So last week I spent about 3 nights in Pattaya; a city that a lot of guys (who have been there) would consider to be one of the craziest places in the world to party.

I’ve been there many times before (I lived there for 3 months straight at one point) and of course, I’ve had my share of drama with the Thai girls during that time.

If you’re a long term reader of this blog, I’m sure you can tell that my entries have become more tame (boring perhaps?) and that’s because I’ve almost entirely cut out drinking/partying and I don’t really do much aside from training, writing (internet marketing stuff) and I guess spending time with the girl I’ve been with for over 2 years now.

So, when one of my buddies mentioned to me that he had 3 nights in the Holiday Inn booked and pre-paid, that he wasn’t able to go and that he wanted to transfer the reservation in my name, I was all over that offer.

I’ve always sort of pictured Holiday Inn hotels to be pretty basic (nothing like say a Mariott or Hilton) but the one in Pattaya is amazing.

When I checked in, the front desk receptionist upgraded me to a “seaview corner suite” as well (pictures here, here and here). Checking into the room and looking at the view for the first time was like seeing Pattaya from an entirely different perspective. The classy version of it basically..

After I checked in, I met up with a guy from Toronto and proceeded to get pretty drunk (doesn’t take much for me at this point) and when you get drunk in Pattaya, funny shit happens.

I only remember bits and parts of the night but one of those memories is of him getting kicked in the face by a bare foot hooker on walking street after trying to snap pictures of her massive feet and telling her that she looked like Hakeem Olajuwon.

Now that I think about it, the massive feet and aggressive tendencies are a pretty good indicator that it was probably a dude.. a couple things to look out for if you ever come to Thailand.

I got a bit of training in while I was there too; one session at the old “RMB” gym, which is now called Pattaya Muay Thai Academy and under different ownership, and another session at Sor Klinmee.

Sor Klinmee is definitely my gym of choice in Pattaya. I got 5 rounds of good pad-work in with a trainer that seemed like he was the happiest man in Thailand. Sudsakorn was there, Ekapop was there; it’s just a good vibe.

I took a really short video before my phone battery died (not the best quality) but here it is regardless..

As I mentioned in my last post, I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu here in Bangkok at Bangkok BJJ (Bangkok BJJ) and so far I really like it. I can sort of tell that this will probably become my new obsession.

For Muay Thai training, I’ve been hopping between two different gyms. One of the gyms is called “Fighting Spirit” and I have to say that this place might provide the best value of all commercial gyms in Thailand.

You can train every day here for 4000 baht per month (6000 baht per month for 2x per day training) and you get a full 5 rounds (4 minutes each) as the standard time with the trainer.

The trainers are all consistently good pad holders and to top it off, there’s a well equipped weight training area as well. I’ll be taking some training footage and writing up a review on the gym in a future entry.

So as of right now, I’m training BJJ a couple times per week, training at Fighting Spirit gym on the days I want to lift weights (2x per week to maintain my strength basically) and my other 2 sessions are done at a gym I discovered that I’m not ready to name here.

Normally I would, but I’m the only foreigner there most days and the training is just too good. The main focus at this gym is the clinch. There are days when they don’t even hit pads and they’ll just clinch for over an hour.

I’m not going to drop the name of the gym (not yet anyway) but I’ll say that there’s a 22 year old that trains here who has 10 titles (6 Thailand, 2 lumpinee etc.) so if you can figure out who that is, the mystery is solved.

Getting technical instruction in the clinch is something I’ve been looking for and now that I’ve found it, I’m just trying to take in as much knowledge as possible because it’ll be nice to pass it along if I ever end up living in Canada again.

Between the BJJ classes where I’m constantly getting choked with my own Gi and this authentic Thai gym where I have these champions tossing me around in the clinch, I think I’ve put myself in good learning environments.

Given the option of being a more advanced student at a commercial gym or the least skilled guy in a gym full of champions, the second environment seems like the better choice. I’ll wrap this up by posting up some training footage..

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Hi,
    I am following your journals for awhile and was wondering what’s a good place to train in Bangkok for a beginner and also a good place to stay at? The reason I ask is because you have more experience there and it would be my first time there for one month stay to so yeah. I think I know the gym your talking about because I figured it out. Would that gym be good for a beginner? and if so how do you get there? Well thanks for reading my questions bye. Harry

  2. Hey Harry,

    I’d suggest you look into training at Fighting Spirit gym.
    It’s a good value, beginner friendly and it’s easy to get there from both the MRT station (subway) or the BTS (sky train)..
    You can stay right at the gym as they have some accommodation on site or you can just turn up and look for a place to stay nearby. A lot of the nearby apartments might require a 3+ month contract though, you’d just have to look around when you get here.

  3. Hi,
    Thanks for the reply and keep up the updates it’s awesome. I was wondering how could I get a hold of you because I might have more questions to ask. I ask because I just wanted to cover all my bases before I get there that’s all by if not thanks anyway c-ya. Harry.

  4. Hey, man. I got a question for ya. Have you been to Phuket Top Team before? I’m going to Phuket in a couple months and like the fact that they have BJJ as well as Muay Thai. Just wanted to get your opinion if you’ve been there?
    I’ve been at Fighting Spirit for almost a month now and love it. Awesome gym and vibe. Went to BKKBJJ as well, but it’s such a pain to get to from my apt. here in Bangkok that I’m just doing the 2 a days at FSG for now. Anyway, take care, man.
    -Josh

  5. Hey Harry,

    Send me a message via the “contact tab” at the top and I’ll send you a return message through my personal email account that I check every day.
    Feel free to ask me whatever questions you have, I’d be happy to help.

  6. Hey Josh,

    You’ve been training at Fighting Spirit lately? I’ve probably seen you there then.
    I went to check out Phuket Top Team a couple months ago for a session and I’d definitely recommend it.
    One session usually isn’t enough to judge a gym but the trainer that I worked with when I was there (Sam) used to train me years ago at the old Patong Boxing Gym.
    “Lucky”, one of the trainers I worked with for about half a year at the old Kittana Muay Thai gym also works there and he’s an awesome trainer too.
    I see that they also have Samkor working there now so it seems they have some great Muay Thai trainers.
    For BJJ/MMA, it seems really solid too.. their BJJ instructor used to be the head trainer at Brazilian Top Team I believe and they have a stacked fight team so lots of quality training partners to roll with.

  7. Cool. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I’ll definitely have to check it out then. Yeah, I’m the skinny little bastard up there covered in Black&Gray tattoos. Haha.
    -josh

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