Our Classy Week in Pattaya

So I’ve finally made it back to Thailand and I couldn’t be happier. After hearing all my stories and listening to me constantly complain about how much I missed it here, a few of my friends finally decided to see what all the hype was about and join me for a while.

We landed in Bangkok on the 11th, stayed for a couple nights, did some shopping and then headed straight to Pattaya. For those of you who don’t know, Pattaya is an extremely upscale and classy town that’s known for its architecture, museums and art galleries.

Naw, I’m just kidding. Pattaya is known for it’s bars and girls but after spending the last 6 months bored out of my mind in Ottawa, a week of booze and debauchery before I settled in and got serious about my training sounded like a good plan to us all.

Having never seen anything like it, my friends were in disbelief that a place like Pattaya actually existed. The looks on their faces when they were getting swarmed by beautiful girls was priceless. Here’s a quick video that somewhat captures what the experience was like for them..

Now, nobody spends a full week in Pattaya without racking up some interesting stories. It’s non-stop action there and you’re always on the go. There was a point where we were only getting 4 hours of sleep each night and we still felt wide awake.

Our Living Arrangements

We were staying in the apartments above club blue because I had stayed there before and I was happy with the room, the price, the location and the service. It’s right in the center of a party area so it’s definitely not a good place to stay if your planning on sleeping at a decent hour but for this week, we didn’t care about that at all. Here’s a quick tour of the place..

“Fuck White People”

On one of the nights - I believe it was the evening of the Friday the 13th - I had split away from my friends at around 4 in the morning. They were going to an after hours club called MIXX and I just wanted to do my own thing. I was walking outside of “Lucifer” and I heard someone behind me say “fuck white people”.

I looked back and it was coming from a middle eastern guy who had just come out of the bar. He was walking behind me and looking directly at me so I had no doubt who he was directing his comments towards. I’m not a big fan of getting into street fights - especially in foreign countries - so I just brushed it off and kept walking.

Then I heard his stupid “fuck white people” comment again, only this time, it was louder and when I looked back, he was walking right up to me. Clearly this guy had the intention of starting a fight and since he wasn’t Thai or Russian (don’t get in altercations with either in Pattaya) I just grabbed him and smoked him twice in the face.

The shots didn’t land clean since I was drunk but they were more than enough to scare him off. The whole situation was stupid. It was stupid on his part because lets face it, he doesn’t know me, I could have the fighting skills of GSP for all he knows (although I clearly don’t) and it was stupid on my part because I had to leave walking street right after, which put an end to what was turning out to be an awesome night.

A Round Of Applause

Clap, clap, clap - that’s exactly what one of my friends ended up getting after a night of mixing alcohol with reckless sex. He hooked up with a showgirl on one of our first nights in Pattaya and a couple days later, well, let’s just say he was experienced some undesirable effects from the exposure.

We were all just sitting around watching TV when “it hit” and he rushed to the washroom. He came out with a concerned look on his face and said that he needed to hit a pharmacy a.s.a.p. Being the dirty guy that he is, it really wasn’t anything new for him. He had it before so he knew exactly what he needed to take.

So, a quick trip to the pharmacy and 4000 baht later, he got a “cocktail” injection and he was good to go. As for the morale of the story, well, there really isn’t one. I guess it would have to be to not have unprotected sex, in any form, with Thai prostitutes - but whatever, as harsh as it sounds, it was good for some laughs. After all, him getting “clapped up” added to the classiness of the week.

The Training

The first week was mostly about letting loose and having fun but I was able to get some training in. I did a couple workouts at Scorpion Gym and then decided to switch things up a bit by going to RMB gym since I had heard good things. I only did 2 workouts at RMB but I was impressed with the place and I definitely plan on going back at some point. Here’s an RMB gym review that I wrote up based on those visits.

Training Videos

One of my friends went to the 13 coins gym in Bangkok prior to flying down to the Patong Boxing Gym (which is where I’m writing this from) and he was able to get some footage of Saenchai Sor Kingstar and Orono doing their training. Check it out..

Random, Slightly Creepy Video

Yeah, I don’t really know what to say about this one. We just thought his reaction when he was asked for money was priceless. A little rude sure, but funny nonetheless..

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THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Scenes From Songkran

Up until this past Monday, I had only heard of the day where everyone throws back booze and has a country-wide water fight. It sounded pretty wild and after experiencing it first hand, I have to admit - it was very, very fun!

I was woken up by the sounds of a Timberland beat blasting out of the two giant speakers they had set up here at the guesthouse where I’m staying. I obviously knew what Songkran was about but having just woke up and put on a fresh dry outfit, I was content to just watch the happenings from my balcony for a while.

Well, apparently one of the waitresses in the in the guesthouse restaurant saw me up there because within minutes of stepping outside my room, she ran up and hit me with a bucket of freezing cold water. From that point on, I obviously didn’t care about getting wet anymore so I just grabbed a water gun, a couple bottles of water and joined the action.

