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I haven't posted here in a while, but I've been to Thailand... 13 times (somewhere around there) since 2006. I've been to a lot of different camps in Bangkok as well as Phuket. I just returned from a trip (landed the day the King died, unfortunately) and I just wanted to give some quick thoughts on some of the camps I visited this time around.
Bangkok:
Fight Club 61: Unsurprisingly located on soi 61. Gym is drop-in only, unless you've booked a private lesson. I believe there are only three trainers, one of which used to work with Buakaw. Two of them had called out on the day I showed up. The gym is far down soi 61, but if you get in touch with them in advance (they're very responsive to Facebook messages), they'll pick you up at the end of the soi and save you the walk. It's a small gym with one ring, and a good variety of bags (one of each, pretty much). Training is pretty laid back, which may immediately turn some people off. I was out of shape this trip, so I didn't mind at all. I actually enjoyed the training here. As far as actual feedback goes, I received more feedback during my pad and even bag work than I did anywhere else. What's going to put some people off are the laid back vibe as well as the fact that, if you're the only one there, there's naturally no one for you to spar with. There's an Aussie woman who either runs the gym or co-owns it or whatever and she was super nice. At the end of the session, she took me back to the end of the soi in a golf cart. It was the most affordable gym of the trip, as well: only 300 baht for what was essentially one-on-one training.
Yokkao: I was staying on Suk 15, so this was a 10-15 minute walk or so. The gym is located just off of 16. It's not difficult to find if you know where to look. It's on the soi just across from Gardengrove Hotel. Yokkao also does drop-ins, but I believe you need to book your time in advance so that they can make sure they have enough trainers to go around. I decided to skip the drop-in and book an hour with Singdam, which was 3,000 THB. We started with line drills, did pad work, some drilling with shin pads on, and then I got to spar with Singdam for a round. Honestly, he didn't teach me anything that another trainer couldn't teach me, but it was honestly worth it just to get beat up by him for a round. I have to say, nice guy (though limited English) who really dialed in on the basics, which I appreciated. Yokkao is also a small gym (one ring) and if they didn't cap the number of drop-in students, you could run out of space to train very quickly. I think the normal drop-in rate is 500 THB.
Phuket:
Sinbi: I original met Sing back when he was a trainer at Rawai. He's really the guy who taught me muay Thai as I showed up there with zero experience. I always liked him, so when I learned he opened his own gym down the road, that's where I went on my next trip. I had to be one of the first 100 students, for sure. The gym has obviously changed a lot since then, both for the better as well as the worse. Sing isn't really involved, Pot's gone, Wang's passed away, etc. But it still holds a lot of memories for me, so I always try and swing by, at least for one day. Overall, I had a better experience this year than I have in my previous 2-3 visits. I can't remember who held for me, but pad work was pretty good. Not a lot of feedback, but solid pad holding. Did some boxing sparring with some big boys, which was fun, and the gym had plenty of 18s to go around. All in all, not a bad day. I expected worse. 400 THB per session.
V.hemtanon: No, I did not make this one up. This is a real gym, located over by Soi Mangosteen. I had never heard of it, but ended up staying a few doors down last year, so I figured why not check it out? I was glad I did. Good space, two rings, plenty of bags, plus a gym with plenty of weight lifting gear. It may be because they're newer or there were not a lot of people there (more on that in a second), but the trainers were very attentive and gave real feedback the entire time. There was only one other guy training with me at the time, but they had us clinch for a while, interrupting us with feedback, tips, etc. I wish there had been more people around, but there's just so much competition in the area, and so many big names that it's tough to attract customers. I think they're trying by undercutting a lot of the other guys with their training costs. Granted, I was only there one day, but I liked the gym quite a bit and I would recommend anyone in the area that feels like they're getting lost in the shuffle elsewhere check it out.
Maximum Fitness in Patong: Fart. Uninterested trainers, shitty gym (at least the area where the rings and grappling mats are located), that shitty felt-like ring surface, etc. This would have been a total waste of 400 THB and my time if I hadn't had a few really good sparring rounds, but that's certainly not the gym's doing. The one thing they did right was have plenty of loaner shin pads (that were better than the ones I brought with me), but they didn't bother hand out heavier gloves, which was weird. I wanted to check it out because it's so centrally located, but it was the worst training of the trip, by far.
