travel. If you want to go only a
couple stations over, it’ll cost you less than if you wanted to go across the city. It’s really cheap
though. A buck or two (oftentimes even less than a dollar) will get you anywhere you need to go
on the sky train route. Here’s a map..
Those stations probably don’t mean anything to you now but once you familiarize yourself with
Bangkok, getting around becomes extremely convenient. Here’s a very brief overview of what you
can find around some of the stations..
Mo Chit Station is where you want to get off when you want to go to the “weekend market”. The
weekend market is insane and as the name indicates, it’s only open on the weekends. It’s
insanely busy so if you don’t like crowds, then you might not last long there. There’s around
200,000 people that go there each Saturday and Sunday to shop from the 15,000+ stalls that
are set up over the 35 acres of land.
National Stadium is where you want to go to visit the MBK shopping center. MBK is by far my
favorite place to shop in Bangkok simply due to the convenience of everything. You can find
cheaper merchandise at the open air markets but at MBK, it’s all right there and you don’t have
to scale thousands of vendors over acres of land to find what you’re looking for.
When you’re there, head up to the second highest floor (just under the movie theaters and
arcade) and you’ll find all sorts of Western brand clothing. Actually, on that floor you can find
gear from every designer you can think of. And a couple floors below that, they sell all sorts of
amazingly cheap cell phones as well as bootleg movies, computer software and video games. As
mentioned here though, you can get the DVD’s for half the cost in Phuket.
Siam Station, which is just one stop over, is where you’ll find the Siam Paragon. Siam Paragon
is one of the craziest malls I’ve ever seen. It’s extremely upscale and to be honest, I don’t shop
there simply because I can’t afford it. It’s full of high fashion stores (Gucci, Prada, Louis Vutton
etc.) and they even have an exotic car dealership in there. Lamborghini's and Ferrari's aren’t
exactly what you’d expect to see in a developing country like Thailand but apparently there’s a
lot of really rich people here.
Ekkami Station is where the bus station is located. If you wanted to go to Pattaya for example,
this is where you’d go to catch the bus. Pattaya is about 2 hours away and you can get there for
about 113 baht, which is about the cost of a beer at the bar. Most of the destinations are
inexpensive to get too from there. Make sure that you don't get scammed here either.
Oftentimes, people will try to wave you over and convince you go get on a bus without paying at
the designated ticket counter. When this happens, you'll find yourself on a start/stop bus route
(picking people up and dropping them off) and it'll take you a lot longer to get to your
destination.
Sala Daeng Station on the Silom line or Asok station on the Sukhumvit line is where you can
catch the MRT (subway) to get to Lumpinee. As for why you’d want to go to Lumpinee? Well, to
check out Lumpinee stadium of course. There’s also a few shops around the stadium and it’s at
these shops where you can get your training gear at the lowest prices in the country and as a
matter of fact, the entire world. So check it out and get yourself some gloves for about 30 bucks
(I recommend Top King instead of Twins as they're more comfortable and last longer).
While on the topic of buying Muay Thai gear, you can also use the BTS system to head to the
BOON shop. Head to the On Nut station and from there, take a motorbike taxi for about 10
baht. Here's a detailed guide that'll show you exactly how to get there.
Nana Station, Asok Station and Sala Daeng are the stations you want to hit if you want to
check out the gogo bars. At Nana station, you have the Nana plaza. At Asok station, you have
Soi Cowboy and at Sala Daeng station, you have the infamous Patpong district - which is great
for shopping by the way. I won’t get into detail here regarding each specific area because I’ve
done so in the Bangkok entertainment section.
Bangkok is a huge mega city and providing you stay near a sky train or subway station,
everything becomes extremely accessible thanks to the great public transportation system.
However, the public transportation shuts down at around 11 pm so after that, you’ll need to rely
on taxi’s but by that time, the roads are pretty clear so the crazy traffic jams that Bangkok is
known for won’t even be an issue.