Throughout the day, I saw so many things that I would never see in Canada (and most places for that matter). For starters, along beach road I saw a few on duty Thai police officers drenched with water and covered with white powder. They had their guns wrapped up in plastic and of course, they were getting the worst of it because let’s be honest - who doesn’t want to throw a big bucket of cold water at an on-duty police officer and get away with it like they can during Songkran?

I also saw some things that were flat out reckless. Here in Thailand, most people drive motorbikes. During Songkran, a lot of people get really drunk - not unlike we do on December 31st. Drinking and driving is obviously a major problem (perhaps because the police officers are celebrating themselves and getting drenched and powdered instead of patrolling the streets) but not only that, there’s actually groups of people that stand at the side of the road and when a motorbike drives by, they’ll pour a bucket of water on them - and oftentimes they aim for the face.

I actually saw someone pour a bucket of water on a passing motorcyclist and the guy on the bike stopped, wiped his eyes, turned his motorbike around and actually ran over the guys foot. Obviously the guys reaction wasn’t justified - especially during a holiday where the tradition is to pour buckets of water on each other - but I can only imagine how annoying it must be to be driving around and regardless of where you go, you constantly have people tossing water in your eyes.

I actually got an email notification from a Thailand forum this morning and apparently the death toll for the week is at 373, the injury toll is at 4,332 and all the deaths and injuries are a result of 3,977 total road accidents. They actually call Songkran the “deadliest 7 days” (it’s only 1 day here in Phuket) so I’m assuming it’s like this every year.

But like I mentioned above, it’s extremely fun - just stay off the motorbikes and you’ll be alright. I took a few videos of the scene in the streets. Here they are..

I would have taken more but it seemed like every time I took out my camera - which I don’t think is waterproof - I had someone spraying me with a water gun.

As For The Training

My “home” gym right now is Patong boxing gym but I’ve been picking odd days and trying out some new ones. I went to the Suwit Muay Thai gym a couple days ago and I’ll have a review up on it soon. I’m also going to check out Sinbi and Rawai this week and post reviews for those as well..

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THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

The Drunk Idiot

So in my last entry, I mentioned that there was a fight at the bar last weekend that I happened to catch on tape. I also mentioned that I was seen filming it and after things calmed down, I was approached by Thai security and believe it or not, they actually tried to confiscate my camera. Well that certainly wasn’t happening but to put them at ease, I told them that I would delete the footage, which I did.

Oftentimes at the gym, I’ll show one of the Thai trainers how to “press the record button” and then I’ll pass them the camera to record my padwork. Judging by how often they pass the camera back to me with the footage nowhere to be seen, it’s pretty safe to say that a lot of the Thai guys here aren’t very familiar with how digital cameras work.

In this case, that unfamiliarity turned out to be a good thing because if they were thinking, they would have asked for the memory card instead of simply requesting that the footage be erased. It took me about an hour or so of searching on Google but I ended up finding a program called Delete Fix Photo which allowed me to recover the deleted footage.

So as for the fight, the first thing I saw was a clearly intoxicated, overweight man wearing what resembled a raincoat sitting on the floor at the bar. Why he was wearing a jacket in Thailand I have no idea and why he was sitting on the floor, I’m not sure about that either but I’m assuming that he tipped over from his chair as a result of being so drunk.

At this point, there was a bit of a crowd starting to gather around and one of the Thai girls tried to help him up. When she did, his reaction was surprising to say the least. Rather than thanking her for her assistance, he remained in his seated position, said “FUCK OFF” and then reached over and struck the girl - who couldn’t have weighed more than 90lbs - with his left hand.

He then made it back up to his feet by his own accord and at this point, security was on the scene. Here’s some footage of the drunk idiot trying to attack some of the girls.

This back and fourth, pushing and shoving went on for quite a while. I’d say that it lasted for about 5-10 minutes - which is way too long. I worked at a nightclub back “home” and if someone were to physically attack one of the female bartenders, they would get thrown out immediately and in all honesty, they’d most likely have their head smacked into the door on the way out.

The Thai’s showed a surprising amount of patience with this guy. I knew what happened next was inevitable on account of how he was acting but I just thought that the Thai’s would get to it sooner. It wasn’t until the guy started swinging at the security guards that he finally got what he deserved.

Here’s the video..

Now I’m not normally one for violence and I think that 90 percent of the time it can be avoided but this is clearly an instance where it was both deserved and necessary. I just don’t understand what the guy was thinking. He’s a guest in the country, he’s alone, he’s fat, he’s old, he clearly can’t defend himself and yet he’s blatantly attacking pretty much everyone in sight, women included.

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Guess Who Stopped By?

I’ll give you a hint - they call him the “Lumpinee Assassin” and he’s a 2 time K-1 Max World champion.
Imagine my surprise when I walked out of my room about 3 days ago and saw the giant event poster promoting a fight between Buakaw Por Pramuk and Namsaknoi. If you weren’t aware, Namsaknoi is a 4 time Lumpinee champion himself and is widely considered to be one of the greatest Muay Thai fighters in the history of the sport.

Almost seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? I suppose the MMA equivalent would be if you were to walk outside tomorrow and see that a super fight between George St Pierre and Anderson Silva was set to place this weekend and it was all going to happen 3 minutes away from where you live.

