Buri Guest House on Thong Lo and a Muay Thai Match at Lumpinee
Posted by Stuart at 10:44 PM on March 24, 2006I made another trip to the Bangkok airport today -- this time to pick up my friend Augusta from San Francisco. She's spending the next three or four months in Southeast Asia and her first stop is Bangkok.
Stephen also returned this morning from Sri Lanka, where he has spent the last three weeks building houses for tsunami victims. So that's two friends who are here on multi-month vacations. Must be nice to be unemployed!
After picking up Augusta at the airport, I took her to a guest house on Thong Lo. This place is a hidden gem to be sure. It offers rooms with air conditioning that are steps away from the Thong Lo BTS station for the low, low price of only 400 baht (US$10). The guest house is called Buri Guest House, and I highly recommend it if you are looking for cheap, convenient lodging in Bangkok.
Surprisingly, Augusta then talked Stephen and I into joining her for a Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing) match at Lumpinee Park. Now I have lived in Bangkok for almost three years, and I have never seen a real Muay Thai match. I'm not a big fan of boxing in general, and I've heard the tickets were very expensive for farang. Well, the tickets were indeed expensive (2000 baht, or US$50 for ringside seats) but I actually enjoyed the sport, for the most part.
With an event like this, part of the fun is watching the crowd. They were definitely into it, yelling "OH!" or "WOO!" with every kick. There also seemed to be a lot of betting going on. I wonder if that's legal in Thailand. If it is, maybe I should try. I picked the winner in 3 out of 4 matches that I tried. It was beginner's luck, perhaps. Or maybe "The guy that I don't want to meet in a dark alley" is a good choice!
But actually, I still don't understand the rules. It seems like the judging is very subjective. It's not just a matter of how many punches or kicks are landed, but things like how you respond to kicks, how well you protect yourself, and how well you use "legal moves", whatever that means.
But all in all it was pretty fun. I'd even go so far to say that it was almost worth the US$50 ticket.... once.
Carl, I agree that the price is outrageous and I have never been able to justify it either. But it was a spur of the moment decision... she asked if I wanted to go and I said sure. I don't think I will go back any time soon though.
- Stuart
Have fun with your friends! I've never been able to rationalize paying those high bucks to see Muang Thai, so I've just been content to watch the free amateur events you see down in pattaya and up in Chiang Mai. Why do the ringside seats cost so much? Fifty bucks for good seats seems outrageous in a country like Thailand.
But then the country has only two classes of people: the very rich, and the relative poor.