Camp Spotlight: Scorpion Muay Thai

August 24, 2009 by danielson  
Filed under Camp Spotlight


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My apologies for not posting a Camp Spotlight in a while. Since about Mid July I have been pretty wrapped up in my personal training as well as several private students I have started teaching. In addition to that I have been setting up my home gym and doing a bunch of product reviews. As a result, I haven’t had a chance to update this section as much as I would have liked, but I should have at least 2 updates this month. The first one will be on Scorpion Muay Thai gym.

This weeks Camp Spotlight is on Scorpion Muay Thai. Scorpion Muay Thai is located in the “party city” of Pattaya in Thailand. The gym has been in business since 2003 and went through a big expansion in 2007. Here is everything you would want to know about Scorpion Muay Thai.

Here are the categories I will be providing information on:
(Note: The video inserted in this post starts automatically.)

  • Location
  • Best Travel Route
  • Pricing
  • Accommodations
  • Facilities
  • Trainers
  • Training Routine
  • Fighting
  • Administration/Office
  • Website
  • Extracurricular
  • Uniqueness
  • Contact Info


  • Location
    Scorpion Muay Thai is located in Pattaya, Thailand which is about two hours south of Bangkok. It ends up being about 150 km from the Bangkok Airport. Pattaya has many bars, reastaurant and disco’s. However the gym is located a little bit outside Pattaya so you won’t have to worry about the busy Pattay nightlife disturbing your training. If you want to get in to the city it cost you only 10 bath by Bath bus and it is about a 5 min to downtown Pattaya. The actual address of the camp is:

    Thappraya road Soi 15, 308/45 Moo 10 Nongprue, Banglamung
    Nongprue Banglamung (Pattaya)
    Chonburi
    Thailand
    20150

    Map of Thailand

    Map of Thailand


    The camp does not have a map on it’s website to show you where exactly the camp is located in Pattaya. A map like that is usually helpful to allow your taxi drive to know exactly where to take you. I have placed a map of Thailand in this article

    Best Travel Route
    In order to get to Scorpion Muay Thai Gym you first have to fly into Bangkok. From Bangkok, you basically have two options. You can either take a taxi or a bus into Pattaya. A taxi ride from Bangkok to Pattaya should cost you around 1200 baht (about $40 USD). Make sure you negotiate this price before you leave for your journey. The benefit about this option is they will take you right to the camp. Your second option is to take a bus to North Pattaya. From there you will have to take a taxi to the gym. The bus ride should cost you about 130 baht or about $5 USD. From the bus station you can take a taxi to the gym, and negotiate a good price for that, probably about 100 baht give or take. This option is much cheaper, but it is also less private and may take more time. You just want to make sure you don’t fall asleep on the bus during your trip.

    Pricing
    Scorpion Muay Thai has many options as far as training prices goes. I always use the monthly rate as the determining factor as to how fair a gyms prices are. The standard seems to be between 8000 – 9000 baht per month. If you find a gym that is prices higher, they are probably charging too much, and if you find one prices lower, you are getting a sweet deal. Scorpion has prices plans for daily, weekly, monthly, 3 months, 6 months or 1 year. They also have options for 1 or 2 training sessions per day. The prices for 1 training session per day are as follows: Daily = 250 baht, Weekly = 1250 baht, Montly = 3950 baht, 3 Months = 9500 baht, 6 Months = 18,000 baht, 1 Year = 33,500 baht. Their prices for 2 sessions per day training is as follows: Daily = 450 baht, Weekly = 2100 baht, Montly = 7500 baht, 3 Months = 17,000 baht, 6 Months = 31,000 baht, and 1 Year = 50,000 baht. As you can see, even if you training twice a day, at 7500 baht for 1 month, the price for training at Scorpion Muay Thai is extremely reasonable.

    Accomodations
    If you are planning on training at Scorpion Muay Thai, the camp can arrange accomodations for you. The accomondations includes Air Conditioning, FREE WIFI/Internet, Cable TV, Refrigerator, hot water, lots of parking, food and drinks service, daily maid service, 24 hour security. The rooms come in a private bungalow style, and an apartment building style and range between 13,000 – 15,000 baht per month. The daily price is between 600 – 800 baht. The gym has 20 building style rooms and 5 bungalow style rooms available.

    Facilities
    The Facilities at Scorpion Muay Thai are very nice. They have 2 Rings, 6 Heavy Bags, along with matted floors and a mirrored wall, which is great for shadow boxing. The gym has nice high ceiling roof which provides plenty of shelter from the sun and rain, while also allowing a nice breeze to vent through the large openings on the sides. The gym does have small partioning walls that keep the gym semi private from the outside traffic and community. Here is a nice photo of the gym at Scorpion.

    Scorpion Gym Facilities

    Scorpion Gym Facilities

    Trainers
    The head trainer at Scorpion Muay Thai is Somphot Thotla, which is an international fighter and was formerly ranked #2 of Lumpini Stadium in Bangkok. Somphot and his wife Rosalie own the gym and both of them fight out of Scorpion Muay Thai as well. Somphot has over 300 fights, with over 240 wins, 160 which came by way of knock out. Rosalie also has 23 fights in her career, and has won 18 of them. The gym lists 2 other trainers on their website, but they employ more than that. One of the unique features of the camp is that there is no group training. All the training is 1 on 1. As a result, the camp keeps a fair amount of trainers on hand.

    Training Routine
    Since all of the training at Scorpion Muay Thai is 1 on 1 there is not an exact “routine” of how your training session will go, however the Owner was nice enough to outline a typical training routine for someone who is training at Scorpion. Here is an example Training Routine:

    Skipping (3-5 rounds)
    Shadow Boxing (2-3 rounds)
    Bag Word (3-5 rounds)
    Stretching
    Pad Work With Trainer (5 rounds)
    Sparring (2-3 rounds)

    Here is also a video of the gym during some training.

    Fighting
    If you are seeking to fight while you are in Thailand Scorpion Muay Thai can arrange a fight for you. There are currently fights in Pattaya 3 times a week and the gym often arrnages out of town fights as well. Scorpion Muay Thai has to the potential fighters first in the gym to determine if they are ready to fight or not and to arrange a fight with someone of the same level. The gym will not arrange fights for people they have never seen before and people who are not ready yet. The good thing is that there is not a pre-determined amount of time that you must spend training at the gym before you can fight, however it seems like the gym will air on the side of caution in arranging fights to protect the fighters. As a result you may end up training there a bit longer before you feel you are ready, but it is probably safer for you in the long run.

