Can anyone recommend a Muay thai camp in Thailand?

jon1981

Hi,

I know theres some guys training in Thailand at the moment and im wondering if any of you have any opinions on Tiger muay thai? or can recommend a gym to train for 3 weeks in september?

cheers

paddyc

where about in siam u headin?


paddy

jon1981

well I'm not so much fussy, Ill go anywhere that will take me and not charge me a bomb! being near a nice beach and lively night life would be nice too also id be a beginner too with only bout 8 months training

paddyc

nice beaches and lively night clubs = tourist

tourist = loads of money


if you can travel on your own got north past chang mai or N.E. to Issan region they good up there and train v hard


if you wanna bit f night life

WMC one in koh samui might do ya


there a thread belwo with loads of thai gyms to go to have a wee look for it


paddy

Millionaire

If you coming over here and you like to train and get in a bit of night life, then Pattaya is your place.

See alot of the camps in Pattaya, the main training session in in the afternoon usually 3pm or 4pm, as many people do the nightlife thing too, can stay out late, and still get in a good training session in the late afternoon, (provided you do not go mad on the booze etc).

Sityodtong where is train is really good. No 1 in whole of Thailand, for producing champions 24 in all I think.

Another good camp , they start training about 5pm and go on to 8pm of later is www.kombatgroup.com an Italian profighter called Christian owns it, and they got good training there. and the good thing here is, he tells the Thai Trainers to train you properly, and work on what you want to work on. No messing about and tire you out after 3 rounds, so you stop and they can doss off, which is a bad habit of many thai padmen trainers.

Here is me back in March, used to train down in kombat Group on Saturdays night, great training down there... http://www.kombatgroup.com/img-muay-thai/muay-thai-guest-053.jpg

There is quite a few other camps too in Pattaya.

Fairtex is here too, but I find its very much a Health Resort Package thing, and there is something that just does not feel right, when people are do Muay Thai, in a 5 star training center, with all new shiny Fairtex gear. Its more of a Tourist Muay Thai thing, personally from see all the camps out here, "the spit on the floor places," have a better vibe and better muay thai.

Google Pattaya. and you will get all the info.

Pattaya is great its 6am, I am just up, the choices are endless..for example I could go to Starbucks for coffee by the sea, or Training in Muay Thai, or a little open air techno disco, that goes on to 10am, but I better not go there, as I d probably meet a woman, and have too much to do this afternoon! LOL!!!

anyway we have our Tactical Krav Maga Seminar in Pattaya this weekend, www.kravmagathailand.com plug plug and last weeks seminar in Bangkok the 1st ever krav maga seminar in Thailand was a roarring success.

Hows it going Paddy C? I m still at that Mad One up in BKK I introduced you to, she won't leave me alone!!!! LOL!!! HA HA!

I promise Paddy I will not tell anyone what you did... as you said yourself..what happens in Thailand stays in Thailand... and your right!

Next time you will know better, if you check for the Adams Apple, Deeper Voice, and Big Feet. hee hee hee hee!!!! or was it a shee???? LOL!!!!! ;-)

Khannie

Welcome back Gerry. Was beginning to think we'd lost you there.

HammerHeadGym

I'd recommend Chay-yai gym in Chiang Mai, or True-bee gym in pai. Both are great camps with excellent trainers and a lot of one to one training from former champions.

Millionaire

LOL! very easy to get lost out here.


Actually, been serious busy trying to get Tactical Krav Maga off the ground in Thailand. Got plenty of PR in magazines etc... final seminar this weekend.

Been out of Muay Thai 2 months, but since I hardly missed a day since Jan 2006, and a few days a week, 2 sessions, the muscle memory has well kicked it. Ok endurance is down a bit for sure, and wind. But 6 weeks or so will get that back big time.

Dropped from 92Kg down to approx 80, and interesting thing is, and I did not plan this, it all started with a 3 week stomach bug in late march, which threw my religous eating and protein shake pattern off. when I dropped the weight, it was ALL FAT I lost, and now for 1st time in my life, I am near a six pack stomach, and very native Thai fighter shaped body.

Was 92 kg in photo link I posted. which was just before I started to drop weight as I picked at 1 meal a day while still training for almost 4 weeks.

Be interested to see, once I get back to MT late next week, how this new 12 kilo lighter, and no fat, body performs. (once I get over the 4 week hump and break into fitness zone again).

All the best from Thailand!

Here is me photo, about 5 years back, last time, I did any serious full contact kickboxing ring fights.

How long have ya been over there Millionaire?! Would u recommend workin ther? Im goin to Australia but wanna go to Asia for a few months first, was thinkin of workin and trainin in Thailand.

