Life in Thailand

[OctaviousBP]

Well, I picked up my ticket to Thailand today, and the excitement is setting in. I will be heading for Thailand on the 26th of December (departing from Busan, South Korea). I've been in Asia for a year now, and I'm still excited to go to Thailand (I have yet to visit South East Asia).

I will be living in Thailand for 6 months, training in Muay Thai and Krabi Krabong. If things go according to plan, I will train Krabi Krabong for the month of January, and then move north to Chaing Mai, where I will settle into my camp.

I'm curious as to anyone's experiences there. I will be training as a fighter, and taking my fights every 3 weeks or so, depending on availability. I'm assuming this will lead to 6-8 hours of training per day, 6 days a week. What I'm curious about is filling time outside of training, and living "Thai style". Has anyone who's done this suffered from boredom? Were you too tired to be bored? What is life like in general...? Any suggestions about what to take up as a hobby, what to avoid (besides the obvious of course). Any input would be great.

D

[chalambok]

hey Octavius

Hi Octavius, I have emailed you before but this is a good forum for me to say things to anyone interested in training in Thailand. I was fortunate to be introduced around by Master Chai Sirisute and then later by Ajarn PaKroo Masamarn but I also went 'walkabout' and found schools on my own. Here are some tips for everybody:

Jog every day, any time from about 0600 to 0730 and you will inevitably meet other muay Thai students. Someone will eventually ask you if you are a boxer, and with luck they will take you to their school. I was honored by a 10-year-old out in Muongthongthani who took me to the school sponsored by Singha Beer that Bryan Popejoy later trained at a bit. Incidentally, both that little 10-year-old and Bryan Popejoy have enjoyed notable success within muay Thai.

There are some decent schools in Banglampoo but mostly they are set up to get foreigners' money. If they want a lot of money odds are fair they are just out for themselves, not necessarily a bad thing but also might not be in your best interests. Try just paying attention when you are walking around, many schools are located behind restaurants or off alleys you might not think about entering. If you hear people kicking Thai pads, check it out. Most schools will be happy to see a farang come in, even just to look around.

Talk to everybody on the street. Smile a little and if you say you are a boxer be prepared for them to want to feel your shins. You won't be able to pose then. Remember for the most part Thailand is tourist friendly. This may be changing with the advent of the modern terrorist movements.

Ride the bus and the water taxi. They are both cheap and efficient transportation and people will want to talk with you to find out what you are doing in Thailand.

Ride the #5 Airbus out to SE Asia University and visit with Dale Kvalheim. He still teaches there, I believe, and was one of the first foreigners to ever train in Thailand, back in the early 70s. He is a wealth of knowledge. And right next door is the old site of the Buddhai Sawan. There may still be people there, I am not sure, as there is a current fissure in Krabi-Krabong training and the Buddhai Sawan name.

Go to the fights, at every stadium you can: Rajdamnern, Lumpini, Omnoi. There are 7 major stadiums now, I have been told. Sit next to the band, drink some Singha, party with the Aussies who are always there, enjoy yourselves.

Remember, some of the very best camps may only have 6 or 7 students, and 3 to 4 teachers. Big camps like Fairtex or Carryboy may require an invitation just to get inside and watch.

[holte2]

damn...you should not go there...its not safe right now, give me your ticket...trust me its for your own good

[Scott Kano]

Have a good time man, and good luck with your trainning over there.

Scott

[OctaviousBP]

Getting closer...

All right, if this is lame, I apologize in advance. I will be posting my Thailand experience here, from start to finish in the hopes it might help anyone who plans on making the trip to Thailand to train.

First off, I am a Canadian currently living in Korea as an English teacher. I've been setting this plan in motion for a couple years now. Step 1: Graduate university. Step 2: Move to Asia to teach English. Purpose: subsidize at least 6 months of training in Thailand, with a little left over for travel. Step 3: Move to Thailand and find a decent gym to train at.

As I mentioned earlier, I will be departing from Busan, South Korea on the 26th of December. I have been training in Muay Thai for 6 years with the TBA, and am an instructor under Ajarn Chai Sirisute. I have been involved in martial arts for seventeen years. My purpose in Thailand is to train and fight when available. I would like to experience for myself what it is like to train and fight in Thailand, in hopes that I might pass this on to students in Canada, and help the art I love of Muay Thai grow.

Okay, with that out to of the way¡¦ I made the decision (too late it seems) to attempt to get a ¡°Non-Immigrant: Type ED¡± visa, so I wouldn¡¯t have to leave Thailand every month or two. The ED type visa is reserved for those studying, researching, or teaching in Thailand. I figured ¡°Hey, I'm studying¡¦ right?¡± Unfortunately, the people at the Thai Embassy here in Korea have been less then helpful, and I think I may have put this off for far too long, so my efforts may be in vain. I¡¯ll keep you posted on how this turns out.