    Gym Overview

    Gym Overview

    Administration/Office
    Rosalie is the Office Manager/Part Owner of the gym and handles all the correspondence. She is originally from Amsterdam and speaks good English, which is always a plus. In fact the trainers at Scorpion Muay Thai Gym all speak and understand the English language and the management at the gym are speaking English, Dutch, French, German,and Thai language so communication is never an issue at Scorpion Muay Thai Gym. If you contact the gym via email Rosalie will be the one that responds back to you and arranges everything for your trip. The first time I contacted the gym they got back to me in about 24 hours, which is a great sign that they are on top of things.

    Website
    The website for Scorpion Muay Thai is http://scorpion.atk-web.net/. Their website is mostly flashed based, which I am never a big fan of for several reasons. Sometimes Flash sites can take longer to load and navigate, the upside is they usually look cool. Aside from the appearance the site has all the necessary information that you need about the camp, including the prices, some photos and a FAQ page. I would have prefered some photos of the Bungalows and maybe a message board or testimonals page. Also I believe I mentioned above that unlike many other Muay Thai Camp sites, they don’t have a map showing exactly where the camp is. That could always be useful, especially if your taxi driver doesn’t know exactly where the camp is.

    Extracurricular
    Pattaya has a lot of bars, reastaurant and discos to keep you entertained while you are there. Nightclubs in Pattaya are the pivot of attraction in Pattaya Thailand. In fact the nightlife of Pattaya which has received international acclaim because of the extravagant nightlife of Pattaya. Some of the leading nightclubs in Pattaya Thailand are Tiffany Nightclub ,Tony’s Entertainment Complex and Club Electric Blue Disco.

    There are a bunch of other popular things to do while in Pattaya that are not too expensive such as Bowling, Go-karts, Water-skis, Elephant ride, Trail rides, pony treks, Paintball, Horse riding, theme parks and shows. The beaches are always very popular to spend time at while in Pattaya as well.

    One on One Training

    One on One Training


    Uniqueness
    I asked Rosalie what makes Scorpion Muay Thai unique, and this is what she replied:
    “I think (we are unique) because our trainers speak good English and really want to learn you something. In many gyms they are only concerned with money. With us its different, our trainers are giving the best training and put their heart in it and really want you get better. Also my husband is owner and trainer so its important for him that people get good training and not just kick 200x on the pads till they get tired.
    Foreigners come to Thailand to learn techniques and tricks not only for power.”

    Rosalie makes a really good point with the last part. Although cardio and conditioning is a major part of training in Thailand, it’s not the reason that many people travel their to train. Most people that are seeking to fight are not looking to hit a bag all day. They are seeking the fighting tricks, tips and strategies. That is exactly why I took a lot of private lessons while I was out there. Well, at Scorpion, all they have is private lessons. In my mind, that adds a lot of value to training at this camp.

    Contact Info
    If you are interested in training at Scorpion Muay Thai, and hopefully you will after this article, here is how you can contact them.

    Address: Thappraya road Soi 15, 308/45 Moo 10 Nongprue, Banglamung
    Nongprue Banglamung (Pattaya)
    Chonburi
    Thailand
    20150

    Phone: 0066 ( 0) 822 163016
    Email: rosalie_berghuis@hotmail.com
    Website: http://scorpion.atk-web.net

    If you liked this article, feel free to share it with a friend on Twitter or Facebook. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment below. Thanks.

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    Camp Spotlight: Koh Tao Island Muay Thai

    June 9, 2009 by danielson  
    Filed under Camp Spotlight


    This weeks Camp Spotlight is on the Koh Tao gym, Koh Tao Island Muay Thai. Island Muay Thai a remote camp located on the small island of Koh Tao, at the Sairee Beach Thaiboxing Stadium. There are several things that provide a unique training experience at the gym. Here is everything you would want to know about Island Muay Thai.

    Here are the categories I will be providing information on.

    Koh Tao Island Muay Thai Logo

    Koh Tao Island Muay Thai Logo

  • Location
  • Best Travel Route
  • Pricing
  • Accommodations
  • Facilities
  • Trainers
  • Training Routine
  • Fighting
  • Administration/Office
  • Website
  • Extracurricular
  • Uniqueness
  • Contact Info
  • Koh Tao Island Muay Thai – www.thaiboxingkohtao.com

    Location
    Island Muay Thai Kick Boxing School Koh Tao and Thai Boxing Stadium is set up on the beautiful tropical island of Koh Tao in the South East of Thailand. Koh Tao is a very small island just north of the larger South East Thailand Islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand. Around the camp you will find Restaurants and Bars, Bakerys, Shops and Internet Cafes. Other activities to do on the island include Mini Golf and Bowling over Rock Climbing and Paint Ball, Swimming, Snorkeling over colorful coral reefs. I have provided a map to the right to show you the location of Koh Tao. 6a00d41438b6433c7f00d09e7f989fbe2b-320pi

    Believe it or not, the camp does not post an address on the website, and you are not able to find one on the web either. A reason for this, is that Koh Tao is a small island, similar to Phi Phi island, where everything is very close to each other. There is only 1 Thaiboxing stadium on the island, so it’s not like you would get confused as to where to go. Just in case, the camp does conveinently provide a map for your taxi driver to take you to the gym. The map is located below on the right hand side. If you click on it, a larger version will open up which you can print out.

    koh-tao-map

    Best Travel Route

    You have two options regarding the travel to reach your destination at Koh Tao Island Muay Thai. The first thing you need to do is fly into Bangkok. From Bangkok, is where you have your options. Option 1 is to fly to Koh Samui and than take one of the passenger boats to Koh Tao. Option 2 is to take the train from Hua-Lampong train station or catch a bus at the southern bus terminal to Chumphon. From Chumphon you can choose one of the passenger boats or the night ferry boats to Koh Tao.

    Flying to Koh Samui is the more expensive option of the two, although since there are flights that travel from Bangkok to Koh Samui several times a day, you should have little wait on your travel time. If you decide to fly to Koh Samui you should be able to catch one of the afternoon boats to Koh Tao. Seatran leaves at 13.30 from Big Buddah which is only 2 km from the airport. There are 20 flights daily from Bangkok to Koh Samui. the first flight out leaves at 06:00 and the last one at 21:00. for exact times and reservation you can contact Bangkok Airways

    If you choose the option of taking the bus or train, from Chumphon you can choose one of the passenger boats or the night ferry boats to Koh Tao. The trains and buses leave mostly in the early evening hours, so you will arrive early in the morning in Chumphon and you can easily catch a morning boat to Koh Tao. Basically, it’s an over night travel, which could work for you if you arrive in Bangkok on an evening flight, and don’t have the option of flying to Koh Samui until the next morning. There are three major companies running boats in the Gulf of Thailand.

