The fights at Lumpinee

One of the things I wanted to do in Bangkok is go to a Thai boxing match.  Lumpinee is one of the top two Muay Thai stadiums, so I headed over there for the Tuesday night fights.  Fortunately one of the men on my bus works at the stadium and escorted me to the stadium and showed me where to buy tickets.  I was a bit shocked when they told me the cost was 2000 baht even for the least expensive tickets, when I'd looked it up online I had read that tickets were normally 1000 baht.  Since I wasn't sure I'd get the opportunity again though, I figured I'd splurge, and fortunately I had just enough money. (There was a championship fight which made the price higher, although knowing nothing about muay thai or any of the fighters it didn't make it any more interesting to me, oh well.)  They have a two tiered pricing system so while a Thai person may pay just a couple hundred baht, foreigners pay much more.  They use this system in a lot of places, including some of the temples and historical museums, and I don't totally disagree with it.  I feel like Thai people should be able to experience their history and culture cheaply... but I'm not sure if that should apply to sporting events.

Lumpinee stadium isn't very big, so even with my 'nose bleed' section tickets, I wasn't very far away from the ring.  The second class seats are actually mostly standing room only, although if you work your way around to the far side of the stadium there are some bleachers.

The stands were packed, and the atmosphere was filled with tension and excitement.  There were a good number of foreigners there but mostly the stands were packed with Thais.  It was interesting being back there as well because that's where most of the Thai people sit, especially the regulars, the ones who are the most vocal and cheer the loudest for their favorite fighters.






There were bets being placed all around me (although I'm pretty sure it's illegal) the men had sheets listing all the matches, I thought at first this was just a program but I think it was mostly just for the betting.








The actual boxing was exciting to see, but it was everything else that really made the night for me.  Traditional Thai music is played before and during the matches.  The music blended with the urgent bets and the cheers to create an excitement you couldn't ignore.








The fighters entered the ring in traditional garb, jackets and brightly colored flowers.











The fighters all wore headbands that made them look like they had ponytails, as well as colorful arm bands.










Each match begins with the Wai khru ram muay, a ceremony of sorts where the fighter pays respect to the master, I think there are also some religious aspects, asking for protection from Buddha.

The fighters would walk around the ring, stopping at each corner and then bowed and prayed in the center of the ring before doing a kind of dance.

The fights were exciting.  The crowd around me was screaming suggestions and taunts, although since I couldn't understand a word of it I could only tell by their tone.  Some of the fights seemed incredibly long and were called off by the judges when their time was up.

Others ended quite quickly though, when one of the fighters was knocked out.  There were several throughout the night, one only halfway through the first round.  I was standing near the musicians so I couldn't hear any but the loudest kicks and punches, skin and bone colliding.  The knockouts happened so fast I didn't even realize it had happened until the fighter was lying on the ground.

I wasn't sure where to pick up the bus so instead I headed to the subway and took it to the end of the line where I picked up a metered taxi for the rest of the trip.  The subways are similar to NYC, you can buy their version of a re-loadable MetroCard, but for single trips they have tokens which you can purchase.  You swipe them to enter and then drop them in the machine to exit the station.













It was a fun night and I was glad I got to see the fights.  Although there was almost no ceremony for the winner of the championship match and I wouldn't have even noticed which one it was except that I heard a Westerner nearby talking about it.