Muay Thai and Racism?

While it can be disputed that Muay Thai is the supreme form of hand to hand combat, no one can deny that it is just plain kicks ass. And while being the Thai national sport and favorite spectator past time for many in Southeast Asia, it wasn't until thanks to the superb acting abilities and action sequences of Jean Claude Van Dam in Kickboxer that brought this sport to international attention.

Seeing it on TV is one thing, but in person it is way better. Scott, Emanuel, and I all headed to Ratchadamnoen Stadium where ten fights were scheduled. We read online that ticket prices varied depending on the location of the seating. 220 bht, 500 bht, and 1,000 bht for upper, middle, and ringside seating. No problem we thought 10 bucks for 10 rounds of battle, well worth the cost.

But being foreigners, we got the cold steel shaft thrown our way when we tried to buy our tickets for the above prices. Those prices were for locals. Higher prices were for foreigners. Much higher prices -- 3 times as much. So we bit our lip, paid the money and entered. But we had to enter into the "foreinger" section. That's right, foreigners and locals are seperated in their seating.

Is this racist? Damn straight. But am I going to make a huge deal about it? no. I will simply point out the fact that segregation does exist. My theory about why they do this is simple. Thais bet on the matches and get very loud during the fights. My guess is that things might get ugly if you combine the two groups. Either with booze induced fighting, or with foreigners placing bets by accident and getting into some deep shit for it.

Moreover, the fights were great. One dude was knocked out cold with a swift kick to the dome. They had to take him away with a strecher. But wasting no time, the victor threw up his hands and the next match proceeded literally within the next two minutes. Deaths from fights are not uncommon and knockouts, especially from elbows, can be super leathal. But many fighters are willing to take the risk as fame, glory, and poontang bequeath the winners.

~ J-Dub ~