Millionaire

Hi Neil:

I m here since mid December 2005. No intentions of going back to Ireland, if all goes well.

Spent 9 months in tiny village called Nong Ki, in Burriram..(Burriram...county, provence, state...not sure what they call it over there!!). This is in ISAN or ESAN as some say, in North East, very near Cambodian border. As luck would have it, the 2nd best Muay Thai School for producing champions. 10 champions to date (thats the way the Thais measure how good a school is, now many champions it has produced.. as post above Sityodtong in Pattaya is No 1 with 24 champions). That school is called Nong Kee Payuath, and 2 champions Nampon and Namkabuan (undefeated and champion 7 years running which I believe is still a record in muay thai) , both ledgends in Thailand, both fought Ramon Deeker. (in fact Nampon lost once, and won against deeker once, and Namkabuan... lost I think.. not sure?? the interesting thing is these guys who are about my age of 35 give or take, would never swallow the idea that a Farang (Thai word for "foreigner") would ever be good enough to beat a Thai, and so they both treated the fights,as a bit of a walk in the park, and got beat. In fact Nampom was in the Whore House in Amsterdamn the night before he fought Deeker(that story is 100% true and he only got the bottle up to tell his trainer Master Parmote about it 10 - 12 years later!! LOL!!), I think he though a Farang challenging his title must have been a bit of a joke. ( same as we would if a Thai guy living in Co Kerry announced, he was going to get selected to play GAA for Kerry in the All Ireland! )

Anyway up there, there is very little foreigners, no tourists, and no one speaks English. Personally for me, I had a fooking blast and a great time, and I learn some real good Muay Thai and also the traditions, and the Muay Boran 15 Complimentry and 15 Master Tricks, which was great. Also did clinch sparring for 1 or even 2 hours a day. and the fighter did up to 3000 full power thai kicks a day to the pad man. that does not count bag work. I thinjk I got up to just shy of 500 at one stage left right left right thai kicks pads in one sessions in sets of 100. Have not been close to it since for some reason!

Then I moved down to Pattaya, and in Sitypdtong now. No need to ramble on about Pattaya. there is plenty on the net.

Yes, Neil I recommend 110% of giving Thailand a few months or as many months as you can for training.

By going to Isan, being mega respectful to the people, and keeping my mouth shut for 1st time in my life. and getting a few set ups in the boxing camp when the master was not there a few times in early days. The lads trying in on a bit... a very large bit.. head split open with an elbow right down on top of skull one day, but I did not flinch, even though I was screaming in pain inside, and got stuck into him with knees myself, I earned the respect, and after was consider to be in their own ISAN way "one of the lads".
Point is the people really embraced me, and went out of their way to teach me not only Muay Thai but about life in Isan , traditions and culture. and quite a few massive booze ups in Karoke bars, that would make a cattle shed look like a VIP nightclub! LOL!
I learned so much, it was an amazing experience, and I still go back and see them all every 3 or 4 months.

If you want to really learn and experience, stay away from othe foreigners, make an effort to mix in with the Thai Fighter and Trainers, put up with the testing, tricks and jokes, with a smile and laugh at yourself, in a month or so you will be in well with them, and the adventure will being.

In the likes of Pattaya full of drunks and perverts, it is very difficult to experience this, and BKK is very fast , busy and harder to do same there too.

Most foreign people work as English Teacher. Outside of that, unless you work for a Global Corporate like IBM and get transfer to Thailand, it is very difficult to get a job.

Me I own Thai Company, have full work permit, and work this into my business in Dublin, which even when I lived in Ireland was 90% done on phone and email, so being here make little difference to the way I work. I work 3pm to Midnight to match Irish biz hours. and of course my costs are 90% lower than in Ireland. and I pay Tax to the Thai tax system now.

Ok , so lots of info there, rambled a bit, but I hope it provides value to you in some way.

I d say go for it!!!

Really want to really go for it??? Throw yourself in at the deep end, like I did!! scary, weird, frustrating, but the experience millions of euro can never buy!!!

Millionaire

Here are some Photos from my Time in Nong Kee Payuath, in tiny village of Nong Ki, Burriram, Isan, North East Thailand..

Millionaire

And a few more photos...

Millionaire,

Thanks for the info. Not too sure how Im gonna approach it just yet. Gonna be workin here to save up the funds first so have some time to think about it anyway.

Dunno if Ill be there long enough to teach English cos I plan on doing the trail along Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia,and possibly Burma while Im there as well. Was in Thailand last year and have a few places I still wanna visit there too so will be doin a bit of travellin.