Well, the saying “if it seems to good to be true, it usually is” held true tonight because what was marketed as a “fight” turned out to be nothing more than a 2 round demonstration. I actually paid the admission fee for this event too because it was a packed house (I’m usually able to get myself waved in without actually buying a ticket).

As for the actual demonstration itself, it left a lot to be desired. Buakaw and Namsaknoi just lightly sparred (without punches) for two short rounds. Actually, the wai kru they performed at the start lasted longer than the actual demo. Here are some of the highlights..

It’s not all that surprising when you think about it though. Buakaw is used to fighting in front of tens of thousands of people for a lot of money. He’s under contract with K-1 and he’s actually set to fight Andre Dida towards the end of the month. I sort of figured that the chances of this fight being real were slim to none but I also figured that it would make for an interesting post nonetheless.

Of all the fight nights I’ve been too, this one was by far the best - and not necessarily due to the fights either. What made it so good was the atmosphere. The place was packed and the crowd was going crazy! I watched a video before I came here - and I even had it posted on the site for a while - and it described the scene perfectly.

The gamblers - and especially the corner men - were going nuts and surprisingly, the most popular fights were the fights that I personally found boring. In these fights, the fighters would be tied up in the clinch most of the time and would be scoring with knees to the body - although the knees didn’t look like they were landing that clean.

Every single time a knee was landed - even if it was those weak, modified knee strikes that are strictly thrown for points since they land with the inner leg rather than the knee itself - the corner-men and entire Thai crowd would raise their arms in the air and yell in “ayyyyyy” in excitement.

To me, the hyped up reactions of the Thai’s were more exciting than the actual fight itself. Check it out..

As for Buakaw, I noticed that his management team were going through great lengths to monetize his popularity any way they could. They had a stand set up outside the stadium where they were selling extremely overpriced T-shirts and fight shorts.

At the end of the night, Buakaw was sitting out there at the merchandise stand for photo ops. However, if you wanted your picture taken with him, they were charging 300 baht for the privilege. They even went as far as to auction off the very shorts that he was wearing during the demonstration.

Usually when that sort of thing goes up for auction, it’s announced that the proceeds will be given to charity but in this case, no charitable donation was mentioned. I’m pretty sure they were selling the used shorts off his waist strictly to line their own pockets. As for how someone can have a man-crush on an athlete big enough to pay for their used, sweaty gym shorts - well, that’s a mystery to me.

I do have to say though that Buakaw seemed like a nice guy. Before the fights started, me and my buddy were standing outside the stadium when he first walked by and we saw him for the first time. Their weren’t that many people around at the time and the few people that were around didn’t seem to recognize him.

My friend took the opportunity to approach him and ask him for a picture. Buakaw happily obliged and of course, he didn’t ask for any money in exchange for taking the time to do so. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy which leads me to believe that the whole idea of charging for pictures and selling used shorts are just schemes cooked up by his management team to capitalize on his success.

Now, in an unrelated incident - I witnessed a huge fight the other night. I filmed the whole thing but unfortunately, I was approach by a bunch of Thai security guards and they asked me to delete the footage. Actually, the asked for my camera but I certainly wasn’t willing to hand it over so deleting the footage was somewhat of a compromise.

At the time, I knew that there were ways to retrieve deleted clips from a memory card so I didn’t bother arguing. So within the next couple days, I’ll find a good program to use to get the footage back and I’ll post the video and back-story here for you to see.

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Patong Boxing Gym Review

I came to this gym with the intention of staying for about a month but a month has now turned into two and it looks like I’m going to be staying for another. Of course, with this being my last month in Phuket, I’ll be training and reviewing at some of the camps I’ve missed - Sinbi, Rawai, J Prappa etc. So if you were considering training at one of the camps I’ve neglected, don’t worry - you’ll get your review.

The main reason why I don’t go live at one of the other camps - aside from the fact that I’m getting great training at the Patong gym - is the fact that the other camps are situated in isolated locations which gives the gym owners and nearby businesses a monopoly since they can jack up the rents as much as they want and still get foreigners that don’t know any better to pay.

For example, if you check out the Sinbi website, you’ll see that they’re renting out their private room for 22,000 baht a month. To put that into perspective, I’m currently paying 8000 baht per month where I’m staying now and I have air conditioning, satellite TV, wireless internet, king size bed, large washroom with hot water and to top it all off - I get my room cleaned for me on a daily basis.

At Sinbi - and most likely a lot of other camps - 8000 baht will get you a shared room without air conditioning and a bunk bed to sleep on. Now, if you’re only in Thailand for a short period of time - or if you have a loaded bank account and money isn’t really an issue for you - then overpaying for your room to stay on-site at a good gym might be worth it for you as long as the training is good.

But for me, seeing as how I’ve been here for about 9 months already, I have need to save money wherever I can. So staying right where I am in my nice, affordable room seems like the best thing to do at the moment. Not to mention the fact that the owner of the guesthouse I’m at is extremely nice and just the other night, she cooked me a huge dinner for free : )

So as for the training at Patong Boxing Gym, there a few things that make it a little different from a lot of other gyms. The sessions aren’t run at set times and in a group format. Rather, you can show up whenever you want between operating hours and from the moment you enter the gym until the moment you leave, you’ll be under the supervision of one of the trainers.

