
muaythai in Bangkok nowgamblers, tourists and the showbiz... |
||||||||||||||
| Muaythai in Bangkok now is evolving into something quite different from before. Thais,
mostly males, attend the fights primarily to bet like there is no
tomorrow. In a noisy, messy
atmosphere of total chaos, heat, scarce visibility and
great fun, hundreds of "experts" bet against each other on the final
score of each round, on the overall final result and on many other
little things somehow not easy to grasp for the uninitiated. The
betting is done by hand-signals, as in
a stock exchange trading floor. Often such signs
are misunderstood by one side and additional
fights may erupt outside the ring between hardened gamblers. That
perhaps explains why the
security service at Lumpini Stadium is
managed
by seriously tough-looking, armed Military Police officers. muaythai in Bangkok nowmuay thai in bangkok now
There are
usually seven main fights of five rounds each. A few are
the
"hot" ones, where famous fighters are paired. They
are
usually preceded and followed by less famous ones. An unexperienced
visitor may detect the importance of the fight by the level of
betting going on. The last fight in the schedule is usually the
"beginners" fight and it is mercilessly booed by the
tired audience, already leaving. For many people
attending regularly, all this is a full-time job. Foreigners
usually
occupy the expensive ringside seats, while gamblers and aficionados
prefer the second or third ring of seats upstairs. muaythai in Bangkok nowm
uaythai in bangkok now
Similarly, Thailand's reputation as a fantastic tourist destination has contributed to a large-scale opening of English-speaking, user-friendly muay thai camps, often conveniently located near excellent tourist spots like Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Samui and even Kao San Road in Bangkok. Several Muay Thai Federations, Organizations, Associations and Councils have been created to standardize muay thai on an international level (categories, rules, championships), in order to have an unified, international championship under the same umbrella. This hasn't been achieved yet and foreign fighters compete under different championships, with slightly different rules, and so do Thai champions fighting abroad. The world of international muaythai, foreign champions, ratings etc is outside the scope of this website, which offers instead a "Bangkokian" view of it. For those interested in muaythai outside Thailand, please refer to the links above as a starting point. muaythai in Bangkok nowmuay thai in bangkok nowmuaythai in Bangkok now
kok
now
muaythai in Bangkok now
muay
thai
in Bangkok, lumpini, rajadamnern, songchai promotions, muay thai
tickets, ringside tickets, world muay thai council, USMTA, kao san road
muay thai gym, king's cup, muay thai world's heritage | ||||||||||||||