Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [154]
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KICKING & SCREAMING
More formally known as Phahuyut (from the Pali-Sanskrit bhahu or ‘arm’ and yodha or ‘combat’), Thailand’s ancient martial art of moo·ay tai (Thai boxing) is one of the kingdom’s most striking national icons. Overflowing with colour and ceremony as well as exhilarating moments of clenched-teeth action, the best matches serve up a blend of such skill and tenacity that one is tempted to view the spectacle as emblematic of Thailand’s centuries-old devotion to independence in a region where most other countries fell under the European colonial yoke.
Many martial-arts aficionados agree that moo·ay tai is the most efficient, effective and generally unbeatable form of ring-centred hand-to-hand combat practised today. And according to legend, it has been for a while.
After the Siamese were defeated at Ayuthaya in 1767, several expert moo·ay boh·rahn (from which moo·ay tai is derived) fighters were among prisoners hauled off to Burma. A few years later a festival was held and one of the Thai fighters, Nai Khanom Tom, was ordered to take on prominent Burmese boxers for the entertainment of the king, and to determine which martial art was most effective. He promptly dispatched nine in a row and, as legend has it, was offered money or beautiful women as a reward; he promptly took two new wives. Today a moo·ay tai festival Click here in Ayuthaya is named after Nai Khanom Tom.
Unlike some martial disciplines, such as kung fu or qi gong, moo·ay tai doesn’t entertain the idea that martial-arts techniques can be passed only from master to disciple in secret. Thus the moo·ay tai knowledge base hasn’t fossilised and in fact remains ever open to innovation, refinement and revision. Thai champion Dieselnoi, for example, created a new approach to knee strikes that was so difficult to defend that he retired at 23 because no one dared to fight him anymore.
Another famous moo·ay tai champion is Parinya Kiatbusaba, aka Nong Thoom, a transvestite from Chiang Mai who arrived for weigh-ins wearing lipstick and rouge. After a 1998 triumph at Lumphini, Parinya used the prize money to pay for sex-change surgery and in 2003 the movie Beautiful Boxer was made about her life. While Bangkok has long attracted foreign fighters, it wasn’t until 1999 that French fighter Mourad Sari became the first non-Thai fighter to take home a weight-class championship belt from a Bangkok stadium.
Several Thai nák moo·ay (fighters) have gone on to triumph in world championships in international-style boxing. Khaosai Galaxy, the greatest Asian boxer of all time, successfully defended his World Boxing Association super flyweight world title 19 times before retiring in 1991.
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FOOTBALL
Thais, and particularly Bangkokians, have been caught up in the rapid internationalisation of football in recent years. Thailand has a national league, but apart from celebrating a few stars of the underperforming national team (104th in the FIFA world rankings in April 2010), most Thais will be happier watching Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City – the club formerly owned by ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra – on TV rather than their own league. Still, if you want to see a match, most of the 16 Thai Premier League teams are based in Bangkok; most weekends you’ll find a match at the conveniently central Chulalongkorn University Sports Stadium (Map).
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MOO·AY TAI (THAI BOXING)
Quintessentially Thai, almost anything goes in moo·ay tai, the martial art more commonly known elsewhere as Thai boxing or kick boxing. If you don’t mind the violence, a Thai boxing match is well worth attending for the pure spectacle – the wild musical accompaniment, the ceremonial beginning of each match and the frenzied betting.
The best of the best fight at Bangkok’s two boxing stadiums. Built on royal