I had looked at a gym in Pattaya, would be interested cos I didnt get to Pattaya last time but the reason for that is that we'd heard it was go-go bar central......not my cup of tea!

Was on google earlier on, cant post the link now from work, but theres a place in Chaing Mai that has a link up with the Brazilian Top Team and teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as Muay-Thai. Prices were more expensive than a lot of the other places Id checked out. Do u know anything about the place?! Ill post the name later on when I get on my own computer.

I found the Thais have that crazy sense of humour when it comes to ribbing foreigners! Its all done in good spirit though. Lightens u up a bit!! Thats crazy that they were throwin full contact elbows and knees in training. U dont really find too many places that are happy 4 ya to throw elbows with intent!!


Anywya, thanks again man, appreciate ya takin the time to reply.

Millionaire

Aye full elbows and knees.. Isan .... no tourists... as pure Muay Thai as you can get.. not Fairtex.. and I trained there free, so it did not matter to them lads too much, if I went away and hefy training fee was lost. Too some of the lads, who never made it as fighters on the big league, but still fought on local level, for cash to feed the family( guess that a professional in the truest sense), they had an occassional habit of the Master was away for a day, and the camp unsupervised, of getting MAO MAK MAK.. p*ssed up on thai whisky after morning session, start on the booze at 9am, and come back at 4pm gargled but trying to hide, thats when the fun and games would start, and of course the 2 equally drunk trainers would be in on it too, the FARANG or to more accurate Boxceeda (spelling wrong, but 60% they speak a Lao dialect there, is Lao for Farang). Not only would they attempt to give me a pasting, they always started, ( i say attempt cause I would rush them into the ropes American Football style and punch the head and batter the tights of them with knees, while getting full on very sharp elbows whizzing past my head), but the younger teens in the camp would get a bullying too, and a hammering, and be left in tears by the 20 something "journey men" fighters.
Anway after 2 or 3 months, we were all the best of friends, funny, another day the Boss was gone, and one challenged me to a boxing match.. V Funny almost like a Bruce Lee Movie... "YOU, ME, Ling lao ling lao, Box Box", all were drunking gather about, about 10 of them, and another 10 drunk hanger ons of retired 20 years ago Lumpinne Champs. so me alone, trying to smile and thinking "Oh Fcuk.. me in for serious battering now", Jab, Faked Double Jab which I turned into sharp very sharp fast Left Hook, and floored buddy in front of this entourage. ! HA HA.. looked up at me dazed... everyone jeering.. he ripped the gloves off, and stormed off out of the camp. LOL! Sulked around the corner for 3 days, and then same back, I was in ring, and point up, and said "gerry get good now"...all was forgiven, and I was one of the lads from then on in. me and him became inseperable drink buddies, after that.. of course I had to pay as no one has a penny up there. they catch rats, snakes, dogs, pond fish... anthing, and chuck red curry on it and devour it.

So its a very very far and distance scene from what you will get in any Muay Thai camp, that really makes its money off Muay Thai Tourists. and where you treated like God, for your dollars. Up there the only dollars was if you won a fight (or you bar girl sister sends home, 95% of bar girls hale from Isan)... in Isan the winner for a normal fight on a card got 1000 bhat. (about 22 euro ish), and minimum wage in Thailand is over 5000 bhat.. abou 120 euro ish a month.

I live in Pattaya, and I not come to Thailand to Party, in fact I got sober off booze myself over here, and to be honest, that Go Go Bar thing is just really a few streets and blocks of streets, there is 1000 more things to do in Pattaya than Go Go bars. So I would not rule out Pattaya on that count.
I know Pattaya got a very bad and unfair rep in the Sunday Indo, 6 months ago when that Irish guy stabbed a thai girl. but the article on Pattaya in the Sunday Indo was 95% pure BS and Bollix. Some judgemental journalist with a chip on his shoulder BSing the Irish public with a complete twisted angle. People should see the poverty in which most of those bar girls come from in Isan, and they in their hearts believe they are doing good in the Buddhist tradition, selling their bodies, to make money to take care of parents, brothers, sisters and their own kids (most had Thai husbands at 17, and after a fwewkids, Thai man fecks off, is usual story). yeah I know quite a few as friends (not as a patrom of their services) and they open up to me. and tell me the whole story and how the gig works. very heart breaking to hear the real story under those big happy smiles "Swadee krap, hey you hansome man" . of course, if you let them, they' bring you to the poor house, looking for money. but to them taking care of their own family is no 1. in fact many send a brother or sister thru university, to become lawyers etc, by "working bar".
so I would not rule out pattaya, you do not need to see that Go Go stuff if you do not want too. and we got some serious camps etc down here.

what was name of camp in Pattaya you mentioned?