In other words, the whole thing is personal training - which is something that a lot of other camps in Phuket charge extra for. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the minimum amount of pad-time I get per session is 5 rounds - usually 3 rounds of Muay Thai and 2 rounds of boxing - although how you chose to split up your rounds is entirely up to you.

People don’t come to Thailand to kick the heavy bag for 8 rounds alongside a bunch of foreigners while waiting for a trainer to call you into the ring for a couple rounds of pad-work. If anything, the bulk of your time should be spent one on one with a trainer. If you want to kick the heavy bag on your own, you can save your money, stay home and just train in your basement.

As for sparring and clinching, you’ll get plenty of that too as long as you make it known that you’re interested in doing it. The training sessions are based around exactly what you want to do and you can break things down however you like.

Normally I get my 5 rounds of pad-work in but earlier this week I mentioned that I wanted to focus on sparring more so that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. A couple of the Thai trainers are fighting next week so I’ve been sparring with them to help get them ready. And speaking of the trainers, here’s some footage I took of a couple of them working their kicks on the pads..

The location of the camp is awesome as well. It used to be located in a congested area near the beach surrounded by a bunch of suit shops and “happy ending” massage parlours - which meant you got harassed and basically molested every time you walked to and from the gym.

Looking to expand, the owner bought some land and moved the camp up into the hills. It’s perfect actually. It’s a nice quiet area with clean air, a beautiful view, a cool breeze and a nice running path. It’s a distraction free environment but if you also have the convenience that accompanies living and training in Patong - which is the most developed beach in Phuket.

Here are some photos of the camp and the camp surroundings..

Prices and Accommodation

A single training session at Patong Boxing Gym will cost you 400 baht - which is more than what the camps in Pattaya charge but it’s right on par with the cost of the gyms here in Phuket. A month of training (twice a day) will run you 8000 baht and if you wanted to live on-site at the gym as well, a month of training AND accommodation costs 18,000 baht - which is approximately $17.50 USD per day.

The rooms aren’t what you’d expect from a Muay Thai camp either. They basically resemble standard hotel rooms. They have a fridge, wireless internet access, cable TV, private washroom with hot water, two beds and most importantly - air conditioning! Here a little tour of the room before the fridges were put in..

My Overall Impression

I’m sure it’s pretty clear that I recommend this gym. The facility is brand new and well equipped. The training is great (oftentimes more trainers than students) and you have the freedom to structure your workouts as you’d like. The prices are fair and the on-site accommodation is great.

And of course, the location gives you the best of both worlds. You’re in a nice quiet area for your training but you’re never inconvenienced since down the hill (just a short motorbike ride away), you have access to everything you could possibly need such as convenience stores, markets, shopping malls, restaurants, nightlife - basically anything and everything.

The entire staff is really nice as well. I train late in the day and I’m usually one of the last students to leave since after my session, I’ll usually stick around for a bit to kick the bag or lift weights. This is around the time when all the trainers sit down to eat and they always insist that I join them - even though I don’t pay for the food.

More often than not, one of the trainers gives me a lift down the hill and even if I try to pay him for the ride, he’ll just smile and say “no problem”, then drive off. Actually, now that I mention it, the trainer that usually drives me back to my room has had a lot of major fights.

He’s fought on TV from lumpinee stadium on several occasions I believe and he once won a million baht for his efforts. There’s a picture of him holding the big stack of 1000 baht bills up at the gym. I guess that’s why he doesn’t bother taking my money - he probably has more than I do anyway!

All in all, I can’t say enough positive things about the gym and my experience here. The only negative thing I have to say is that they’re not always on top of their emails so if you have any specific questions - and if you’re unable to get a quick response from them - just hit the contact button and send your questions to me. I’ve spent enough time here that I’ll more than likely be able to answer them for you.

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THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Patong Stadium & Ladyboy Muggings

I know, I know - it’s been a long time between entries. It’s been getting hotter here every day so I changed to a room with air conditioning but unfortunately, the internet connection here sucks. It takes me a couple hours to upload a minute long video to youtube and that’s assuming I don’t lose connection in the process.

I’ve also been working on some other projects because well, I don’t want to have to come home. I think I’ll go back to Canada for a visit, but I’d certainly like to have the option of staying or at least the option of coming right back within a couple months of being back at home.

Muay Thai has become a part of my lifestyle now. I can’t even imagine not doing it, or even going back to the Western style classes where random, inexperienced students are your pad-holders.

It certainly doesn’t take much money to live here - and live well - but the whole process has been taking longer than I expected. But hey, if what I’m doing ends up working, I’ll write out a “make money online” guide and just give it to you guys for free so you can just bounce to other countries to train as well.

So as for my training, I’m still at it 6 days a week at Patong Boxing Gym. I’ve spent a lot longer than expected here but that’s just because I like it so much. The location is perfect, the trainers are very technical, you get plenty of pad-work and everyone there is just so friendly. It’s actually a big family - literally. I’ll throw up an official review of the place soon.