  • Lomprayah High Speed Catamaran
  • Seatran Speed Ferrys
  • Songserm Express Boat
  • You can find the time tables for the ferry boats here: Ferry Boat Schedules There are several smaller companies running boats as well.

    Pricing
    The pricing is one of the most attractive items about Koh Tao Island Muay Thai, and among the cheapest in Thailand. The day rates work pretty much the same as most other gyms, 300 baht for 1 half day session, and 400 baht for one full day. You start to see the price discounts with the weekly rates. Most other camps run between 2400 baht to 3000 baht for one week of training. Island Muay Thai will charge you only 1600 baht, which will give you 7 1 hour sessions over 6 days. If you are planning on doing 2 sessions a day, the price is the same at 2500 baht, but since few people actually take advantage of this, the 1600 baht option is nice. Finally, the monthly rates offer the largest savings compared to other camps. A one month package that offers 6 sessions per week (once a day) will cost you only 5500 baht. Most other camps will charge you between 8000-9000 baht a month for training. The difference is that with the more expensive optoin at the other gyms, you can go to unlimited sessions, however few people take advantage of that as I have said earlier. If you are planning on doing multiple training sessions a day since you want to get into shape, or possibly train to fight, then custom packages can be arranged to suit your needs by contacting the camp. Another option that Island Muay Thai has, is that they offer Muay Thai Instructor certification courses, which would certify you through the World Muay Thai Council as a Muay Thai Instructor. You have to contact the camp to discuss this option. The current exchange rate for Thai Baht is about 30 baht for 1 USD, which means a month of training will cost you about $185 USD.

    Accomodations

    Photo of the Studio Bungalow

    Photo of the Studio Bungalow


    The camp itself does not currently have it’s own accomodations, however they do have several resorts and other bungalows in the area from the camp. Some of these are literally walking distance to the camp. The one that Island Muay Thai lists on their website is Koh Tao Suksamran Villas. Suksamran Villas offers standard fan studios and deluxe Air-con studios away from the action on the beaches. Even though the location is so quiet, you won’t have to walk more than 5 minutes to the beach or for your shopping. Each bungalow includes the following: in-room Internet wireless access, Complimentary first aid medicine, housekeeping, laundry correction. You have an option of a room with AC or with only a fan. Rates for the month are between 12,000 – 15,000 baht for one month of accomodation. They actually offer a lot of different discount plans for longers stays, including free weeks/months depending on length of stays. The cost in USD for one month with no discount is between $400 – $500 USD.

    Photo of the Bedroom in the Bungalow

    Photo of the Bedroom in the Bungalow

    Facilities
    Koh Tao Island Muay Thai is equipped with excellent training facilities in the Koh Tao Thai Boxing Stadium in Sairee. The gym is a open side gym which is nicer to train in than an in door one. The open sided gym has a roof which will provide shelter from the sun and rain, but allow a cool breeze to blow through on the sides and keep training cool throughout the day. Island Muay Thai also has one fight size ring and are in the process of building a smaller training ring at the end of the year. The gym currently has 6 bags and one fixed boxing pad (uppercut style). Once again more bags will be coming once the second ring is built. You will also notice from any photos of the gym that they have a matted floor which is always nice as it is easier on your feet and will absorb shock and reduce impact on your body.

    The Training Area

    The Training Area

    Trainers
    The head trainer at Koh Tao Island Muay Thai is Pi Toon and he is in charge of the training. The camp has 6 trainers, 5 of which are Thai trainers and the part owner of the camp, Steve, who is originally from the UK. The website has a page labeled “Staff” which is suppose to have profiles of the trainers, but it currently does not have any information. I did communicate with Steve directly and he informed me that aside from himself all the other trainers are Thai. Here is a photo of both the trainers and students at the camp:

    Island Muay Thai Group Shot

    Island Muay Thai Group Shot

    Training Routine
    There is not a set training schedule at the gym. What I mean is that the gym does not run set classes. People can turn up when they want (unless they are training to fight). The gym tires to do 1 on 1 training although sometimes it ends up being 1 trainer to 2 or 3 students if its busy. Average training session sizes in the morning 5-10 students and in the afternoon average 10-15 students.

    There is however a training routine that sessions typically follow. Sessions will start with skipping rope and shadow boxing which is a good way of stretching and warming up. This is usually followed by some short runs to build up stamina and leg strength. At times you will learn various techniques in a one on one technique session. Once you are good and warm, the bulk of your training session will begin.

    Warm ups are followed by bag work which are 3-5 minutes round of punching, kicking, kneeing and elbowing a kick bag to increase your stamina and the power of all your physical weapons. After the bag work session, you are ready to go into your padwork session. If you are not already exhausted, you will have 3 to 5 minute rounds with a trainer depending on your condition. These are typical pad work sessions where the trainer wears shin guards a stomach pad and two pads, held in his hands, so he can interact with you and make the training more exciting. This part of the boxing training will help you to figure out distances and speed up your reaction time.

    After the padwork sessions, you will start your cool down by learning the technical art of the Muay Thai clinch. During the clinch session you practice close up knee strikes and elbows techniques as well as grappling footwork for 10-30 minutes depending on your strength and fitness. To cool your body down slowly, you will finish up each thai boxing training session with some light shadow boxing, sit-ups to strengthen your stomach muscles and also some stretching. This will increase your flexibility and help to stop cramps and torn muscles. Your sessions will typically be somewhere between 1 to 2 hours.

    Fighting
    If you want a competitive fight while you are in Thailand, this can definitely be arranged through Island Muay Thai. If you are training for a fight at the gym, they will push you a little harder, and require more from you such as additional sparring, rounds, running, etc. One of the unique things about Koh Tao Island Muay Thai is that their gym is actually also the Sairee Boxing Stadium, and as a result they hold regular Fight Nights.

    A Fighter at one of the Fight Nights

    A Fighter at one of the Fight Nights

    Thai Boxing Fighters come from the neighboring islands like Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and the mainland, Surantthani, Trang and Bangkok to fight, as well as from all over the world. As you develop some skills and feel you are ready for a challange the gym can also arrange a real fight for you. They will perform an evaluation of your conditioning and skill level before they allow you to enter into the ring, but the good thing is there is not necessarily a time requirement spent training at the gym before you can fight.

    Administration/Office
    There are a couple of strong points at Island Muay Thai regarding their office. First off the co-owner, Steve, is a westerner. This in my opinion is always an advantage, as the hospitality is usually (but not always) at a higher level of service. I also like the fact that the other co-owner of the camp is a Thai by the name of Pi Toon. This ensures a higher quality in the training, as there is a lot of pride and honor in running a successful camp for the Thais. I contacted Steve prior to writing this review, and received an immediate response from him, which is always a good sign. Although, my follow up emails were not responsded to as quickly. A reason for this, could possibly be explained as Steve informed me in his first email that he was back in the UK for a while. This could attribute to the delayed response on the follow ups.