Re Chang Mai, or Phunket, I would not have a clue as I ve never been up there, nor no nothing about the camps. Hammerhead Gym is/was up there so he might now.

To be honest, if you came and trained real hard, stay quiet and disciplined, and live basic, you could spend many months here, and a shoe string budget.
If you eat like a thai, 30 bhat a meal. noodles rice and chicken.

Ok any more questons, let us know, not want to clog the thread with pattaya rants, but I think, its important since I am on the ground in pattaya, to set the record straght, that you can very well avoid the go go bars, very easily... I do. in fact I rarely go out at all to discos sort of thing in pattaya.

I d say quite a few people have missed out on training excellent Muay Thai in some of the best camp in Thailand, based in pattaya, because they were misinformed about the Go Go thing, or their Farang GF, dug the heels in and would not let them go there. without checking the facts.

Pattaya is a great place, me thinks, i love it here!

Cheers

Gerry

http://www.muaythaicamps.com/

thats the one i was lookin at, rushin out now, ill post the Phuket one next time im on this computer

jon1981

some sound advice there, considering im only going for 3 weeks im not sure it would be worth my while going up north? i already booked my flights to phuket, im wondering could anyone tell me what would be the best thai camp there?
(is it a case of the best of a bad bunch ? or is there such thing as a bad camp? )

Millionaire

3 weeks, best off in Phuket, Samui, Pattaya or similar.

Up in North East in Isan, there is literally very little else to do. certainly not for a 3 weeks vacation. You end up going mad in the head if you tried to3 weeks in Isan, unless you were very used to "the real"Thailand, (Tourist places do not count IMO), or you had someone who knows a camp, been there, and can introduce you in. Otherwise its a long haul operation, 3 months at the very minimumn.

That camp Neil you posted, looks like a very good camp. I think thats Hammerheads camp?

I heard re Phuket that Tiger Muay Thai is good. of course there is quite a few Phuket camps on the web.

The one thing worth pointing out about Muay Thai camps, and one I struggled with massively, is no one teaches you very much. You sort of have to learn Muay Thai yourself, by seeing and doing. Now I was translating from many years of full contact kickboxing, so should have been easier for me. But I used to get pee'd off.. I was not getting any specific instruction as such. You will get a few corrections from Pad Man, and if you find a good pad man you gel with, and work well, right from start, slip his a 100 bhat tip every day, and it will work wonders, his interest levels in your progression and training will rocket sky high.
So expect to spend many rounds (aside from your pad man rounds) working solo on heavy bags etc.
What I usually do, even after near 2 years now of dalily training (excusing the past 2 months on break from MT, focusing on Krav Maga), is when working the heavy bags, I try to get myself on a bag beside one of the aged early 20s Thai Pro Fighters, and I use their speed and tecnhique as a "pace maker", this after bit of practice, you can follow what they do on bag, speed and power almost subconsciously, and no longer have to watch out of corner of eye... its a great little trick for when working solo, to push yourself to the max. I was getting a steady 80% of their work rate, and I was pretty happy with myself on this, considering the tough 6 day a week training regime they follow.

Good luck and keep, us all posted lads on what camps you both go to etc etc.

Cheers

Gerry

HammerHeadGym

Deleted User wrote:

http://www.muaythaicamps.com/

thats the one i was lookin at, rushin out now, ill post the Phuket one next time im on this computer

Hey Neil, that's where I train. I think it's great. Individual attention from former champions on the pads and individual sparring from current champions. In my opinion, it's as cool as smoking. There's also a bjj brown belt here, 3 times rio champion and twice brazilian top team champion, he teaches twice a day. Plus me and some of the lads have started a crossfit program. Rent up this way is about 50 euro for a month and meals are about 50 cents each. If you've any questions feel free to ask.

HammerHeadGym

HammerHeadGym wrote:

Hey Neil, that's where I train. I think it's great. Individual attention from former champions on the pads and individual sparring from current champions. In my opinion, it's as cool as smoking. There's also a bjj brown belt here, 3 times rio champion and twice brazilian top team champion, he teaches twice a day. Plus me and some of the lads have started a crossfit program. Rent up this way is about 50 euro for a month and meals are about 50 cents each. If you've any questions feel free to ask.

Yea it looks really good plus I love Chiang Mai so a good excuse to go back!!

I couldnt find a schedule of timetables on the website? Id be looking to train 2-3 times a day 6 days a week. A weights room etc is not essential!!:D

I wont be going until next year but I wanna make up my mind soon so I can plan for it.

Do u live there permanently or are u up there just to train?!