Last night I went to another fight night at the stadium - which is about a 2 minute walk from my apartment. Two of the trainers and one student from the gym were fighting and they all won actually. One of my trainers was fighting and I was a little nervous for him since he never even bothered to train.

For the past two weeks leading up to the fight, I’d show up for training and before I started my pad-work, I’d ask him if he trained himself and his response was always the same - he just kinda smiled, laughed and said “no, no training”.

Anyway, to my surprise - and perhaps even to his surprise - he ended up knocking his opponent out in the first round. The guy threw a leg kick, my trainer caught it and just smoked him with a right hook. It was pretty sweet actually. I guess when you’ve been training and fighting your whole life, it comes naturally and you don’t have to train as much.

The whole fight card was pretty good. Lots of knockouts. There was a Thai vs. Thai fight and one of them got his knee blown out from a low kick. I was sitting up in the stands and even from where I was sitting, I could feel the power of the kicks. It’s hard to believe they were only 17 years old.

In another fight, one Thai guy backed the other into the corner and then just brutalized him with jumping elbow spikes to the top of his head. You never see that in MMA competition simply because well, it’s too dangerous and I’m pretty sure downward elbow strikes are actually banned.

Needless to say, the guy that was on the receiving end of the strikes dropped after the third one and just laid there motionless for a couple minutes - I thought they were going to have to bring out the stretcher. Luckily he was alright though and walked out of the ring on his own.

In my last entry - which was actually about a month ago (time flies) - I talked about how some drunk little Thai dude was following me on his motorbike trying to start a fight. Well, I haven’t seen him again since then and if he’s seen me, I doubt he’d even remember considering how hammered he was.

I did however run into a couple “ladyboys” the other night as I was walking back to my room on a deserted stretch of road behind the Jungceylon shopping center. I saw them ahead, walking towards me and I did what any heterosexual man would do when he sees two “tranny” prostitutes walking towards him - I walked to the other side of the road and hoped they wouldn’t follow.

Well, unfortunately they did. And so they approached my despite my obvious disgust. One of them - who looked like a fucking monster by the way - said “let me see” and tried to reach into my right pocket. It was either reaching for my money or something else - either way, it was getting access to either!

I just grabbed its wrist, twisted it a bit and said ‘MAI OW” - which means “no” in Thai. For some reason - whether you’re trying to shrug off pushy street vendors or fighting off trannies on dark stretches of road - speaking even the slightest bit of Thai helps a lot. I think it shows that you’ve been around long enough to be tuned into the local hustles - in this case, it was the lady boy pick-pocking attempts.

Anyway, when I grabbed and twisted its wrist, both of them kind of let out a gender-confused scream - or a yelp. I really don’t know how to describe it. Ladyboys obviously have to make an effort to disguise their manly voices but when it comes to natural reactions, they can’t really do it. Tickle them or twist their wrist when they try to jack you - they’ll sound like a dude either way.

And as for how I knew exactly what they were trying to do. Well, I came here last year and while I was here, I just randomly ran into a guy I went to school with - both elementary and high school. I was sitting at the bar (drinking water of course) and he just walked by. I had to do a double take but to my surprise, it was actually him. What are the odds, huh?

Anyway, later on that night we were walking down the street and every time we walked by some ladyboys, I’d be like “he likes you” just to mess with him. They would then approach and try to molest him while I just laughed it up - and took some pictures of course.

I had to dig this from facebook but look closely, the ladyboy is jacking his wallet. Neither of us noticed at the time but luckily he noticed his wallet missing about a minute later, freaked out and ran after them. When the ladyboys saw him coming, they just kind of tossed the wallet and scattered away.

So I’ve been at the Patong gym for quite a while now simply because, well .. I haven’t really had a reason to leave. It’s just so convenient and the training is great. But I know some of you are wondering about Sinbi and Rawai so I’ll be sure to check them out this week and throw up some reviews.

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THINKING OF GOING TO THAILAND TO TRAIN?

I’ve developed a 70 page guide that profiles everything you need to know about training in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. In the manual, I discuss the visa issues, the Muay Thai camps, the different areas, the transportation, the food, the culture and customs, the girls, the scams, the safety issues and most importantly, how to save a ton of cash along the way!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Myanmar Visa Run

So, for the people that want to stay in Thailand long term, oftentimes they have to sacrifice a day of their lives in order to gain another twenty-nine. Yesterday I spent a combined 10 hours in a van and another half hour or so on a little boat to cross over the border of Burma. My initial visa that was issued to me from the Thai embassy in Ottawa, Canada was set to expire today so I was left with minimal options.

I had originally attempted to obtain a “non-immigrant type ED” visa as I had supplied all the necessary documentation. Turns out, I was given a single entry “type O” visa which was valid only for 3 months. I tried taking all the documentation to the immigration office here in order to get an extension but the immigration officer I was matched up with didn’t consider “Muay Thai” to be education.