    Koh Tao Island Muay Thai Trophies

    Koh Tao Island Muay Thai Trophies

    Here is a cool photo of some of the trophies of Island Muay Thai. As you can see they are very proud of their accomplishments at the gym. Also, this is pretty good representation of the organization of the gym itself.

    Website
    The website for Koh Tao Island Muay Thai can be a little bit confusing at times. The main site is pretty simple for the most part, with several key categories that has all the necessary information you need, such as accomodations, prices, training, etc. But as you surf it a little more you start to get somewhat lost. For instance, since the camp itself doesn’t have accomodations, that page pretty much just provides a gateway to a nearby villa. Also, the “Staff” page is still under construction. From one of the pages, there is a link to their blog, which has a lot of news and events updates about the gym. From this page, you can also find several links of things to do when you are not training at the island. The only thing about he blog, is you can only get to it from “Training” page from their main website. Just so you guys don’t run into problems surfing between the sites, here are looks for both: www.thaiboxingkohtao.com and www.thaiboxingkohtao.com/blog One final thing I would also like to see is larger pictures and photos of the gym, as all the photos of the camp are only thumbnail sized.

    Extracurricular
    There are a bunch of things to do while you are not training Muay Thai on Koh Tao. Some of the most exciting things to do around the island are scuba diving and sailing. Several other things to do include: mini golf, bowling, rock climbing, paint ball, and snorkeling. There are also many bars, resturaunts, shops and Internet cafes in a close proximity to the gym. Finally, there is a rich night life with a Beach Party going on almost every single night.

    Uniqueness
    There are several things that are very unique about Koh Tao Island Muay Thai. First off, you do all of your training in an actual Muay Thai stadium, with a full sized competition ring. Secondly, the prices for the camp are unbeatable and are the cheapest you will find in Thailand. On top of that, you almost always get a 1 on 1 training session with your trainers, which really can’t be beat.

    Let’s not forget, they also have a program to become a Muay Thai instructor at the camp. The instructors course is 45 days to be a basic instructor, which is comprised of 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening. It involves improving your own boxing skills, clinching skills and technique as well as learning new techniques. You also learn how to hold focus pads and you will get plenty of chances to hold pads for thai boxer’s. The overall initial program will leave you with a good knowledge of basic thai boxing instruction.

    Finally, one of the coolest things in my opinion is that they constantly are holding Fight Nights at the stadium/camp. Most of the Fight Nights have 8 fights a night, and there are usually at least 2 Fight Nights a month. Below is some footage of one of the previous fight nights.

    Contact Info
    If you are interested in training at Koh Tao Island Muay Thai, and hopefully you will after this article, here is how you can contact them.

    Tel. (66) 0862 698725
    Email: spudgrayson@hotmail.com
    Website(s): www.thaiboxingkohtao.com
    www.thaiboxingkohtao.com/blog
    www.kohtaostudios.com/

    If you liked this article, feel free to share it with a friend on Twitter or Facebook. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment below. Thanks.


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    Camp Spotlight: Jitti Gym

    May 20, 2009 by danielson  
    Filed under Camp Spotlight

    This weeks Camp Spotlight is on the Bangkok Muay Thai gym, Jitti Gym. Jitti gym is one of the most popular and well spoken of camps in Bangkok. People often speak so well of this gym is because it is such a welcoming family enviroment. Here is everything you would want to know about Jitti Gym.

    Here are the categories I will be providing information on.

    Jitti Gym Logo

    Jitti Gym Logo

  • Location
  • Best Travel Route
  • Pricing
  • Accommodations
  • Facilities
  • Trainers
  • Training Routine
  • Fighting
  • Administration/Office
  • Website
  • Extracurricular
  • Uniqueness
  • Contact Info
  • Jitti Gym – www.jittigym.com

    Location
    Jitti Gym is located in Bangkok just 13 km north of the legendary Lumpini Stadium, heading towards the airport. The camp is next to the underground station at Ratchadapisek so it is very easy to get to all nightlife in Bangkok. Ratchadapisek Road is an entertainment zone and Sukhumvit Road is close by. Thailand Cultural Centre for concerts and traditional Thai performance is nearby as well. There are many restaurants, cafes, shops and pharmacies all within a short distance from the gym. The address of the camp is:

    JittiGym · The International Muay Thai Training Gym.
    12 Soi Chokchairuammit yak 29
    Viphavadee Rangsit, Ratchadapisek Rd. Dindang
    Bangkok 10320, Thailand

    The camp has two maps on its website. The first one shows where in Bangkok the camp is located – Jitti Gym Location In Bangkok Map They also have a second map which shows the location of the camp and the surrounding area. I always appreciate camps that do this, as it is a great resource to show your taxi driver at the airport. You can see this one below.

    Jitti Gym Map

    Jitti Gym Map

    Best Travel Route
    This one is pretty simple. Fly directly into Bangkok airport and take a taxi to the gym using the map provided. Here are a couple tips though, if you are looking to fly directly into Bangkok, Thai Airways has it’s main hub in Bangkok, and you will probably be able to get the cheapest rate with them. However, if you are in the US they only fly out of Los Angeles, so you will have to fly there first. If you are on the East Coast of the US, I recommend Cathay Pacific. They fly from New York to Hong Kong, and from there you can fly to Bangkok.

    Pricing
    The pricing structure is very unconventional compare to other Muay Thai camps that I have researched. They have a 300 baht 1 session rate, which is on the lower side. This is a walk in rate which allows you to train in either the morning or afternoon session. The next rate they have listed on their site is 1000 baht per day, with homestay. It includes all training fees, breakfast and evening meal at the gym and shared dorm room with fan. They don’t show a weekly rate, but I assume that there would be no discount, which would put it at either 7000 baht for a week. They list a monthly rate of 25,000 baht per month, which gives you a slight discount. The discount if you prebook in advance is 700 baht per day, which ends up being 21,000 baht for the month. There is no weekly discount.

    Those rates may seem high compared to some of the camps that I have featured which will run you between 18,000 – 22,000 baht for a month training and a private room with AC. However, it is important to point out the meals are included with this. A month of free meals could easily save you between 4000 – 6000 baht, which ends up being between $100 – $175 USD that you can pocket for something else.

    The current exchange rate is $1 USD = 35 baht, which means a month of training, meals and accomodation would costs about $725 USD. With the discount for prebooking, it would cost you $610. To check the current exchange rate, you can visit this site: Exchange Rates Also, the gym does not take Credit Cards. They only accept Thai Baht.

