March 20, 2007

• Muay Thai? No, My Thai!

  As it turns out, we decided to head over to Lumphini Stadium to catch a muay thai boxing match with ringside seats…now those of you who know me in person know that i am not a fan of sporting event in general with the exceptions of UFC and boxing, neither of which i can ever afford to see in person. So when i learned we could sit ringside for the equivalent of US $50, well it was on!

  
  The Stadium

  
  The crowds

  
  In thai boxing, or muay thai, every part of your body is a weapon, and though the boxers wear gloves, far more blows are rained down using knees and elbows

  
  The next fighter waiting for his match…there were a total of 10 matches in all, each one consisting of 5 3-minute rounds and the title match 5 5-minute rounds

  Not good enough you say? you want to know what it was like being there? hearing the crowds, the hypnotic music, feeling the excitement firsthand?
  

  it was kinda like that

  And of course we wanted to take pics with the winner, because if you pay for vip seats you get special backstage privileges

  
  Yes I know, compared to Ward and Koh, I appear like some kind of gnome, and I really dont know why…they are not that tall…well, Koh is, but i just shrink in pictures or something
  fighters in the ready room

  at halftime, we got treated to a demonstration of traditional muay thai, how it used to be fought back in the day…first the fighters warmed up
  

  then they beat the living daylights out of one another

  Then we took more pictures!

  
  why the heck is Koh so big? Is it because the fighter is like 16 (no, seriously)

  
  Bask in my paleness!

  
  The Josh: bringing immaturity to the masses since 1981

  
  You all know the saying though…its all fun and games til somebody loses an eye…then it’s just fun
  or is it, it’s all fun and games til someone gets knocked the eff out

  
  which is what happened to this poor fellow, who after repeated elbows to the head was bleeding rather profuself and had to be carried out of the ring in a stretcher

  
  The fancy flowers means this is the winner of the title bout. Good times! Then it was out to the suan lum night bazaar for a late dinner

  
  oh yeah baby…fresh from the tree coconut, and street vendor pad thai…I <3 street vendor food, and have been known to flirt with food poisoning on every international trip. Luckily, this trip there was nothing more than harmless flirting, and i didnt even get food poisonings number. Niiiiice

  Next stop: checking in with Sid’s family, and restaurant of propylaxis?

  -J

  • 11:49 pm
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