His statement was ironic considering that dozens of guests at this very camp have “ED” visas for studying Muay Thai. However, the officer (without even looking through my documentation) simply said “Muay Thai? No! Cannot!”. He then walked to a nearby cabinet, pulled out a handful of paperwork from one of the drawers and handed it to me. After having the papers translated by a Thai friend, it turns out that the papers he handed me were completely irrelevant to the education visa I was applying for as they were for those wishing to work in Thailand.

Just bad luck I suppose as standing there and arguing with the immigration officer wouldn’t have done me any good. My solution was to leave Thailand and simply re-enter for a 1 month extension. Thailand allows you to do this 3 times within a 6 month period. However, next month when I leave Thailand I will likely be going to the Thai embassy in Malaysia to apply for the proper education visa. Even if I’m unable to get a “non-immigrant type ED”, I’ll just get a 60 day tourist visa which can then be extended from within Thailand for another 30 days - giving you 3 months in total. Through a combination of tourist visas and 30 day stamps, you can pretty much live in Thailand providing you time everything right (although clearly, I’m not visa expert so don’t quote me on that). If you’re thinking of coming to Thailand, the best source of visa information can be found at ThaiVisa.com

Anyway, when I finally arrived at the Thailand departure port, the only thing I could focus on was the awful smell. Most of the people in line were holding their shirts over their mouth and noses. Some Thai guy then took our passports, which at first made me a little paranoid. One of the fellow visa-runners had to re-assure me that it was a normal procedure. We then got onto a Thai-style boat and headed toward Burma. This was actually the highlight of the day as the scenery was pretty cool. Here’s a really brief video I took during the ride..

VIDEO COMING SOON (uploading .. slow connection)

When we arrived in Myanmar (Burma), I didn’t really know what to expect. The extent of my Burma education was from the Seinfeld episode where Elain’s boss (Mr. Peterman) randomly goes there and she has to go see him to get his approval on some of the company expenses, at which point, Mr. Peterman questions her about the “Urban Sombrero” on the cover of his magazine. Yup, I certainly live a sheltered life in Canada.

As I’m writing this, I’m simultaneously watching Myanmar-related videos on Youtube. I’m sure most of you are more up to date on world issues and current events than I am so you likely already know about the fucked up problems that the villagers of Myanmar have to deal with. And just in case you didn’t already know about Myanmar’s corrupt military government, check out these videos..

From the time our boat docked to the time we were back on it and headed back to Thailand, not more than 15 minutes had elapsed. That was the extent of my stay in Myanmar and that was quite enough. One of the border “hustlers” - since they just post up and try to sell all kinds of stuff to the stamp-runners - called me “Fred Durst” from Limp Bizkit on account of how I was dressed and then started talking to me about his favourite rappers. It’s interesting to see how widespread American music really is. I wonder if Snoop Dogg knows about “Ali Baba” - his loyal fan at the Thai/Myanmar border?

“Ali Baba”(as he called himself) tried to sell me steroids for seven bucks, Viagra, cocaine and ketamines - all while I was walking back to the boat. He even offered to deliver it to me. It’s a good thing I declined as about 5 minutes after we set off, there was a check-point in which either Thai or Burmese soldiers came into the boat and searched us.

The process tuned out to be a success as I was let back into Thailand with a new - “admitted until Nov. 21st - stamp on my passport. At which point, I will have to go to the Thai embassy in either Cambodia or Malaysia and make another attempt at getting the proper, education visa that I was supposed to have gotten in Canada. Of course, this time I’ll actually double check it to ensure I got the right one before I leave. So all in all, the process is a bit of a hassle but hey, I got to add a new country to my list of travels and a story to tell.

Muay Thai Training Update

Having mildly sprained my ankle last Friday in sparring, I’ve been unable to train all week. I’ve just been limping around the camp. From my room ..to the restaurant ..to the internet area - just back and fourth. Limping around a Thai boxing camp while watching everyone else train isn’t actually what I call a good time. It’s not like I’m still in Pattaya either where I could certainly find entertaining - perhaps not as “constructive” - things to do. I’m in Chalong and there really isn’t much else here to do but train.

Anyway, this afternoon I jumped into the Muay Thai class and explained to the head instructor that I had injured my ankle and was unable to kick. He was pretty understanding and sent one of the other trainers to work straight boxing on the pads with me. Then, for the technique component of the workout, the same trainer would work the clinch with me while the other students worked on kicking technique & defences.

Basically, I was put through a custom workout based on my restricted mobility with a sprained ankle. If I couldn’t do something that was shown, a trainer would either adapt the technique so I’d be able to do it or just show me something completely different. I was pretty impressed actually. I wasn’t just left on my own to hit the bags.

As for Tiger Muay Thai itself, there’s a few negatives and so far, a lot of positives. I’m going to jump into one of the MMA classes either tomorrow or early next week to see how those are. I haven’t done any sort of grappling in about half a year so I’m sure I’ll be tapping a lot. Actually, with a sprained ankle, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to hold guard. I was watching Ray Elbe - the MMA instructor - on the mat today and he was pulling off all kinds of submissions. One was a slick choke from rubber guard, one was an inverted heel hook and another ..well, I’m not sure on this but it looked like he secured a choke and tap out with the sleeve of his shirt.