    Accomodations
    At Jitti Gym they have shared dorm rooms. This is best for guys who want to focus on training. It includes all training fees, breakfast and evening meal at the gym and room with fan.

    One of the rooms at Jitti House

    One of the rooms at Jitti House


    The shared dorm room is the one which is included in the monthly training price discussed above. The house has more comfortable, private accommodation, Air Conditioning and is suitable for women. Both types provide a sitting room with satellite TV, DVDs Magazines/books, etc. Here is a link to the Jitti House: Jitti House

    Facilities
    The facility at Jitti is a bit on the small side, but they make great use of their space. The facility itself is 420 sqm. according to the Songchai Thaigyms website. This space includes 1 full size boxing ring, and 6 heavy bags. The gym also has matted floors throughout most of the gym, and several large rubber tires around the gym for warmups. The gym has a sheltered roof to allow training in all types of weather, and open sides to allow good air circulation. Here is a nice photo of the gym:

    Jitti Gym

    Jitti Gym

    Trainers
    The owner of the gym is Jitti Damriram who was born in Buriram, Northeast Thailand. This is an area (in)famous for Muay Thai. As an area champion he moved to Bangkok. There he fought at Rajadamnoen Stadium, one of the top stadiums in the country. He was a successful fighter, ranked in the top 5 between 1978-1981. With a record of over 80 fights he retired from the Muay Thai stadium and started teaching. He has taught in Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland and England.

    The gym doesn’t have a head trainer, everyone works equally as they are all ex stadium fighters and very experienced. The gym has over 12 trainers, with at least 6 trainers working at a time. Almost all of the fighters have a minimum of 75 fights, and there is one trainer, Jomyut Loomnam Chia, who is a 3 time Lumphini Champion. The training at Jitti gym is among the top quality that you will find in Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand for that matter.

    Training at Jitti Gym

    Training at Jitti Gym

    Training Routine
    The details on the training routine are pretty vauge as far as the information you can find online. The training follows a basic outline of the training, however this can vary. Some days you may spend more time doing pad work, sparring, etc. The morning training session is 2 hours, while the afternoon training session is 3 hours. You start the morning session with a long run, while the afternoon session is started with skipping rope. Below is the basic structure of training.

  • Morning 07:00-09:00

  • Early run – this is gentle and lasts up to an hour, usually in the nearby park.
    Conditioning – back at the gym, light padwork, conditioning drills.

  • Afternoon 15:00-18:00

  • Skipping – up to 30 minutes.
    Training – warm up and stretch, shadow sparring, padwork, bagwork and sparring.
    Conditioning – sit ups, press ups, weights. Followed by a warm down and stretch.

    You could be fighting here after training with Jitti

    You could be fighting here after training with Jitti

    Fighting
    If you are looking to fight while you are training at Jitti Gym, they can can arrange fights at Rajadamnoen, Lumphini(for fighters with suitable experience), Phuket, tournaments, etc. What’s good about Jitti gym is they don’t require you to train at the gym for a lengthy amount of time before you can get a fight through them. Jitti usually want to see people train for 2 weeks before they decide if you are ready fight. It also depends on your previous experience. If you have fought before and your conditioning level is still high, then you will probably be ready to fight after the 2 weeks, however if you are new or haven’t fought in a while, expect it to take a little longer before you are ready to get back in the ring.

    Administration/Office
    One thing I have been extremely impressed with is the communication that I have received from Jitti. I have exchanged a few emails with him back and forth. The english is excellent, and his responses are positive and friendly. Also, the responses are really prompt. Jitti usually replies to me within 12 hours (remember there is a time difference between here and Thailand). It also makes you feel good when the owner of the gym contacts you directly. It’s nice to know he has a personal investment in each and every potential client. This alone has made me want to train at Jitti Gym.

    There is a small area of the gym which is used to highlight all the previous fighters, champions etc. of Jitti. The space is also used for storage and I believe a kind of make shift reception area. Here is an excellent picture:

    jitti-office

    Website
    Jitti Gym has 3 websites that you should know about. The first is the website for the gym which is www.jittigym.com. This is the main website for the gym. They also have a blog where they update news and recent events, which is www.jittigym.com/blog. On the blog, they post fight results, photos and other recent events. The final site you need to know about is www.house.jittigym.com That is the website for the accomodations website for room and board.

    OK, so now that I listed the websites, here is what you need to know. The website has all the basic information, however there is a lot of room for growth with the site. There are certain things that I feel are missing, or could be arranged better. For instance, there are a limited amount of photos on the website. I actually found a good deal of photos on Flickr. A gallery section with photos of the gym, training and both Thai and Farang fighters, in fights or training would be nice to see. Also, the website has a FAQ section, which is nice. One question that they answer there is about the cost of training. I felt that information should be moved to the “Training” page.

    Speaking of the training page, a little more detail about the training routine would be nice. They give you a basic outline, but it would be nice to know a little more detail. One example they say “conditioning drills”, a little more details in that area such as “conditioning drills on bag, followed by ab conditioning” would give the website visitor a little more insight as to the workout routine.

    One other note about the website, in the “Contact” page, the email addresses for contact are written out as jittigym1960 @ hotmail.com and info @ jittigym.com, so they don’t appear as links that you can click and have it open directly to your email. Also, if you copy and paste it, then you have to remove the spaces. This may be because they have an email form that you can contact them directly from the website. This is a suitable option, but since it is programed in Javascript, there is always the possiblity for a web error to occur.

    I do like the fact that they created the Jitti Blog, which allows readers to find up to date news about Jitti Gym, as well as make comments in the recent posts. I feel a “Comments” section is always a suitable option if your website does not have a message board.

    Extracurricular
    Bangkok is an exciting, modern city with lots of options and easy transport. Stadiums are about 20 minutes away. The gym fights several times a month, with both Thai and Farang fighters representing Jitti Gym. The gym is near to Ratchadapisek Road, a popular entertainment zone. There are restaurants, shopping malls and cinemas. There is a 7-11, swimming pool, night market, small bars and food stalls close to the gym. When you come to Jitti Gym, the focus is on training, any extracurriulars that the gym arranges is centerted around training or fighting. There are several things to do in the area on your own as previously stated.

    The Jitti Family

    The Jitti Gym Family

    Uniqueness
    I asked Jitti what makes his gym unique, and here was his response. “We are an independent gym with a family atmosphere. I have trained international students for over 15 years and all are welcome.”

    Through my research I found this to be 100% true. Ever person that I spoke to that visited the gym had great things to say about this place. The common theme was that it really does feel like a family enviroment.