I'm a little concerned regarding my conditioning, as for I have been inactive for over a year now, and I will be pretty much jumping right into the thick of things upon my arrival. I will be starting my training in Krabi Krabong right away, and as Ajarn Wilson has stated in previous posts, a KK workout can be grueling. The thought of carrying those swords above my head for hours on end have my muscles in knots already. To be honest, at this stage I am having trouble deciphering the excitement from the anxiety though, so I'm just telling myself it's all excitement.

More to come¡¦

[chalambok]

As far as your visa problems go, it should be no problems to take an overnight train to Malaysia for a renewal every 60 days or so, or even go to Luang Prabang, Laos. Also, as far as your training goes, my advice is to get used to drinking the local water as quickly as possible. I know, everybody says not to drink the water, and they are correct, to an extent. But unless you are prepared to spend megabucks every day on bottled water, you will do as I do, drink the local stuff just like the local people. Training at the Buddhai Sawan I sometimes drank more than 5 gallons a day. Parse it out yourself at $1 a liter and we're talking serious money here. The trick is to drink some Singha right off the bat so the local amoeba and other little bugs get churning in your system. You don't have to get drunk every day, but local unpasteurized beer seems to do the trick for many people, not just me. Good luck, if I can help you any way let me know. There will be about a dozen Canadians from Khru Bob Carver's school in Ottawa training both krabi-krabong and muay Thai in the next couple weeks (Christmas through New Years & possibly beyond) so if you are there soon you can train with some good people.

[OctaviousBP]

Hi Chalambok,

Actually, those are my people. I've been training with Khun Khru Carver for six years, and he will be training with me for the first bit. How did you know that they would be there?

That's good advice about the water. I drink small amounts of tap water here in Korea, but I think it's even dirtier here then Thailand... I think I'll take your advice about the Singha! Thanks, again.

D

[chalambok]

Hey Octavius, that's too funny! I met Bob several years ago when he first came to the Oregon Camp. Then a couple years ago I went on a road trip and ended up in Ottawa and Montreal, did a couple of krabi-krabong seminars, blew up a couple of cars in transit, and blew back into Portland about a month later. Bob just wrote me last week to tell me he was going to Thailand for Christmas, and would pay respects for me to some of my patrons there. I don't know who is going with him, I suspect maybe Martin and Norman from Montreal plus some of his own students, but I am not positive. If you check in with Master Chai when you get to Bangkok he will happily put you in contact with the Canadian group. Chok dee

[OctaviousBP]

From Waygook to Farang...

So here I sit, in an Internet cafe, Kao Sarn road, Bangkok. The flight in was good, the weather balmy. I've already been to Ratchadamneon, and what an experience.

It was a Thursday night, which is a fairly big night for this stadium. I went with a teacher friend from Busan who had never witnessed a muay thai match before, so it was exciting for her as well. We were dissapointed to find out upon our arrival at the stadium, that the prices had gone up rather significantly. The new minimum for back row seats was 500 Baht. At first I scoffed at her, smelling a ploy to get the "ignint farang" to pay more. So I pushed my way passed her, and went to the window to buy my ticket. I asked for the cheapest ticket available, which was 220 Baht. She insisted that this price was for locals only, and my cracker ass was out of luck. I begged with her for 10 minutes to sell us at the local price, but no dice. I even tried to haggle with a tout, but they weren't interested in selling anything but ringside. Reluctantly, I complied with the price, and on we went.

Once inside, I realized that she wasn't kidding about the price, and if it was a scam, it was a well accepted and official one. There were roughly 20 other foreigners in the section, and all of them had paid 500 baht. Across the way sat the locals, with not a single farang among them. Oh well.

There were 13 fights that night, and they were all great. My favourites were the 7th and the 12th. Coincidentally, they also happened to be the only knockouts of the night. From watching many fights from the major stadiums on tape, I was well aware that at this level, knockouts were rare, and only occured when one fighter erred. Sure enough, this was the case on this night.

The first knockout was one of the coolest I had ever seen. The fighters had both fought an impressive first 2 rounds, feeling each other out rather aggresively in the first, and exchanging heavily in the second. However, neither seized an advantage throughout the two. The bell rung for the third, and it was like a scene from an old western. The fighters, much like fabled gunslingers, left their perspective corners, well focused on each other. They touched gloves, and I must have missed the chime that signaled hi noon, but they both drew, and in a blink of an eye, only one was standing. It was the fastest knockout I had ever seen. One shot, a right kick, landed squarely behind the other fighters ear and jaw. A slappy clap was the only sound, and down the fighter went. The victor turned face, and didn't even break stride out of the ring: it was time for the next fight.

The 12th was a main event, and was a brawl. Two 100 pounders fought the first like it was the fifth round, and with the mentality that they were both behind. It only lasted 1:30 seconds, and it was just a matter of something absolutely having to give. The way the two fighters were feeding each other, it could not have been any other way. The blue corner fighter caught a downward right elbow square in the middle of his forehead, which split instantly. He lost consciousness, bled profusely, and didn't regain consciousness even after he was stretched out of the ring. Even the other fighter showed concern for him, and celebrated very little. Hopefully he was alright.

