Khao Yai

Thailand is jam-packed with national parks and a while ago I was lucky enough to pay a visit to one a few hours from Bangkok. This trip came about from the Thai teacher Tiu that I assist in grammar classes (and whince when she thwacks the kids with a ruler). She invited me out for the day to visit the Tan Dan Dam in Khao Yai with her husband and his friends. So I was ready Saturday morning and off we went. Once you've driven for a few hours outside of Bangkok, you start to remember where you are! It's a jungle out there. Bangkok may be a spralling city but it's in the middle of a rainforest. So it was a good way to regain a perspective on the environment.

Teacher Tiu's husband and friends are policemen and they drink, heavily. It seems that every policeman i've met is a big drinker. In most bars near my apartment, the main conversations I have are with police! Which is very useful if there was ever any trouble. The police know I'm not a disrespectful, angry farang that goes around causing trouble. Quite the opposite. So I went out for the day with the local police near Khao Yai and visited the biggest dam in Asia, designed by the King, it supplies fresh water to hundreds of thousands and is a staggering feat of engineering. Good old Rama IX!

After visiting the dam we went down to an eating/drinking area below with great views and a river to swim in. This was a very native experience as Teacher Tiu explained, many of the children there probably haven't seen a farang before so they were quite intrigued by my presence. Plus, the particular spot we were at was not a tourist attraction. That was on the other side of the dam which we passed on the way up. It was a very intense day because I had to learn as much Thai as possible to communicate. As Tiu was the only other (barely) English speaker there! It was a tiring but fun way to learn a rather complicated language and a good day out in the beautiful scenery of Thailand.

The Muay Thai Institute

So, after going to see Muay Thai once, I was once again taken over with the urge to train. I was starting to get out of shape and feeling unhealthy from all the drinking and eating rice. So, once again, thanks to the steak guy Boss and the old fighter Lo they took myself and an Aussie mate Darren to a proper gym that  is a reasonable price. It's a Muay Thai Institute that trains both professional fighters and people that just want to train. I remember what Matt said to me before I left, "Don't go to an old skool gym, they will break you!" Haha. So lucky for me, this gym is particularly farang (foreigner) friendly.

It's been running since 1995 and is pretty huge as you'll see from the pictures. It consists of a main area with two rings, about 2 dozen different heavy bags and a variety of equipment including tyres, which you have to jump up and down on for ten minutes. There is also a free weights and machines gym in a different section which everyone has full access to. From the outside it looks like a hotel because it basically is one! Foreign fighters from all round the world come over and live at the gym. There are Swiss, German, Australian, American, Indian and of course Thai fighters, that I have met so far. But I'm the only Brit that trains there which surprised me. I train there twice a week for two hours a session. As the only session I can make is the evening one - 5.30 - 7.30pm - I get a pretty sweet deal. There are always at least three masters there and the evening session is always quiet so I almost get one-to-one tuition every time!

The Grand Master is 47 year old Master Noi, he is something of a celebrity with a host of people that have trained with him. Namely many Thai actors and stuntmen, Miss Thailand, the two massive farangs from Ong Bak 2 Warrior King, lots of famous Thai fighters and... wait for it... Jean Claude Van Damme! Haha. He has a great picture that he is very proud of. He mainly sits around but every now and then he'll appear right next to you and bark something in your ear. The main masters I am trained by are Nui and Lek who are both incredible, very tall for Thais and speak enough English to make up for my limited Thai. The only downfall about the evening session is that around 7ish the mosquitoes attack a corner of the gym! So I try to stay clear of them, they love farang blood! The gym is also inhabited by bats that come out about 7ish as well and gekkos, of course.

I'm very happy to be training again and in such a great environment, it has the same atmosphere as the Masters Academy and only costs me a 7 baht bus ride there and back and costs 6400 baht for 20 sessions. So, it's my biggest outgoing cost (apart from rent) but I worked it out to about 2500 baht a month which isn't bad for private tuition. As another incentive, after each 20 sessions there is a grading session where you earn a kind of qualification in Muay Thai. I've had 8 sessions so far and my punches and kicks are back to full power, I can wrap my hands properly, remain in Muay Thai stance after each punch or kick (it's different to the Masters Academy stance and with very little head movement) and I'm learning the Wai Kru dance done before any fight and after training. It's also helping me get used to the humidity.

Some pictures of the Muay Thai Institute at Rangsit Boxing Stadium.

To anyone from the Masters Academy that wants to stay here and do some intensive training. It costs 480 - 560 (£11 - £13) Baht per night.