Muay Thai Fun

Last night, we finally caved in to the pressure of relentless advertising and went to see a Muay Thai boxing match. I was a little apprehensive when a little research revealed that this match was put on entirely for backpackers (and it was; the majority of faces in the audience looked pretty Caucasian to me). We paid our 400 Baht entrance fee (a whole £8 each - and that's for the cheap seats) and waited for the show to begin.

The flyer had promised eight genuine Muay Thai fights, including the main fight where a Spanish guy named Jorge would be pitted against a Thai fighter. My prediction was that Jorge wouldn't stand a chance and would be pummelled by the Thai guy . More on that later.

The first thing that startled me was that we were watching fights spanning all the age groups. The first fight was in the youngest age group, featuring a couple of nine year old kids.

Don't be fooled by the picture; the kid in the red corner made mincemeat of the kid in the blue corner, who threw in the towel in the third round.

As the fights continued, we moved through the age groups, the fighters becoming stronger and more skillful and the blows becoming more and more vicious. The third fight ended with a knockout blow in the third round, which was rather shocking to see. Luckily, the defeated fighter regained consciousness and was lead out of the ring to a round of applause.

Before the main fight, we were treated to possibly the most entertaining spectacle of the evening: blind boxing. This involved putting four blindfolded boxers into the ring, and watching them flail around, trying to find each other. Any time a boxer made contact with another, they would unleash a flurry of blows. Often, this would involve punching another boxer in the back, which seemed a bit mean. Occasionally, a boxer would make contact with the referee instead, knocking him to the ground. The ref didn't much like this sort of thing and would respond with his feet (on which he had shoes), kicking the offending boxer to the ground, to a cheer from the audience.

Finally, it was time to see the plucky Spaniard, Jorge, take on Thailand's finest. As the fighters stepped into the ring, I couldn't see that Jorge stood a chance against Thailand's finest. After all, Spain doesn't have the same reputation for producing awesome kickboxers that Thailand has. The fight was soon underway, to cries of "viva España" from the numerous Spanish backpackers in the crowd.

The fight seemed fairly even for a very short while, both boxers trading blows and grappling with oneanother. Then, something happened that I didn't expect at all. As the fighters grappled, Jorge put his opponent on the floor. Then he did it again, before landing a series of increasingly brutal blows:

The fight ended shortly into the second Jorge putting his opponent on the canvas one too many times and the Thai guy failing to get up again. I was a little disappointed, to be honest, having hoped to see the full five rounds. Jorge departed, having confirmed the honour of his nation, and we headed for home. Despite the short duration of the main fight, we left satisfied, having discovered that Muay Thai is an awesome sport to watch. Even if this fight was purely for the benefit of us Faranags. Apparently, the Thais go to a different Muay Thai stadium across town.