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Home » A Brand New Muay Thai Gym Is Being Built In Isaan

A Brand New Muay Thai Gym Is Being Built In Isaan

January 26, 2015 By Laura Dal Farra 6 Comments

 

Watthanaya-Muay-Thai-Team
Photo credit: Robert P Cohen

 

MBSB contributor Frances Watthanaya has been busy lately. She and her husband Boom have left Buriram to open a Muay Thai gym in neighbouring Nakhon Ratchasima Province (Khorat). The new Muay Thai gym is located in Boom’s hometown (village) in the Muang Yang district.  The village is extremely isolated and lacking the infrastructure common to larger villages (for example, paved roads). Additionally, plagued by a lack of governance, there isn’t a local police presence in the area. Like many other villages in Isaan, adults from this village migrate to Bangkok to take up menial labour while those left behind tend to be the elderly, children, and those with addictions who are unable or unwilling to work.

 

cock-fight
Photo credit: Robert P Cohen

 

muay-thai-bag-countryside
Photo credit: Robert P Cohen

 

Frances Watthanaya
Photo credit: Robert P Cohen

 

Frances was able to take time from her schedule to comment:

 

This gym will be for my trainer Dam, to provide him with a secure job in which he can pass on his Muay Thai expertise to a new generation, and the for kids of the village and neighbouring areas, an outlet.  The last year working, training, and fighting out of Giatbundit Gym made it very clear to me that the gym’s focus was not on the kids but instead on the personal reputation of the gym’s owners.

 

At our new gym, we will focus on the local youth.  While a few young fighters may be able to embark on a long-term career path in Muay Thai, all will be given a community and a skill set through Muay Thai, as well as the ability to participate in a structured activity within a safe space far from the drugs and gang problems that plague much of Isaan.  Dam has been waiting for my husband and me to open a gym for the last five years.  It wasn’t until last month, when he was interviewed by Lindsey Newhall, reporting for Fightland that I realized why — having been burned by nearly every gym he’s worked for in the past, we, his family, are the only people left he believes he can trust.

 

Stay tuned for updates as the gym develops by subscribing here.

 

muay-thai-child-fighter
Photo credit: Robert P Cohen

 

child-muay-thai-fighter
Photo credit: Robert P Cohen

 

All Photos by Robert P Cohen.

 

Robert P Cohen, originally from New York, is a photographer currently based in South East Asia.  His current body of work is his Little Tigers Series that focuses on the young child fighters of Thailand.  You can find Robert on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.  Check out his website here.

 

Filed Under: Muay Thai Tagged With: Giatbundit Gym, Khorat

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About Laura Dal Farra

After a six month adventure training Muay Thai in Thailand in 2007, Laura Dal Farra returned to her native Canada, sold most of what she owned, and boarded a plane set for Bangkok alone. She spent the next 3.5 years training in traditional Muay Thai gyms, pushing her limits, and embracing the unknown. Realizing little was being written on the subject, she began to blog about it. Laura Dal Farra is the founder of Milk.Blitz.Street.Bomb.

Comments

  1. PH says

    January 27, 2015 at 10:44

    Hi. I am curious. Willing to be enlighten here.
    What kind of effective way will be implement to prevent the kids get involve with drugs and gang problem in an area without proper governance of the official?

    Br.
    PH

    Reply
    • Laura Dal Farra says

      January 28, 2015 at 14:24

      Hi PH – Muay Thai offers children in communities that offer little, something to do, an avenue to achieve something (personal bests and an income), self discipline and for some, hope for a better future. Muay Thai offers an alternative to drugs and gangs. Being in a gang and drug usage, particularly in smaller, family style gyms isn’t tolerated (from my experience). It’s an either/or situation and for kids who are interested in fighting and generating income from it, and ultimately, for some, a career, it can be a life saver (literally).

      Reply
    • Frances Watthanaya says

      February 12, 2015 at 21:53

      PH,

      The big problem here is there is no police presence in the area and the government takes absolutely no responsible for the community members. I recently had a friend visit from Canada who described here as being akin to the wild west.

      Kids join gangs for a number of reasons: the sense of family they receive, the need for food or money, and peer pressure. Fighting gives the kids a sense of purpose. They will be fed and can make money off fighting. Being part the gym’s family means that everyone is held accountable. A lot of kids in the village are being raised by their grandparents as their parents take on menial labour jobs in Bangkok, most left to their on devices. It is a dangerous environment for children, one that leads into drugs, alcohol, and gang activity. We are in essence stepping in, and acting as parents making sure these kids stay on the right path.

      LDF- Great response; you are right in every respect.

      Reply
  2. Finn says

    January 27, 2015 at 15:56

    Nice, all the best reasons to open a gym, not doing it for yourself but for the children/community – love it.

    Reply
  3. Joel says

    March 4, 2015 at 05:08

    This sounds like a great initiative.

    Have you considered trying to get volunteers to tutor the kids in English? It seems that as an adult, whether they decide to be a fighter, a trainer, or something else, conversational English might improve their options.

    You might be able to partner with a University, lots of Uni kids would probably jump at the chance to do a volunteer project, get credit, and go to Isan to train Muay Thai for a few months.

    Reply
    • Frances Watthanaya says

      March 5, 2015 at 23:53

      Joel,

      My husband is currently working in Malaysia as a Muay Thai instructor and makes good money because of his ability to speak English. We have made it very clear with the kids that with Muay Thai, and English language skills they will have a good future. I have even talked to the gym there about sending the kids over during summer holidays.

      I speak English to the kids, and we do have foreigners come occasionally which helps expose the kids to the language.

      An university exchange is a great idea, but the village is very rough so if would be difficult to put them up. We are currently doing a campaign to raise money to build an actual gym. Training outside we are very limited due to the oncoming monsoon season, and only being able to train when it is light out.

      Check it out: http://www.gofundme.com/worwatthana

      Reply

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