The prime minister wrote on his Facebook account yesterday (Aug 11) that there were about 300 Muay Thai camps of various sizes in Phuket. He mentioned “Muay Thai Village” on Soi Ta-iad Road in tambon Chalong in Muang district, home to dozens of Muay Thai boxing schools, reports the Bangkok Post.
On Soi Ta-iad the biggest Muay Thai training camp is Tiger Muay Thai with more than 100 Muay Thai trainers and more than 80,000 people registered for its courses over the past year, Mr Srettha wrote.
“There are 12 arenas for competition. How many economic activities can this one boxing camp generate?” the prime minister asked in his Facebook post.
According to Mr Srettha, the camps welcome Muay Thai enthusiasts and foreign families, including young children, who enjoy learning the martial art with their parents. As courses last from 15 days to several months, trainees spend long periods in the island province of Phuket, and such visits fulfill the government’s goal of generating revenue from tourism in return for its infrastructure investments.
“Soi Ta-iad used to be a road of rubber plantations. Locals have turned them into hotels, eateries, shops and laundries and the grassroots businesses distribute income in communities,” Mr Srettha said.
Students bought Muay Thai-related products and posted their training activities and bouts on social media, which encouraged others to learn Muay Thai, he said.
Former Muay Thai champions were earning B2,000 per hour from their training services at such camps and it proved the careers of professional Muay Thai boxers extended beyond their fighting time, the prime minister said.
PERSONAL TOUR
Mr Srettha’s comments came after his national sports advisor was afforded an up close and personal tour of one of Phuket’s most renowned Muay Thai gyms on Saturday (Aug 10).
Paitoon Chutimakornkul serves as direct advisor to the PM and the national subcommittee on the development of the sports industry in Thailand and was in Phuket as part of the delegation joining Mr Srettha’s visit here late last week.
The national sport of Muay Thai is considered a fundamental aspect of the soft power strategy the current governemnt has adopted to promote Thailand to the world as part of ongoing efforts to increase the tourism industry.
Mr Paitoon was given a tour of the Sinbee Muay Thai Phuket Camp in Rawai by the gym’s executive manager Somchai Bilmad on Saturday morning.
Joining Mr Paitoon on the tour was Thammarat Wongcharoenyos, President of the Sports Association of Phuket and Damrong Chaisena, Director of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) Phuket office.
Located in Soi Saiyuan 9, Rawai, the Simbee Muay Thai gym has been operating for 18 years and is fully certified by the National Boxing Commission, the SAT and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
The gym holds extra special regard due to the fact its boxing instructors specialise in teaching 100% authentic Muay Thai methods.
There are curretly approximately 200 local and foreign students learning the sport at the gym every day and fights are held every Saturday morning on site.
Mr Somchai explained to Mr Paitoon that most foreign students spend about B10,000 per month at the gym to learn the sport, a figure which excludes accommodation and food expenses. This supports the fact that the teaching of Muay Thai in Phuket can be a very lucrative venture that contributes significantly to the local, and in tun national, economy, he added.
Mr Paitoon said that there are plans to organise a range of Muay Thai themed events in Phuket in the near future which can further drive the local economy and generate for local gyms and businesses, an approach which is very much aligned with the national government’s police on using the sport as a soft power strategy.
The promotion of Thailand’s national sport has been high on the agenda under Prime Minister Srettha with Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the deputy chairperson of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee, confirming in January that she is pushing to have Muay Thai become an Olympic sport.
Ms Paetongtarn is seeking to make Muay Thai more popular among foreigners through a range of initiatives, such as incorporating a ranking system similar to Taekwondo’s belt ranking system, aiding Muay Thai teachers in becoming more professional and fostering more Muay Thai competitions at all levels.
The Thai government has also granted special 90-day visa for foreigners who want to visit Thailand to practise Muay Thai.
Phuket is internationally renowned for training and developing local and international talent with 43 officially registered Muay Thai camps across the island, including the famous Tiger Muay Thai and Bangtao Muay Thai & MMA gyms, while the island also boasts two top-class standard boxing stadiums in Patong Beach Boxing Stadium and Bangla Boxing Stadium.
A raft of local and international talent has either been based in Phuket or graced the various Muay Thai gyms here at some stage on their way to starring on the global stage through promotions such as the UFC and ONE Championship; Alexander Volkanovski, Anatoly Malykhin, Loma Lookboonmee, Rafael Fiziev, Petr Yan, Valentina Shevchenko, Celest Hansen and Israel Adesanya are just a handful of such examples.
Phuket hosted the sixth edition of the International and Thai Martial Arts (ITMA) Games between Mar 10-17 this year at the indoor stadium in Saphan Hin where over 1,200 athletes from 50 countries contested a variety of martial arts disciplines including competitions in Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate and Jiu Jitsu.