ENTERTAI N ME NT I N BA N GKOK
With Bangkok being a mega city of over 11 million people, there’s no shortage of entertainment
options. Actually, of all the big cities, Bangkok is known throughout the world to be the wildest.
There’s the wholesome entertainment options such as the restaurants, shopping malls, arcades,
movie theaters, markets, temples and the regular nightclubs.
Then for additional “entertainment” options, you have the gogo bar and massage parlor scene.
Now I know some of you aren’t interested in this aspect of Bangkok, but I also know that some of
you are so I’ll discuss it regardless and you can do whatever you want with the information.
G o G o Ba r s
Nicholas Cage pays a visit to Soi Cowboy in "Bangkok Dangerous"
As mentioned in the Bangkok transportation section, the 3 main gogo districts in Bangkok are
Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza and Patpong. Of those 3 districts, the main one that you want to avoid
is Patpong. Patpong market is a good place to shop, but don’t bother going into the gogo bars
and especially don’t agree to watch one of the “shows”. The reason why you don’t want to get
involved with this place (shopping aside) is discussed in the common scams section.
Nana plaza is located around Sukhumvit soi 4 and it’s a pretty grimy area. The place attracts a
lot of shady characters from all over the world. There’s 3 floors (from what I remember) with
dozens of bars and well over a thousand girls. Some of the girls are extremely hot looking -
especially in a bar called “Rainbow 4” - but the amount of hardcore sex tourists in the complex
sort of ruins it.
You know, the type of guys who clearly flew halfway around the world solely to get laid and
nothing else. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I guess everyone has their needs, but
when 80 percent of the patrons in the bar are hairy old drunk guys who are borderline obese,
you really start to question why you’re there.
Then there’s soi cowboy, which is located on soi 21 (asok station on the BTS sky train). Of the
three districts, I found soi cowboy to have the best atmosphere. There’s girls are pretty, the
people aren’t pushy and there’s even elephants in the street. There’s actually a scene in the
Bangkok Dangerous movie where Nicholas Cage is there. In this clip, Dean Barrett - who’s well
known for his Thai oriented novels - is seen giving a tour of the infamous street.
G r a n d Pa l a c e
Now moving onto something a little more “wholesome”. While you’re in Bangkok you should
definitely check out “Grand Palace”. Yeah, that’s right - from gogo bars to temples. The Grand
Palace is perhaps the most recognized and revered landmarks in the country. For all the specific
details, just click here and if you decide to go, just pay close attention to the dress code..
“The Grand Palace with The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most sacred
site. Visitors must be properly dressed before being allowed entry to the temple. Men
must wear long pants and shirts with sleeves (no tank tops. If you're wearing sandals or
flip-flops you must wear socks (in other words, no bare feet).”
To get to the Grand Palace, you can take the sky train to the national stadium station and
then take a taxi from there. Oh, and if when you arrive, somebody tries to tell you that the
Palace is closed, don't listen to him and proceed to the entrance. He's just trying to set you up
for a scam.
Ni g h t c l ub Dis t ri c t s
In Bangkok, the clubbing options are seemingly endless. Listed below are the most popular
nightlife areas in Bangkok and when clicked, you’ll be redirected to page profiling the best clubs
in each district. Of these areas, the one that I've spent the most time at is RCA. RCA is a strip of
clubs that attracts the University crowd. The “foreigner” entrance fee is 200 baht and that gets
you access to all the bars as well as vouchers for 2 drinks. If you're looking to get out one night,
I highly recommend that you check the place out.
Sukhumvit Clubs
Khao San Road Clubs
Silom Clubs
RCA District
Siam & Ploenchit Clubs
Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadium play host to the biggest fights in the country and they’re
both located in Bangkok. Watching a good Muay Thai event at either of the stadiums would
certainly make for an entertaining evening - or at least a good way to start your night anyway.
Since you’re a foreigner, the cost of your tickets will likely be jacked up to the 1500 baht range.
Thai people pay a couple hundred baht max. It’s still probably worth it though.
