Meet the Thai manufacturers
of boxing equipment and sportswear
Probably the best-known amongst the manufacturers of muay thai boxing equipment, TWINS (established since 1992) is known (and sold) worldwide. Its main selling point is a huge product range displaying the most innovative designs and colors, backed up by a great quality of leather used and workmanship. TWINS is 100% export-oriented and even though everything is manufactured near Bangkok, wholesale prices are expensive. The gear is just perfect for young fighters: fresh designs, colorful, cool. For some it may be a bit on the tacky side, but who cares anyway? TWINS sells it from shops at Lumpini and Rajadamnern Boxing Stadiums open only on weekly fights. Recently, TWINS has started to use PU for its low-budget product line. A worrying sign of vanishing quality? You'll find all TWINS products here, excluding the items in PU. manufacturers
Personal ratings:
Style: 100
Quality: 100
Price: 60
Immediate Availability: 95
Durability: 100
Final score: 91
Check TWINS website here
MUAYTHAI
(established about 30
years ago) is virtually unknown abroad but its quality is, amazingly,
as good as
TWINS. This
unregistered, obscure brand is known in muay thai camps
throughout
Thailand
but has never been seriously marketed abroad. This is due to
the
fact that the
owner is not interested in branding MUAYTHAI to foreign
distributors, preferring instead to concentrate on the Thai domestic
market and on custom-made orders. MUAYTHAI is the only
one in the manufacturers displayed here which can
produce muay thai gear for other brands and has
prices fit
for local fighters. The
product range is quite large and surprisingly modern, due to the fact
that they can replicate any given item from whichever brand
they
fancy, minus the copyrighted designs. MUAYTHAI's weak
point is the gear overall appearance: there are no fancy
designs, no colorful
screenings, no innovative concepts, only the classic
red/blue/black/yellow combinations of colors. But the
quality
of each and every MUAYTHAI product is
amazingly good. Everything is
hand-made by local artisans and the leather is top quality
cowhide
grade "A", exactly the same one used by TWINS, FAIRTEX,
RAJABOXING
and KING. And there are rumors that such big names
sometimes outsource to MUAYTHAI's factory when
submerged with orders. All items from MUAYTHAI are
available on this
site and also on our Italian
affiliate site. 28 February update: MUAYTHAI's first fancy gloves are introduced and they're cool!
Personal
ratings: manufacturers
Style: 50
Quality: 100
Price: 100
Immediate Availability: 85
Choice: 80
Final score: 83
Personal ratings:
Style: 100
Quality: 100
Price: 55
Immediate Availability: 90
Choice: 80
Final score: 85
Check FAIRTEX website here
Born
in 2002 after a dispute in the TWINS family,
RAJABOXING
has been struggling to find its own identity on the market.
The product range is, unsurprisingly, pretty similar to TWINS.
The majority of RAJABOXING's boxing equipment looks similar
to MUAYTHAI's,
but unfortunately prices are as high as TWINS. As TWINS
sponsors Lumpini's fighters and has its main shops
there, RAJABOXING shows its power at Rajadamnern Boxing Stadium
from its only shop. Very recently, RAJABOXING has revamped its gear
introducing a "fancy" line similar to TWINS' style. The result is quite
"glitzy" and perhaps not suitable for all.
Personal
ratings:
Style: 70
Quality: 90
Price: 65
Immediate Availability: 80
Choice: 80
Final
score: 77
Check RAJABOXING website here
Another
sub-brand from the TWINS'
family, KING was created in 2000 but appeared in a
shop near
the Lumpini
Stadium only in 2005. Unlike RAJABOXING, KING has its own
colorful,
american-looking flashy
style, even though the product range is at the moment,
essential: gloves,
protectors, kick pads and mitts. All is made with cowhide grade
"A"
and the top quality is evident, so similar to
TWINS's best items. The sportswear
section is surprisingly rich in fancy, colorful T-shirts,
shorts,
vests and bags. KING is still little known both in
Thailand and
abroad, even though the quality is sound and it's quite cheaper than
TWINS.
You'll find all KING's items on this site. manufacturers
Personal
ratings:
Style: 100
Quality: 90
Price: 90
Immediate Availability: 70
Choice: 60
Final
score: 82
Check KING website here
My personal recommendation if you are an end-user i.e. a muay thai practitioner: buy MUAYTHAI or KING. MUAYTHAI products are the ones local nak muay use in training camps upcountry. KING has very good prices and appealing style. If you don't need a fancy look in the ring or while training, buy MUAYTHAI. It costs less than all the other manufacturers but the gear is basically the same.
The manufacturers listed below share common traits, such as: lower quality of materials used, poor QC, unrealistic pricing, etc. Therefore they are not classified amongst the top five above, even though they are well known brands in Thailand and abroad, too.
One of the first (established 1960) and original manufacturers of muay thai equipment, THAISMAI (pronounced thai-samai, meaning "modern thai") is very well known and respected in Thailand. THAISMAI was big decades ago, when TWINS didn't even exist and FAIRTEX was already expanding outside Thailand. THAISMAI has a small, old-fashioned range of products which has remained largely unchanged in the past ten years. THAISMAI sells predominantly to the Thai domestic market even though its prices are not that cheap. Their old-fashioned, dusty shop is located in Charoenkrung Rd. near the river and gives you the feeling of the "good old days" of muay thai, before it become a worldwide commodity. You can browse their website here
SIAMBALL also known as SBS, produces balls for basket, soccer, athletics, golf, etc. The factory where muay thai gear is made is large and modern. The gear is solid, well built, well stitched; every item is available in leather grade "B", PU and PVC. Whilst all items made with leather are of a disappointing quality, SIAMBALL's strong point is definitely PU. The product range is good and the PU gear is definitely worth its price. You can browse SIAMBALL's products here
FOOTBALL THAI (FBT) The biggest manufacturer of sportswear and sport equipment in Thailand, FBT was established in 1957 and is still is the most popular and most sold sportswear brand in the country. By selling nice, colorful stuff at very low prices and sponsoring every sporting event in Thailand, FBT is a giant brand and it's everywhere, from important international sport events to high-schools tournaments upcountry. Regarding muaythai equipment, FBT's product range is unfortunately very small, and of the lowest quality, being made with PVC. Prices are ridiculously high. Recently, FBT has obtained the license to distribute made-in-China EVERLAST boxing gloves, which really look bad and have absolutely nothing in common with the EVERLAST items available in USA. Disappointing indeed.
Established in 1981 with the goal of becoming Thailand's premier sporting goods manufacturer and steal FBT's spotlight, NATIONMAN has grown into a major force in the local sportwear market. NATIONMAN has a very limited product range devoted to muay thai which looks very similar to FBT in terms of pricing and quality. For some obscure reasons, NATIONMAN has managed to reach the markets outside Thailand with only one item: elastic ankle supports, produced in dozens of different colors. But they do have much more to offer.