Millionaire

That camp in Chang Mai, is a pretty good deal. sounds like top training is on offer.

Millionaire

Millionaire wrote:

That camp in Chang Mai, is a pretty good deal. sounds like top training is on offer.

Yea it looks good, plus i could keep trainin BJJ as well which is a big plus for me personally.

Khannie

I'm planning on 2 weeks training on February or March next year and still open to where I go so anyway....I was just looking there at Chiang Mai on the lonely planet site and found this little snippet:

lonelyplanet wrote:

In September 2006, there was a coup against the Thai civilian government. The situation is now calm although Chiang Mai remains under martial law. Travellers should avoid public gatherings, monitor the media to keep up-to-date with the situation and heed any instructions issued by the local authorities, especially if travelling to Bangkok or the southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and Songkhla.

WTF? A coup? Martial law?

edit: More info on wikipedia here for anyone who's interested.

^^^^^^WTF!! I was there in July last year!! Great place!!

King.Penguin

Deleted User wrote:

Yea it looks good, plus i could keep trainin BJJ as well which is a big plus for me personally.

where are you training now in bjj i thought you were a judo guy

King.Penguin

King.Penguin wrote:

where are you training now in bjj i thought you were a judo guy

No no, BJJ for me. Next Generation, under Dave Jones.

Khannie

Deleted User wrote:

^^^^^^WTF!! I was there in July last year!! Great place!!

Only 8 weeks away from a military coup! Hard luck! That would have been exciting.

Did a bit more reading on it. Seems like these coups were all the rage in the past, but there hasn't been one in 15 years before last years one. There was a bit of a political crisis in the run up to it, but it was just a month before elections were gonna take place. Oh, and it was bloodless.

They said that there would be democratic elections within a year of the coup. Time's ticking on that one.

Probably worth consulting the department of foreign affairs for advice before travelling / buying tickets. I'm sure hammerhead or mill can give us more of a balanced / on the ground view.

Millionaire

Khannie wrote:

Only 8 weeks away from a military coup! Hard luck! That would have been exciting.

.

I was here through all of that! LOL!!! there was not a word about it!!!

I do not think half of thailand even knows there was a coup.

Seriously though, they had 2 arm tanks out on the street in bangkok. and it was for show, and a few battallions of troops on a few token check points.

Taskin the former Prime Minister (thats the guy who just bought controlling share in Man City FA), knew it was coming, and quietly slipped out, and the Military slipped in.

We are under military rule though. The Americans are not too happy, as Thailand is their big buddy in SE Asia, and there is plenty of USA troops and Airforce stationed here, tucked away in quiet corners of Thai Military bases. Probably plenty of CIA type units in there too, as LAOS in Communist, Cambodia is getting better, but has a checkered past, china and north korea are up the road, and the yanks can keep an eye on Islamic Malaysia and Indonesia and South Philipinnes..all with very strong Al Queda links.

Yala down in deep south thailand, on malaysia north border, there is a south armagh crossmaglen type muslim uprising on. they killed 3 or 4 people in the past 24 hours.

You would have no business going down to Yala, it might as well be in the Andes Mountains in South America, as far as I am concerned.

All in All, its very safe over here. ocassionally there is the odd, telephone box or litter bin in bangkok the muslims bomb. very unprofessional of them. ! :eek:

Do not mind all you read. Probably someone writing from somewhere in Boring ville, Ontario, Canada Pop. 150,000, where the most exciting thing is a 3 day power cut in the middle of winter.

Sort of funny, not sure was it growing up on border as a kid all through the troubles, you sort of do not notice things like bomb scares...never mind real bombs going off. Used to be out fishing on river Fane as kid with me grandfather and his mate.... on occassion you d here a massive bomb rumbling and shaking the ground about 3 miles across border. grandfather would turn to mate, say in really droll farmers accent so slow no panic "jimmy, i think that sounded like a bit of a bomb going off again"..."Aaaaayyyyeeeeee Peter, I d say so all right, sound like up near Culloville way, maybe a 1000 pounder.... ayyyeeee lord of mercy on their souls.... whats the jackpot at the bingo tonight????"

HammerHeadGym

Khannie wrote:

A coup? Martial law?

The closest I've come to dealing with this first hand was a 6 euro fine for riding a motorbike with no helmet, insurance, tax or license. Though you do see a lot of army guys around at various times, they are invariably friendly and chatty.

Honestly, there is no evidence of Martial law here at all, bar the army lads hanging around gambling at the fights. I don't know about down south where dem gobernment is but in Chiangers you wouldn't know there was a coup, ever. The thing you have to remember is that the king controls the Military and 100% of the population adores the king.