“We build them, you break them. Then they come home…” Meet CIA. Notable opponents: Saiyok Sit. Samprayak, Gungwan Lek Petchindee, Duanbley Sit. O Ubon Where he has fought: Lumpini, Rajadamnern, Assawindam [Channel 9], Channel 7, Japan Biggest purse: 2,000 USD He showed up at our gym about a month ago; Mr. Dit had arranged for him to fight Channel 9 fighter Saiyok in the main event of his promotion. With just a little over a week of training, he finished the fight victoriously in a third round TKO of the veteran. From there he was scheduled to fight two more times, a total of three fights in one … [Read more...]
Dreams – Nak Muay Grime’s Latest Release
What do you write when someone you know creates something incredible? Maybe I'll leave it at that. And a little bit of this: I met Grime, a nak muay, while he was passing through Buriram, Thailand. He had been training at Kiatphontip Gym in Salaya. You can read his review of the gym here. Now just hit play. … [Read more...]
Isaan By Night – A Photo Series Of Muay Thai Fight Culture
Amongst the many you'll find fighting in any given muay thai promotion in Isaan, you're apt to find fighters battling to make it to the stadiums of Bangkok; fighters returning from Bangkok not quite as they were before they left; labourers, foreigners and school girls. Muay thai promotions run on most nights of the week. You'll meet part-timers and old timers alike; everyone involved in the muay thai game in Thailand, less perhaps some foreigners, is trying to make some cash; the fighters, their families, the gamblers and theirs. Sometimes those lines intersect. Most of my life in Buriram, Isaan, including my social life, revolved around muay thai and muay thai … [Read more...]
Blackmail And The Illusion Of Sex
The cold water hit my spine and slid down my back. I was in the women's change room of the community pool in Buriram, alone. It was approximately noon. I had finished my laps and was preparing to go pick up some lunch. There was a knock on my shower door. This was unusual. I asked who it was. It was one of the pubescent boys I had met in the pool. The conversation as I remember it: "I'm showering. I'll see you when I'm done." "I want to shower too." This confused me. "I'll see you when I'm done." "I want to shower with you. Can I shower with you?" The fact this individual was … [Read more...]
Visa Runs In Thailand And Why I Now Fear Them
The stress, frustration and rage that I felt this passing week in regards to my upcoming visa run to the Cambodian border exasperates me. I'm confused by my response to it. I judge my inability to be impartial to it. I wonder if living in Thailand has made me stronger or it has broken me. I will not leave this country the same as when I arrived. To be brief, visa runs essentially fall on the dates Thai immigration deems you must leave the country. You are allowed back into Thailand on the same day without having to obtain a new visa. For example, I was given a triple entry tourist visa after not being able to extend the business visa I was allowed for … [Read more...]
Muay Thai Fight: Lekla Sit Songsompong vs. Kaichon Simpayam, Kru Meung, Buriram
Living in Buriram for over two years, I've watched a lot of children step into the ring to fight. It's fairly standard. Buriram is one of the many areas where a number of great nak muays began their careers and here in Isaan, they begin young and they fight often, meaning generally a couple of times a month, sometimes more. That being said, rarely do I see a fight at 18kg/39.6lb that provokes me to jump up and start filming. Meet: Lekla Sit Songsompong (Red) and Kaichon Simpayam (Blue). I was seated near the red corner. As a result, Kaichon (translated as Chicken Fight), who was waiting in the blue … [Read more...]
Notes From The Road: From Mukdahan To Nekromantix, Buriram
Transcript Hey People, On a short stop back to Buriram. Got kicked off the bus on the way here after six hours. Bought the ticket in Mukdahan, which is the starting point for the trip. The woman made a typo on my ticket, so essentially I had a no seat ticket despite buying the ticket 24 hours in advance (when few were sold) and paying full fare. To make a long story short - told to skip = me contesting and showing all other info on the ticket, people waiting, waiting - I go to be left at night in a town and told to wait for the next available bus, could be a couple of hours, could be many hours. Driver still had my ticket, which … [Read more...]
Notes From The Road: From Thailand To Laos And Back
Transcript Hello Pig!!(Gies), Buriram - Mukdahan - Over The Friendship Bridge - Hello Savannakhet, Laos. - Mukdahan. Savannakhet is a mellow little place and is the only place, other than cities within close proximity, (i.e. Surin) that remind me of Buriram. I wonder if this is similar to what Buriram looked like 5+ years ago?? To Note: Upon arriving at the hotel in Mukdahan, the guy working laughed while speaking to me. Apparently I was speaking Isaan. This further puts things together as I thought I was speaking Thai.?? Let's see what happens when I get out of Isaan … [Read more...]
The Beauty Of Sickness. The Grandeur Of Silence.
One week of illness. The body's reaction to medication I had mistaken for an antihistamine. Eczema, perhaps psiriosis covered thighs made walking painful. The rubbing caused the affliction to spread, my thighs to bleed. My face. Back. Neck. Hands. Few places were spared. Then a fever of some genus arrived. Nineteen hours of sleep one night. A forgotten amount the next. And the next. Small pieces of verbal exchange during the week. Buying calamine and antihistamines early in the week. Answering my phone to inform someone I wasn't available. My nightly walk to the lobby to purchase that which I've been sustaining myself on since I … [Read more...]
Lookchaomaesaithong Sit Namkabuan Gym Expansion
Lookchaomaesaithong Sit Namkabuan Gym has added a nautilus machine and renovated to accommodate more bags. For those of you interested in training at the gym, you can read more about it in my previous post which outlines everything you need to know, including: daily training details who the trainers are Muay Thai fight availability accommodation options pricing reservation details. For more information on Buriram, please visit my other website Buriram Info. It’s a complete travel guide which offers hotel bookings, information on how to travel to … [Read more...]
Sex and Dating in Thailand (Including a Single White Girl Trying to Understand Her Place in It All)
I realized after my post Racism in Thailand - A Day in The Life of a White Woman in Buriram went live, that a peek into Thai public and private life between the sexes, as I know it, may be in order. It will give that piece, in addition to many of the pieces here on MBSB some context. When I speak of Thailand in the piece I'm currently writing you, it is the Thailand I know, the Thailand that is more culturally conservative from, my understanding of, the tourist areas and the culture presented by those Thai nationals who either are literate in a foreign, more specifically Western culture / language and those who have studied overseas. Perhaps when I speak of Thailand and Thai nationals in … [Read more...]
Racism in Thailand – a Day in the Life of a White Woman in Buriram
There is racism that is intended and there is the innocent racism that arises out of ignorance. Let me give you an example of the latter... Hmm....scratch that first draft. I'm conjuring numerous instances of racism I've faced in Thailand, most notably in Buriram, and with each instance that currently comes to mind, there is the ever pervasive thought....I don't know if that's innocent, but I do know it wasn't intended to harm, at least not overtly (in the way many of us Westerners have come to expect of racist remarks and/or actions). Rather, the intent was to remind me of my place. In the Thailand I know, someone in a position of esteem and/or power reminding someone … [Read more...]