Muay Thai in Bangkok

Muay Thai is a national obsession in Thailand and no trip would be complete without seeing at least one fight. Traditional dances and rituals are peppered into the sport and make for a thoroughly entertaining evening, with fast paced action. Unfortunately, many tourists only get to see staged bouts that aren't really the real thing, so try to head over to one of the places that local Thais go to place their bets.

Although most large towns in Thailand offer some kind of boxing entertainment, for the purpose of this article, we will concentrate on Bangkok.

The most well known Thai boxing stadiums are those at Lumpini, located on Rama IV road, near Wireless Road, where bouts take place on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays...

... and Ratchadamnoen stadium on Ratchadamnoen Nok road, near the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office, where bouts take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. (Hint:- Sundays tend to be tourist shows and aren't really the real thing).

Tickets are generally sold in the hour leading up to the fight and you can usually get in, unless there is a particularly big fight happening. Prices range between 220 Baht and 1200 Baht for ringside seats at the most popular fights. However, many will find the atmosphere in the cheaper seats, where many Thai spectators go, much more exciting. You'll probably only find tourists sitting in the ringside seats.

Beware the ticket touts and buy from the booths at the stadium.

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