Muay Thai Gambling in Thailand 101 – Part Two Ringside Betting
Written by Frances Watthanaya There are three ways to gamble on fights in Thailand: The Side Bet (Part one of this article) Ringside Betting Underground Betting Ringside Betting One of my friends from Bangkok, a stadium regular at Rajadamnern, recently came to visit me in Isaan. We decided to get him a fight in Isaan, hoping […]
Muay Thai Gambling in Thailand 101 – Part One
Gambling in Thailand 101 – Part One Written by Frances Watthanaya There are three ways to gamble on fights in Thailand: The Side Bet Ringside BettingUnderground Betting The Side Bet The side bet is held at ringside and collected prior to the fight. There are no odds and the winner takes all. There […]
Chanticleer and the Pugilist
Written by Frances Watthanaya Photos by Robert P. Cohen I have yet to be to a Muay Thai gym, outside of Bangkok, that wasn’t raising and subsequently fighting cockerels. Even atop a mountain, at Kem Muay Thai Gym in Kao Yai, there were cockerels. Photo by Robert P. Cohen The drive took us three […]
Boon-Rot: What’s In a Fighter’s Name
By Frances Watthanaya We had five fighters up from the gym, three of whom had already fought. I only just arrived at 5pm but everyone else had been there since morning. The fights started at 11am, and showed no signs of ending quickly. This was going to be a long day, typical of temples fights […]
The Return of the Golden Era
By Frances Watthanaya On 22 October 2012, 40-year-old former champion fighter Rotnarong made his triumphant return to the big rings of Bangkok, rematched against Kanokrat, who had defeated Rotnarong a few months prior in his home province of Ubon Rachatani. The fight was set at 170lbs, a large jump from Rotnarong’s 118-pound fighting weight during […]