Thailand?s national sport, muaythai, is considered by many to be one of the most effective martial arts on the planet. Today, 74 nations boast amateur and professional stables (camps of fighters), making it eligible for consideration as an Olympic sport, while the World Boxing Council (WBC) has recently included an international muaythai branch (WBC Muaythai) at the behest of Thailand?s king. Thus the sport has moved into the global ring at both amateur and professional levels.

With recent trends in fitness, many westerners have found the training regime of a fighter, albeit in a less intensive form, both an enjoyable and effective means of losing weight, lowering stress levels, building cardiovascular strength and being challenged ? all while having a great time.

While it has been almost three decades since the first westerners began trickling into Thailand to learn the secrets of the art, more and more tourists are including some muaythai training as a part of, if not the primary purpose for their visit. Thais within the industry are seizing the opportunity to to build what might be described as muaythai tourism into a growing branch of the country?s holiday industry.

Although the largest number of camps can be found in Bangkok, and the best fighters are said to come from Thailand?s remote northeast, it is the tourist destinations in the North (Chiang Mai) and the south, (Phuket and Koh Samui) that offer the most training facilities and fight opportunities for foreigners.

Phuket boasts about forty kai muay (fight camps) in total, and three stadiums for competition. Many of these ?camps? are minimalist hole-in-the-wall operations intended for a few serious Thai fighters, but the south of the island has several operations designed with western clientele in mind.

Rawai Muay Thai www.rawaimuaythai.com
Four year old Rawai gym was the brain child of an international threesome who combined their diverse expertise?s into a success. Khun Tuk retired to Phuket after a 12 year professional career as a fighter in Bangkok. He leads the camp training, assisted by his five younger brothers, all professional competitors in their own right.

Begun in November 2003 with a single student, the camp today trains and houses about 40 to 50 foreign students per day and about 100 different people per month including a healthy number of women.

Rawai is a pure muaythai gym, they do not teach any other martial forms. Trainers alternate grappling and sparring drills with technique training on different days, while Saturdays are reserved for teaching the wai khru (pre-fight ceremony required of all ring competitors). One unusual feature of Rawai Muaythai is their agreement with the nearby Atsumi Healing Center. Visitors can combine the benefits of getting fit at the camp and detoxifying at Atsumi.

The typical experience level of arriving students is from beginner to intermediate training. The gym will provide foreigners with authentic training and opportunities to compete.

Tiger Muaythai and MM - www.TigerMuayThai.com & www.MMAPhuket.com
Opened in 2004 by two Americans, Will McNamara and Sean Getchell, Tiger Muaythai and MMA (mixed martial arts), offers something more than training in the kingdom?s key sport with their MMA program. Professional competitors from around the world come to Tiger in order to improve their stand-up skills without halting their ground fighting training, since Tiger has three Jiu Jitsu (ground fighting) coaches and a cage (arena for MMA bouts). According to McNamara, Tiger offers the only real MMA training in Thailand.

The gym tries not to over-pack with students so they can concentrate on one-to-one training with Thai and Jiu Jitsu coaches. Thus they prefer no more than 36 people at a time. The gym is friendly but there is a very serious air to the place. Although they welcome women, only about 20% of those training here are female. The majority seem to be large western men taking their sport seriously.

Phuket Thai Boxing Camp and Gym www.phuketmuaythai.com
Phuket Gym is the oldest muaythai facility geared to foreigners on Phuket. Opened in early 2003 by American Steve Illyes, many of the trainers who coach at the island?s other camps passed through Phuket Thai Boxing first. Gym Manager Khun Chun says that about 50% of their clientele come specifically for competition and they prefer small groups of 12 to 15 people at any one time.

In addition to the opportunity to focus on pure boxing skills with one of the world?s top competitors, students at Phuket Thai boxing can also concentrate on muaythai?s ?inside? fighting tools of elbows and knees. The camp is also considering incorporating Krabi Krabong training as part of their regular offerings. Krabi Krabong means sword-staff, and refers to the sword fighting art which is the progenitor of muaythai. Khun Chun trained Krabi Krabong at the prestigious Phuttaisuwan School in Bangkok.

Why train in Thailand?
With 74 countries boasting plenty of muaythai camps, why come all the way to Thailand to practice? As anyone who has done so will tell you, no matter how skilled your coaches are back home, nothing beats being trained by active or retired professional Thai fighters. Their skill with sparring, wrestling, timing and pad work are impeccable due to their extensive experience.

?Every single person who comes here for muaythai thought they knew the art before they trained here,? says Will McNamara, when referring to the quality of training available in the kingdom. Consider this: the average professional western boxer may see as may as 30-40 pro bouts in his career. The average Thai boxer will likely have between 150-200 competitions under his belt before he reaches the ripe old age of 35. There simply is no comparison.

Another benefit of training in Thailand ? especially when paired with a holiday experience ? is the opportunity to interact with an international group of women and men interested in the same thing, all while enjoying a visit to an exotic, tropical locale.