    Another thing that I found very unique about the gym is that the UK Thaiboxing Gym, Bad Company chooses Jitti Gym as it’s number one gym in Thailand to send it’s fighters and coaches for training. Bad Company is one of the biggest Thaiboxing Schools in the UK, and the fact that they are affiliated with Jitti Gym, only confirms that Jitti Gym is one of the best gyms in Thailand to train at.

    Contact Info
    If you are interested in training at Jitti Gym, and hopefully you will after this article, here is how you can contact them.

    JittiGym · The International Muay Thai Training Gym.
    12 Soi Chokchairuammit yak 29
    Viphavadee Rangsit, Ratchadapisek Rd. Dindang
    Bangkok 10320, Thailand
    Tel. (66) 2691 4238
    Mobile. (66) 9069 5026
    Email
    jittigym1960@hotmail.com
    info@jittigym.com
    Website
    www.jittigym.com
    www.jittigym.com/blog
    www.house.jittigym.com

    If you liked this article, feel free to share it with a friend or make a comment below. Thanks.


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    Camp Spotlight: Phuket Dragon Muay Thai

    May 10, 2009 by danielson  
    Filed under Camp Spotlight


    This weeks feature is Phuket Dragon Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand. I hope you find this information helpful and informative.

    Here are the categories I will be providing information on.

  • Location
  • Best Travel Route
  • Pricing
  • Accommodations
  • Facilities
  • Trainers
  • Training Routine
  • Fighting
  • Administration/Office
  • Website
  • Extracurricular
  • Uniqueness
  • Contact Info
  • Phuket Dragon Muay Thai – www.muaythaidragon.com

    Location
    Phuket Dragon Muay Thai is located in Phuket, Thailand. The camp is located in the province of Wat Chalong, which is in the Southern part of Phuket Island, very close to Rawai and Nai Harn beach. The camp is located in the Southern part of Phuket, near Rawai Beach. On the road where the camp exists, there are several resturants and accomodations within walking distance. The main commercial area of Phuket is about a 8 minute drive away. There are also several tourist locations within a short drive. The address of the camp is:

    10/3 Moo 5, Soi Ta-iad T.
    Chalong, A. Muang
    Phuket 83130 Thailand

    The camp has a map on it’s website to show you exactly where on the island it is located. You can also use the map to show your taxi driver at the airport. Here is the map:

    Best Travel Route
    The best way to get to Phuket Dragon Muay Thai is to fly into the Phuket airport and then take a taxi which is approximately a 30 minute drive from the airport. In traveling to the Phuket airport the most likely way to get there is to first fly into Bangkok and then take a flight from Bangkok to Phuket. Flights go back an forth between the two locations almost hourly during the day until around 10pm at night. You can also fly into Phuket from another destination, however there may be a longer wait time before your flights leaves upon arrival at that location. On my recent trip to Phuket, I flew into Hong Kong and then stayed there overnight and caught a morning flight to Phuket. The entire overlay was about 14 hours. A taxi ride from the Phuket airport to the camp will cost about 600 baht, which is about $20 USD.

    Pricing
    The pricing at Phuket Dragon Muay Thai is slightly cheaper than some of the bigger camps in Phuket such as Tiger Muay Thai or Sinbi. This is mostly because it is a farily new gym and in order to compete they must scale back their pricing. It is also a smaller camp facilities wise. However, you do receive 1 on 1 training during every session, which more than makes the rates at Phuket Dragon a good value. The daily rate is 300 baht for 1 session, or 500 baht for both morning and afternoon sessions. The weekly rate is 2400 baht while the monthly rate is 8000 baht. They also have a 3 month rate of 22,000 baht.

    You can also arrange accomodations through Phuket Dragon Muay Thai, which range anywhere from 6000 baht for a budget room with only a fan, to as high as 12000 baht for a private room with AC. The current exchange rate is $1 USD = 35 baht, which means a month of training would costs about $230 USD and accomodation would cost between $170 – $340 USD. To check the current exchange rate, you can visit this site: Exchange Rates

    Accomodations
    There are a handful of accomodation resorts withing walking distance from Phuket Dragon Muay Thai, including The Nature House, Family Bungalows and Moma’s Country Bungalows. There are at least 4 or 5 more resorts on the same street as Phuket Dragon, but the ones I listed are the most affordable. Accomodations can range between 6000 – 12,000 baht per month. Most of them are recently built, single rooms with a private bath. There are also several resturants withing walking distance, most of which are located right at the bungalows, including Moma’s, Boxer Bar and Jungle Hut.

    Facilities
    The training facilities at Phuket Dragon are currently on the smaller side but they are in the middle of an expansion. The gym itself has 1 ring and about 13 bags, along with a decent size training floor space. This space although it is small as I said above, is perfect for the amount of clients typically at the camp on any given week. As the amount of students is growing, so is the camp as they have just started the addition of a second ring. The gym itself has a covered roof, and is open on 3 sides to allow good air flow. They also have a equipment store on site, which is conveinent for purchasing any necessary equipment or accessories, such as gloves, shorts or hand wraps.

    Trainers
    The camp has 8 trainers on hand at all times, which allows for a student to trainer ratio that is usually no larger than 3 to 1. The head trainer of Phuket Dragon Muay Thai is Yod, followed by his brother Bang.

    Head Trainer Yod

    Head Trainer Yod

    From the several people I spoke to who had the opportunity to work with Yod, he comes highly recommended. His form and technique is top notch, as well as his hold when doing pad work. Yod is 31 and has been a trainer for 9 years now. He spent some time as a trainer in Europe as well, which would indicate that he would communicate well with Westerners. According to the Phuket Dragon website Yod has over 350 fights in his career.

    Training Routine
    The training hours at the gym are 7am to 10:30am in the morning and 4pm to 7pm in the afternoon. The training structure is pretty loose. A good friend of mine trained there and provided me some insight that I found helpful for explaining the training structure and routine at the gym. The training starts with a half hour warm up on your own, whether it be skipping rope, shadow boxing, or running. Once you are all warmed up, you do pad work with a personal pad man. All the training at Phuket Dragon is 1 on 1 with a trainer. Rounds typically last about 3 minutes each, and there would be anywhere from 4 to 6 rounds.

    Padwork with the Trainers

    Padwork with the Trainers

    After the pad work, you would move on to bag work. The exercises would typically be 100 front kicks on both feet, 100 knees on both sides and 100 elbows. Instructors will monitor you and correct your form where necessary. The sessions would end with optional ab work out of a specific number of crunches. One of the biggest advantages about training at Phuket Dragon is the 1 on 1 training that you receive from the moment you walk into camp. Most people that have trained here rave about the trainers.