Keep Checking Back ..

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Scorpion Muay Thai Gym Review

When I first arrived in Pattaya, Scorpion Muay Thai gym was the first camp that I visited. As I mentioned in an earlier entry, it was tough to find at first but now that I know my way around, it’s actually very convenient to get to since it’s on the baht bus route - which is a major reason why I’ve been going everyday.

Further adding to the convenience factor is the fact that Scorpion Muay Thai doesn’t have “set” training times. Rather, you can just show up (anytime between operating hours) when you want to train. This is Thailand and a famous motto here is “Sabai Sabai” - which basically means relax and take it easy. Shit happens - it’s easy to get side tracked here and I like the fact that I don’t have to rush to training.

Another thing that I like about Scorpion Muay Thai, aside from the convenience, is the fact that it’s not overcrowded. When I’m doing my pad-work, I don’t feel as though the trainer is rushing through the rounds and trying to get as many students in and out as possible. I trained at one gym here in Pattaya and I got 2 rounds of pad-work. In between the 2nd and 3rd round, the trainer called the next student into the ring and I was left standing there (with my gloves still on) wondering what the hell was going on. Needless to say, I never went back.

At Scorpion Muay Thai, I get a minimum of 5 rounds of pad-work. Three of those rounds focus on Muay Thai techniques (kicks, knees, elbows) while the other 2 rounds focus strictly on boxing with the focus mitts. When I first arrived, I was talking to Rosalie (the owner/professional fighter) and she said that as long as you still have “power”, you can continue on beyond the 5th round if you’d like. Five rounds is enough for me since I’m still trying to work on my cardio but if your conditioning rivals the likes of Urijah Faber or Sean Sherk - you can do all the rounds that you need to do. Here’s some footage I took of 2 of the trainers working with 1 of the students (keep in mind, they don’t have to do that).

Since Scorpion Muay Thai doesn’t have “set” training times, the workouts differ somewhat from a lot of the other camps. You’ll notice that when you look at other Muay Thai camp websites, they have a typical day of training laid out for you to view. The training usually involves a run, skipping, shadowboxing, heavy bag work and then simulated rounds with the trainer.

Well, at Scorpion, if you’re not in the ring doing pad-work, you’re sort of left to do your own thing. I don’t mind this at all because I can skip, stretch, shadowbox and hit the heavy bag on my own. I just throw on my iPod and go through the motions. My routine at Scorpion Muay Thai is currently as follows..

Skipping (3-5 rounds)
Shadow Boxing (2-3 rounds)
Boxing on the Heavy Bag (3 rounds) - although cut short if I get called into the ring -
Stretching
Simulated Pad-work with the trainer (5 rounds)
And as of late.. I’ll finish up with about 2-3 rounds of sparring.

I personally enjoy the freedom of not having to run 10K everyday and do countless push-ups when I’m still sore from my workout at the gym the night before. And it’s not because I’m some fatass that can’t handle the workout. It’s because, honestly - I believe those training methodologies are outdated.

Back at home, I earned a living via a day job as a personal trainer (in addition to working at a nightclub), so I enjoy designing my own workout programs. The typical workout I outlined above consists of between 15-24 rounds (all of which are done at varied intensities). 24 rounds of cardio - I’d say that’s quite enough to prepare yourself for a 5 round Muay Thai/MMA fight. So rather than run an additional 10K, I find it to be more beneficial to go to a traditional gym and perform “fight functional” exercises to develop power.

By “fight functional”, I don’t mean bicep curls and leg extensions either. I’m talking about compound, multi joint exercises such as dead-lifts and the bench press. And of course, as any fighter will tell you, you need to develop the rotary strength of the core - and that’s just not something that regular sit ups accomplish. I usually implement some of the exercises from a manual I got a while ago - check it out if you want. Unfortunately, it’s not free though.

Anyway, back to the Scorpion Muay Thai gym. Overall, it’s pretty good. Nice facility, friendly atmosphere, it’s not overcrowded and most importantly - the trainers know what they’re doing. In addition to all that, it’s actually one of the cheapest Muay Thai camps that I’ve seen. A single session is 250 baht (which is on par with most of the other camps around here) and if you pay monthly, you can get once-daily training for 3800 baht. If you want to do two-a-days, it’ll cost you 7300 baht. Most of the camps only offer the two-a-day price regardless of how often you train.

Now for the “Fon” update

Well, she called me a few days and asked if she could come over. I don’t know why, but I said she could. Actually, I do know why - when a hot girl calls you and wants to come over at 3am, it’s tough to say no (crazy or not). Anyway, when she showed up, I got a weird vibe from her. Before I let her in, I talked to her for a bit to feel things out and I came to the conclusion that she was obviously drunk or high.

I told her that I changed my mind and that she had to bounce because I didn’t feel comfortable with her staying at my apartment while she was like that. She refused to leave. Since she wouldn’t leave, I figured I’d just walk back upstairs to my room and just lock the door. When I tried to do so, she kept blocking off my path so I couldn’t get by.