The crowd was exactly what I had expected. No less than 2 fights broke out in the 'locals' section, no doubt over bets. It was rather humourous to watch to grown men slap each other. Friends interjected, seats changed, and cooler heads prevailed both times. All in all it was a great night.

Tonight is Lumpini, and I can't wait. Saturday should be a good night for fights, and I will be attending this fight with friends from home.

As far as training is concerned, I'm still waiting to sort out details on the Krabi Krabong, and am slightly considering a week at the rather expensive Fairtex...

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays, and all the best in the New Year.

David

[OctaviousBP]

Random notes

I'm rounding a week here, and thought I'd post some random notes that might be helpful before I forget.

1) Thai immigration has changed there laws recently (so I'm told) and overstaying your Visa and simply paying a fine at the airport out is now highly unadvisable. Who knows, it may have always been, but there seems to be a renewed emphasis on this.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, there has been a change in which countries will be granted visas upon arrival, and which won't. For a list, follow this link http://www.thaivisa.com/479.0.html .
Mexico, for one, is no longer allowed into the country without a visa prior to arrival.

2) Bottled water here is dirt cheap. Most stores sell it for 5 Baht, and restaurants for 10 Baht. This is per litre.

3) I'm averaging 150 Baht per night in guesthouse accomodations. It should be noted that these rooms in Bangkok were without air con, or bathroom. At the Sawsadee Smile Inn in Bangkok, for 190 Baht, all you get is a single bed... no window, but a fan. In Kanchanaburi, however, where I have been for 3 days now, for 150 Baht at the Blue Star Guest House you get great service, a room with a window, double bed, bathroom and fan for 150 Baht.

4) Food varies between 25 Baht (Vegetarian rice and egg) to 70 Baht (Shrimp dishes, curries and what not).

5) Drinks... the all mighty beer varies hugely between place to place. It was 30 Baht at the beer garden outside Lumphini, but it is usually 40 for a small, and 60 for a large. The highest for a large bottle of Chang I've seen is 80, but that is pretty high. Fruit juices (fresh) and shakes are between 20-30 Baht in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi...

6) Keep in mind, these are just my experiences, others may have a different tale.

7) If you can help it, travel with a partner you can trust. I find it would be much cheaper and easier to travel with someone who can not only watch your back, but split the costs with you. There have been many times where I wished I could just ask someone to watch my bags (read "house") while I took a leek. But alas, there has yet to be someone trust worthy around.

More to come....

David

[JIMI]

i have been reading your posts with much anticipation. you are definately painting a good picture for us who have never been there. i am curious what the exchange rate is there in currency. for instance when you say 500 baht, what does that translate into american dollars? im just curious so that one day if i ever go to thailand, i can get a figure on how much spending money i should bring. thanks

[skilzkid]

according to x-rates.com, it's 43 bhat to the dollar...damn, that means boxing tickets are 12 bucks, about a dollar a match at Ratchdamnern (sp?), and you can get 8 litres of bottled water for a buck...and hotels are less than 5 bucks a night!!

[platinum_angel]

wow, keep pposting for us plz i am really interested too. i'm not in kickboxing but do like hearing of your "adventure". good luck.

[OctaviousBP]

More information on travel

Alright,

Here is a little more info on transportation while I'm waiting for my bus back to Bangkok.

I highly recommend "tuk-tuks" as your primary means of transportation in Bangkok.

The PROs - The price is a fraction of most cab rides, depending on where you're going. The tuk-tuks can make suicide maneuvers that get you to your destination a little quicker, if not frazzled. The prices are not static, so if you get a young guy, you can bargain down to a great price.

The CONs - They are loud and stink like hell. They put you right at the essence of pollution. They are uncomfortable, but a pretty crazy ride. Just pretend you paid money for a ticket at a fair or something... the imagery helps the ride a little. You might get a veteran tuk tuk who is well versed in "Cracker Taxing" farang... expect hi fairs.

Haggling is an art. The sooner you get good at it, the cheaper Thailand becomes. When I first got to Bangkok, I paid 150 Baht to get me from Kao San road to the Sky Train. The last time I paid 100, split 3 ways.

Other means of transport

The Sky Train is great! Especially around rush hour. It costs no more than 50 baht (I think) and whisks you around above the insane traffic in airconditioned style.

I have yet to ride a taxi, due to the fact I'm soloing it, and they are expensive.

The mini van to Kanchanaburi cost 100 Baht, roughly the cost of 2 beers.

I rented a hybrid motorbike for 100 Baht for 6 hours. Cost = 100 Baht. Great for cruising along the River Kwai. I took it to 2 seperate Wats, and it was a blast motoring along. You pay gas - 15 baht per litre.

A bicycle cost me 20 Baht... The bike sucked but got me and my sore ass from A to B.

I gotta go buy my ticket back... I will have lots of information on Fairtex, Bangkok tomorrow since my Posse will be getting back from a week there. I may also have started my Krabi Krabong training... we'll see.

David

[YeLLa-TiGeR]

awesome stories man.

Keep on posting and living your dream.


Be safe


Saw-dee-Khrap!