I really don’t think being bored in Bangkok is something you really have to worry about. There’s
so much to do here that when you do get a moment of peace and quiet, you probably welcome it.
C OST OF LIVI N G I N BA N GKOK
With Bangkok being the capital, and one of the most populated cities in the world, it comes to no
surprise that the biggest businesses in Thailand are stationed here. For a developing country,
you certainly see a lot of BMW’s and Benzes - many of which are being driven by Thai people.
That being said, the average wages for unskilled workers is still extremely low (as it is
throughout the rest of the country) at a little over 6 bucks a day. So while a lot of people in
Bangkok are doing well for themselves and earning well over 30,000 baht per month, there’s still
millions of people earning extremely low monthly wages.
With so many people living on such a limited budget, there’s cheap meals to be had and
inexpensive apartments to be found. One of my old Muay Thai trainers relocated back to
Bangkok from the Patong gym and he told me via MSN that he pays 4000 baht a month for his
room, which seem to be the average room rate for most Thai people.
Finding those rooms can be the tricky part though, especially since you’re most likely a visible
minority and you’ll automatically be pigeonholed as being “rich” just for being a tourist.
However, finding a room in Bangkok is not near as difficult as it is in say, Phuket. Here is a
website that showcases all sorts of nice, affordable rooms throughout the city.
The transportation in Bangkok is pretty affordable. The taxi’s are cheap, as are the sky train and
the subway. You can actually get a 30 trip pass (valid over 30 days) for the BTS sky train for 600
baht, which is approximately 17 US dollars. So unless you’re constantly traveling around the
city visiting various camps, you don’t really need to set aside a huge budget for transportation.
As for food, it really depends. It’s Bangkok so there’s certainly no shortage of the popular
restaurants that you’re used to in the west but if you chose to eat there, you’ll be paying only
slightly-less than typical western prices. The real bargains in Bangkok - and throughout the
country - are at the Thai food stalls. It’s at these food stalls where you can get a meal for
between 20-40 baht, depending what it is.
The cost of training certainly fluctuates depending on which gym you visit. I definitely found the
training in Bangkok to be more expensive than in Pattaya and Phuket though. Eminent Air gym
charges 15,000 baht per month for twice a day training and 500 baht for single day sessions.
Sor Vorapin gym - which is a huge rip off by the way - asks for 500 baht before they even ask
you your name.
I’d say that the average cost at the gyms in Bangkok is between 400-500 per session although
that price gets discounted a bit if you pay the monthly rates. Ingram gym charges 900 baht for
the first session but included with that is a pair of sick “Ingram gym” embedded Muay Thai
shorts, so that’s not a bad deal at all.
Then there’s the shopping; an expense that’s obviously dependent on how much you buy and
where you shop. If you visit the malls around the Siam/National Stadium area via the BTS sky
train, the prices are going to be a little higher than if you did your shopping at the markets like
the Lumpinee Night Bizarre or the weekend market near the Mo Chit station.
Your negotiation skills will be a determining factor when it comes to your shopping expenses. In
Thailand, pretty much everything is negotiable so just low-ball the vendors as much as you can,
because they’re definitely highballing you. More often that not you’ll be able to meet at a price
point somewhere in the middle.
So that about wraps it up. I hope you picked up some useful tips that’ll help decide where to
train, help you save some money so you can stay longer, help keep you out of trouble and avoid
getting scammed and basically, just make you more prepared give you a better idea regarding
what to expect.
This guide will be constantly updated as I tour the country, experience more of the culture and
train at more of the camps. Information on training in Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan
and throughout Issan will also be added.
When these changes are made, an updated copy of the guide will be sent to your inbox.
If you have any questions regarding anything I’ve discussed, or anything I may have left out, just
send me an email at..
[email protected]
For a priority response, mention that you’ve purchased this guide.
Have a safe trip,
Bill Forestell
www.FightPassport.com
Copyright 2009
FightPassport.com
All Rights Reserved.