Muay Thai Boxing

The other night a few of us volunteers decided to attend one of the Muay Thai boxing matches that had been advertised in fliers all over Chiang Mai. The match started around 9pm and we set up with some Singha beers at a table with a good position facing the boxing ring. While I am in no way a fan of any sort of professional (or unprofessional for that sake) fighting, it was interesting to see the cultural side of this national sport. Each match began with the fighters doing a ceremonial warm-up dance around the ring, bowing to the referee and it seemed crowd also. There were seven matches total, beginning with the least experienced and building up into the better fights, and each match consisted of five rounds to determine the winner. Fighters threw punches, kicks to the head, and elbows and knees to the torso seemed a preferred hit. Surprisingly, and somewhat disturbingly, several matches were between young boys just ten years old, accompanied by loud, drunk Westerners cheering them on to beat each other up! There was also one "Lady Fight" and one where four random audience members volunteered to fight each other blindfolded in front of everyone, quite a scene especially when the referee got punched in the side of the head. The last two matches were really the only two that displayed any skill but the atmosphere of gambling Thai, drunk Westerners and a very unsuccessful female Thai MC made for an interesting night. At least I can say that I have seen the spectacle of this popular Thai martial art now.