    Fighting
    If you are considering getting a fight while you are in Thailand, Phuket Dragon Muay Thai can arrange one for you. There are two stadiums in Phuket that most of the gyms fight out of which are Bangla Stadium and Patong Stadium. The gym can also arrange fights for some of the surrounding areas as well.

    Group Camp Shot

    Group Camp Shot


    The gym will determine if you are ready for a fight based on a combination of physical evaluation as well as time spent at the gym. The trainers will work with you in sparring to assess your physical skill and conditioning level. They will also require that you train at the gym for at least 2 weeks prior to arranging a fight for you. That is probably a fair amount of time, even if you are already an experienced fighther, because it will allow you the necessary time to get into fighting shape. Some gyms will require you train for as much as 6 weeks before they will arrange a fight for you, so the shorter amount of time is nice.

    Administration/Office
    As I stated earlier, the camp is owned and operated by Master Yod and his brother Bang. Yod has spent time in Europe and is familar with training and dealing with Westerners. There is a small office area/pro shop at the camp, but the main area of the camp is dedicated to training space. I have contacted the camp a couple times via email, and usually receive a response within 2 to 3 days. The email responses are easy to read and the english is good, however they are just very brief. I wouldn’t mind for a little more detail in the responses.

    Website
    Phuket Dragon has a very nice Flash designed website. The website has 6 basic categories and for the most part is easy to navigate. In order to find some information from the website you have to surf through and really mine the site. If there was a few more categories, it would solve this problem. For instance, information about the training hours is including on the rates page. There is also no outline of the typical training routine. If there was a training page, it would solve the problem. Nonetheless, the website has all the necessary information including contact information, rates, photos and a map to show where the camp is located.

    Extracurricular
    Phuket is generally considered a tourist area, so there are plenty of things to do while not training at the camp. PD Muay Thai lists several things to do on their website including: Kayaking, Bungee Jumping, Snorkling, Scuba Diving and a couple tours. In addition, there are a couple temples worth visiting including Wat Chalong Temple, Nai Harn Temple and The Big Buddah. There are also plenty of popular beaches in the area, as well as the Phuket Zoo and Phuket Aquariam. And of course there is always the exciting night life in Patong.

    Uniqueness
    I asked the camp via email what they thought made the camp unique and their response was “(The) trainng (is)1 by 1 and every trainer have friendliness with everyone who come to train here.” This is additionally what I heard from everyone I met that did train at the camp.

    1 on 1 Training

    1 on 1 Training

    In fact, my good friend Erik said this “To sum it all up, the training at dragon was very individual and very good for me. I had a lot of fun, and in between all the tasks I got from the trainers I would do a lot of goofing around, like shadow boxing just for fun. It was great and I learned some really cool moves by doing that.”

    All of the great feedback I heard about this place definitely made it a place I am looking forward to training at.

    Contact Info
    If you are interested in visiting Phuket Dragon Muay Thai (and hopefully you will be after this article), here is how you can contact them:

    Manager : Mr. Ekkarin (Tak) Lookchan.
    Mobile Phone : + 66(0)80-142-7500
    Office Phone : + 66(0)76-280-536, +66(0)76-521-343
    Website : www.muaythaidragon.com
    Email : pkdragonmuaythai@hotmail.com (they have 4 email addresses on their site but this is the one they responded to me from)

    I hope you found this article informative and helpful. If you have anything to add about Phuket Dragon Muay Thai, please leave a comment below.


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    Camp Spotlight: Lanna Muay Thai

    May 4, 2009 by danielson  
    Filed under Camp Spotlight


    Hey Guys and Gals,

    Since I came back from Thailand, I have been working really hard on my website. A big reason for this is that I have had a lot of time on my hands. Because of my injuries, I wasn’t able to train, and if you couple that in with the fact that I have been looking for a new school to train at, it’s given me a lot of extra time which I have been spending working on my site. I’ve been adding a lot of content to the site, such as instructional videos, traveling tip articles, history and philosophy articles on the different arts, and of course the ever popular photos of MMA girls. But with that, I feel my site has started to get away from it’s niche a bit, which was suppose to be reviews of various Muay Thai camps, Martial Arts seminars, schools and other events. Because I am still in limbo, and don’t have much to write about, I decided to take some of my time and do some research on some of the different Muay Thai camps in Thailand and write a spotlight article on each one. You can expect about 1 a week from me. I am taking the time to visit the websites, read other review and even contact the camps with relavant questions. I will then summarize my findings in each post. The format will loosely follow the categories that I write my reviews with, however it won’t contain a grade, since I haven’t experienced any of the camps first hand, other than Tiger Muay Thai.

    This weeks feature is Lanna Muay Thai in Chang Mai. I hope you find this information helpful and informative.

    Here are the categories I will be providing information on.

    Lanna Muay Thai Logo

    Lanna Muay Thai Logo

  • Location
  • Best Travel Route
  • Pricing
  • Accommodations
  • Facilities
  • Trainers
  • Training Routine
  • Fighting
  • Administration/Office
  • Website
  • Extracurricular
  • Uniqueness
  • Contact Info
  • Lanna Muay Thai – www.lannamuaythai.com

    Location
    Lanna Muay Thai is located in Chang Mai, which is the second biggest city in Thailand next to Bangkok. The camp is located at the foot of the Doi Suthep Mountain, near the local university. There are also several small shops and resturants located near by and the main part of the city is only 6km away. The camp is located about 10 minutes from the Chang Mai airport. The address itself is:

    Lanna Kiat Busaba Muay Thai Camp
    161, Soi Chang Kian,
    Huay Kaew Road,
    Chiang Mai, 50300,
    Thailand

    Putting the address into Google or Mapquest is difficult, because you have to format it correctly with the commas and everything in the correct place. The camp provides a map on their website which you can use to find the gym from the airport. You can view that here: Lanna Map

    Best Travel Route
    You have two options for the best travel route to get to the camp. Option 1 (which is the best overall) is to fly into the Chang Mai airport. Most likely you will need to connect to a flight from your previous destination at the Bangkok Airport. A flight from Bangkok to Chang Mai will take only about an hour or so.

    Option 2 is probably best used if you have a long overlay between flights. That option would be to fly into Bangkok airport and take a bus from there to Chang Mai. The bus ride will take between 10-12 hours, however if you were going to be sitting in an airport all that time anyway, it may be best to try and arrange a bus ride.

    Pricing
    The price to train at Lanna Muay Thai is pretty consistant with most of the more popular gyms in Thailand, perhaps a bit on the lower side which is always nice. The daily price is 400 baht, the weekly price is 2200 baht and the price for a month of training is 8000 baht. The accomodation prices are decent as well ranging anywhere from 3000 baht for a shared housing room right at camp, to as high as 10,000 baht for an apartment/condo/house for a month. The camp does not accept credit cards. The current conversion rate is about 30 baht to $1 USD, so training will cost about $275 for one month while accomodation will cost anywhere between $100 – $300.