I really didn’t what to do at this point so I just stood and tried to explain to her, over and over again, why she couldn’t come up. Nothing was really getting through to her and I honestly just wanted to go to bed at this point so I literally had to grab her and try to escort her out the door. In the process of doing so, she flipped out and started slapping me..

Anyway, I got her out, locked the door and luckily - I haven’t seen her since. I told her best friend via msn that I went to Bangkok. I even went to an internet cafe and got her on webcam so the Bangkok story was a little more believable (I have WIFI in my room and usually use my laptop).

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Ready to Go!

Ready to Go!

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

I’ve been working it casually into my recent conversations - “so, what are you doing on the July 28th?”. They’ll respond with the usual “I don’t know, probably just work, why? What are you doing?”. That’s when I hit them with the “Oh, you’re just working? That’s cool, that’s cool. Me? Oh, I’ll be rockin’ out in Thailand. Training some Muay Thai, getting a massage or two”. At this point, I have a hard time holding back my smile and the people I’m talking too usually respond with a “Ohhh.. very funny! Yea, shut up!”

I know, I know - it’s an asshole move on my part. I just can’t help it. My flight’s booked, I got my 1 year visa, I quit my job - it’s just a matter of days until I’m back in paradise (7 to be exact). I leave Ottawa on the 26th, fly to Chicago, then from Chicago, I’m off to Tokyo, then from Tokyo, it’s right to Bangkok. The flight is actually pretty brutal - that’s one thing I’m not looking forward too.

Once I arrive, I’ll probably kick it in Bangkok for a while. I’ll hit the mall and get myself a new wardrobe since I’m packing nothing but my laptop, camera, couple pairs of socks and boxer shorts, my mouth-guard and my cup (it’s Thailand, I’ll be needing my “boys” to be intact).

Once I settle in, I really don’t have any set plans. I sort of like it that way. I might check out Fairtex Bangplee or maybe I’ll hit up Kaewsamrit - I just don’t really know yet. There’s also a gym called “Ingram” that nobody really seems to know about. They’re produced a few lumpinee champions and they’re also the ones that first brought Baukaw to K1.

I doubt I’ll be able to tolerate Bangkok for too long so once I get sick of it, my next stop will likely be Pattaya. Pattaya is a crazy place from what I hear but it also has some world class Muay Thai. In Pattaya, I’ll probably check out Sityodtong. You’ve probably heard the Sityodtong name being tossed around by Joe Rogan during the UFC broadcasts - particulary during the Kenny Florian fights as he trains under Mark Delegratte at the Boston Sityodtong branch (there’s another in LA).

From there, I’ll be heading down to Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket. Tiger Muay Thai has both Muay Thai and MMA training and at the moment, they have all sorts of accomplished grapplers training there. I’ll get owned for sure but you know what? The more sore I am, the better those post-workout massages are going to feel : ) While I’m on the topic, I should also mention that the camp owner (Will) has been very pleasant to deal with. He even provided me with the invitation letter I needed to get my visa. It seems as though they do everything in their power to make everything go smoothly for their guests. So far so good!

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Keep checking back and I apologize for the delayed update. Once I arrive and start training, I’ll be updating this journal about 3-4 times a week. I’ll also be recording everything from camp tours and training to the rowdy nightlife of Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya.

Sawasdee,

Bill

P.S .. What are YOU doing on July 28th?

Haha.. just messin’ with ya!

 

Muay Thai Camp Review: Patong Boxing Gym

Location

Patong Boxing Gym is currently located at 66/29 Soi Kepsup1, Taweewong Rd., Patong Beach. However, I believe they are moving up into the hills of Patong in the near future. There is another “Patong Boxing Gym” on Nanai Rd. behind Nanai BBQ buffet but that’s completely different. I’ve never trained at that “Patong Gym” but I can certainly vouch for the BBQ buffet - highly recommended by the way.

Muay Thai Camp Description

Patong boxing gym differs from the other muay thai camps in the sense that you can show up anytime you want during operating hours. There are no pre-designated training times. However, if you want set training times, you can certainly set up the sessions with your trainer of choice.

Personal Experience

From the minute I stepped foot in the gym, I felt welcome. The trainers were able to speak English well enough to communicate the key points. I came to patong boxing gym from an all-Thai training camp and while you’d think training with all Thai’s would be better - it isn’t. The key is to work with Thai trainers who have experience in teaching foreign students. It’s my understanding that the trainers at patong boxing gym are trained at the Muay Thai institute in Bangkok.

The trainers at patong boxing gym showed great attention to detail. If you mess up, even if it’s the slightest mistake - they’ll point it out to you. They’re so picky about your technique that you’ll even start to get frustrated. But of course, as you improve, you’ll be glad that they gave you such a hard time. They’re picky because they care. You’re there to learn and they’re there to teach.

Final Thoughts

I highly recommend this Muay Thai camp. Well, technically it won’t be a “camp” per say until they change locations. Right now it’s more of a “school” as it doesn’t provide accommodations. No big deal though. It’s right in the middle of Patong beach, which is the most developed beach in all of Phuket. Finding a nearby place to stay is no problem at all.

Recommended - YES!!

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