Bangkok:
Fight Club 61: Unsurprisingly located on soi 61. Gym is drop-in only, unless you've booked a private lesson. I believe there are only three trainers, one of which used to work with Buakaw. Two of them had called out on the day I showed up. The gym is far down soi 61, but if you get in touch with them in advance (they're very responsive to Facebook messages), they'll pick you up at the end of the soi and save you the walk. It's a small gym with one ring, and a good variety of bags (one of each, pretty much). Training is pretty laid back, which may immediately turn some people off. I was out of shape this trip, so I didn't mind at all. I actually enjoyed the training here. As far as actual feedback goes, I received more feedback during my pad and even bag work than I did anywhere else. What's going to put some people off are the laid back vibe as well as the fact that, if you're the only one there, there's naturally no one for you to spar with. There's an Aussie woman who either runs the gym or co-owns it or whatever and she was super nice. At the end of the session, she took me back to the end of the soi in a golf cart. It was the most affordable gym of the trip, as well: only 300 baht for what was essentially one-on-one training.
Yokkao: I was staying on Suk 15, so this was a 10-15 minute walk or so. The gym is located just off of 16. It's not difficult to find if you know where to look. It's on the soi just across from Gardengrove Hotel. Yokkao also does drop-ins, but I believe you need to book your time in advance so that they can make sure they have enough trainers to go around. I decided to skip the drop-in and book an hour with Singdam, which was 3,000 THB. We started with line drills, did pad work, some drilling with shin pads on, and then I got to spar with Singdam for a round. Honestly, he didn't teach me anything that another trainer couldn't teach me, but it was honestly worth it just to get beat up by him for a round. I have to say, nice guy (though limited English) who really dialed in on the basics, which I appreciated. Yokkao is also a small gym (one ring) and if they didn't cap the number of drop-in students, you could run out of space to train very quickly. I think the normal drop-in rate is 500 THB.
Phuket:
Sinbi: I original met Sing back when he was a trainer at Rawai. He's really the guy who taught me muay Thai as I showed up there with zero experience. I always liked him, so when I learned he opened his own gym down the road, that's where I went on my next trip. I had to be one of the first 100 students, for sure. The gym has obviously changed a lot since then, both for the better as well as the worse. Sing isn't really involved, Pot's gone, Wang's passed away, etc. But it still holds a lot of memories for me, so I always try and swing by, at least for one day. Overall, I had a better experience this year than I have in my previous 2-3 visits. I can't remember who held for me, but pad work was pretty good. Not a lot of feedback, but solid pad holding. Did some boxing sparring with some big boys, which was fun, and the gym had plenty of 18s to go around. All in all, not a bad day. I expected worse. 400 THB per session.
V.hemtanon: No, I did not make this one up. This is a real gym, located over by Soi Mangosteen. I had never heard of it, but ended up staying a few doors down last year, so I figured why not check it out? I was glad I did. Good space, two rings, plenty of bags, plus a gym with plenty of weight lifting gear. It may be because they're newer or there were not a lot of people there (more on that in a second), but the trainers were very attentive and gave real feedback the entire time. There was only one other guy training with me at the time, but they had us clinch for a while, interrupting us with feedback, tips, etc. I wish there had been more people around, but there's just so much competition in the area, and so many big names that it's tough to attract customers. I think they're trying by undercutting a lot of the other guys with their training costs. Granted, I was only there one day, but I liked the gym quite a bit and I would recommend anyone in the area that feels like they're getting lost in the shuffle elsewhere check it out.
Maximum Fitness in Patong: Fart. Uninterested trainers, shitty gym (at least the area where the rings and grappling mats are located), that shitty felt-like ring surface, etc. This would have been a total waste of 400 THB and my time if I hadn't had a few really good sparring rounds, but that's certainly not the gym's doing. The one thing they did right was have plenty of loaner shin pads (that were better than the ones I brought with me), but they didn't bother hand out heavier gloves, which was weird. I wanted to check it out because it's so centrally located, but it was the worst training of the trip, by far.