    Accomodations
    Speaking of accomodations, here is a little information on that. The camp has 3 rooms (2 person per room) that are onsite at the camp. Each room has it’s own toliet and shower, although there is no hot water. Accommodation at the camp is on a first come first serve basis, if there are no rooms avaiable upon arrival there are several guesthouses, bungalows, and hotels within walking distance of the camp where people may stay. The basic guesthouse rooms outside the camp are usually a single room with toilet/shower and fan. Air conditioning is available but mostly unnessecary and expensive. The camp will help you find a room upon your arrival to suit your needs and budget

    Facilities
    The facilities in the gym include 2 rings, 12 bags, 1 speed ball, 1 punching ball, 3 sit up benchs, various basic free weights, medicine balls, monkey, chin up, and parallel bars. Utlizing the uniqueness of it’s surroundings the camp uses the near by mountain for some tough hill runs. The training area is partially roofed and open on 3 sides to allow some nice air flow and keep the gym cool.

    A photo of the gym at Lanna Muay Thai

    A photo of the gym at Lanna Muay Thai

    Trainers
    Lanna has 8 Thai Trainers full time, 3 part time, as well as the owner who is a farang instructor. Additionally two of their long term foreign fighters, including one woman, also help out with the new students. Each of the Trainers have their own fighters who they work with but all their fighters will also train with different trainers. Lanna gives everyone the chance to work with several different trainers, to find their favourite, and to give them the experience of different styles. The full time trainers are all at the Camp at least 5 days a week, some of us are here 7 days a week.

    The average class sizes can vary from weekend mornings with 5 people to mid-week afternoons with 40 people. The constant is the fighters, there are always people training to fight, even on Sundays. At times Lanna can have a lot of fighters competeing at the same time the camp will be buzzing with intense training. Even during the quiet times you can still find someone in the gym training, hard!

    Training Routine
    The gym has 2 training sessions a day, in both the morning and afternoon. Here is an overview of the training schedule:

    Morning
    0600-Warm up/Stretch
    0610-10 km. Run
    0710-Drills (Knees, Kicks Teeps and Punches on the bag)
    0730-Shadow Box (5 to 6 rounds)
    0800-Bag Work (4 to 5 rounds)
    0825-Pad Work (2 to 5 rounds)
    0850-Clinching/Sparring (alternate days up to 5 rounds)
    0915-Drills (as before)
    0935-Exercises (sit ups push ups chin ups)
    0950-Shadow Box (2 to 3 rounds)
    1005-Cool Down Stretch

    Afternoon
    1600-Warm Up/Stretch
    1610-3 to 5 km. Run
    1635-Skip (4 rounds)
    1655-Shadow Box (5 to 6 rounds)
    1725-Bag Work (6 to 8 rounds)
    1805-Pad Work (5 to 6 rounds)
    1835-Clinching/Sparring (alternate days, 5 to 6 rounds)
    1905-Drills (as morning)
    1925-Shadow Box (3 to 4 rounds)
    1940-Cool Down Stretch

    I have seen schedules on many gyms which only include about 2-2.5 hours of training. Lanna’s sessions go for almost 4 hours. As a result you will get into excellent fitness shape extremely quick. It is also important and very overlooked that the sessions include a warm up and cool down stretch. This helps avoid injuries and aids in your recovery time.

    Fighting
    Lanna is usually having about 2 fights a week as a camp. At times it can be as many as four fights in a week. One question I specifically contacted the camp and asked was how they determine if someone is ready to fight. I wanted to know if it was necessary to spend a specific amount of time at the camp, or were there other means of evaluating this. Here is how Lanna determines if someone is ready to fight. The camp will determine if a person has experience or the ability to get into the ring to fight with your first training session. In the case you are a new or first time fighters, the only criteria is a true desire and willingness in your heart to not only have a go in the ring, but put in the effort into the training, and with about one to two months training, a basic level of fitness and basic technique you will be able to have your first fight.

    Two of Lanna's younger fighters

    Two of Lanna's younger fighters

    Administration/Office
    There are a couple strengths here as far as I can determine. First off, it is a farang owned school, and the owner Andy (who is also a trainer) handles all the correspondence. It is always an advantage to have a Western person in charge to handle any issues that may arise, in my opinion. An example is how quickly Andy returned my email when I contacted him with additional questions I had regarding the camp. His response was in the same day, and it was very detailed. Andy also seems very willing to aid the guests with any services that are necessary for them to enjoy their stay, from arranging tours to finding accomodations. These small touches do not go unnoticed and would give Lanna an edge in determining if it is the right camp to attend.

    Website
    Lanna has a very informative website. The format of the site is not overly flashy or complicated. It is easy to naviagate and there is more than enough information on the website including the history of Muay Thai, training techniques and a frequently asked questions section. One downside to the website is that it does not have any photos of the gym. Also, the addition of a forum to the website would be nice as it would allow prior and prospective students of the camp to communicate with each other.

    Extracurricular
    There are plenty of things to do around the area when you are not training. The camp is located at the foot of a mountain, so hiking and rock climbing are among the first activites that comes to mind. There is also a famous temple in Chang Mai called the Doi Suthep temple, which has 304 steps to reach the top. Other activies include Elephant treks, blues and jazz bars, golf courses and the night bazzar.

    Uniqueness
    I asked Andy what makes the camp unique. Why should someone chose Lanna over another camp. He had a great response. Here is what he said:

    “Consistency. We are really no different from any other Muay Thai gym in Thailand. We live our life training for the same thing, to fight every week at the local stadiums and country fairs, the big city and overseas when we are good enough. We are different because of our strong foreign support, we have had several long term, 2 years or more, foreign fighters stay with us and many of our students, fighting or not, come back year after year to spend time training and living at the Camp. Muay Thai is about family and we have a large extended family after our 15 years together. When it comes to training, we ensure good basic technique and understanding of what you are doing, and the chance to experience and (maybe) live the life of a Muay Thai fighter.”

    I gotta tell you, that sounds great to me. I love the fact that people come back to the camp again and again. That is always a good sign. I also hit up a lot of forums and always hear good things about Lanna, which is promising.

    Contact Information
    If you are interested in visiting Lanna Muay Thai (and hopefully you will be after this article), here is how you can contact them:

    Camp Tel/Fax: 66-53-892102
    Mobile: 66-1-9513164
    Email: info@lannamuaythai.com
    Website: www.lannamuaythai.com

    I hope you found this article informative and helpful. If you have anything to add about Lanna Muay Thai, please leave a comment below.

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