Hey guys this piece is by Nak Muay Bryan Popejoy. For those of you who don’t know Bryan teaches Muay Thai in Los Angeles at his gym Boxing Works, and his been training, teaching and fighting for years. Many thanks to Bryan for taking the time out to write for us.
-Nopstar
The recent news of the Thai Government’s decision to “ban” the sport of MMA came as a surprise to many. Judging by the buzz in various online forums, the decision has been very polarizing. The general consensus from the Muay Thai “purists” seems to be that the Government’s decision was not only just, but welcome. In their eyes, MMA was slowly eroding the quality of Muay Thai.
The response from the majority of MMA fans seemed to be of a more knee jerk “F— ‘em if they don’t want us” response, sprinkled with less than classy references to “Lady-Boys”, and the sex trade, and child exploitation. Also frequently mentioned were, in my opinion, extremely laughable claims of Thai jealousy that they had not been able to produce a high level Mixed Martial Arts Champion. I say laughable, because the majority of native Thai fight fans I have encountered seem to be mostly indifferent about MMA.
In an article in the Bangkok Post, dated 3/31/2012, Sakol Wannapong, Deputy Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), stated “it is against the 1999 Boxing Law”. Mr. Wannapong is referencing several new rules and regulations were established in the 1999 (2542) Boxing Act, including the regulation of the minimum age for nak muay, mandated rest periods between bouts, and enforcement of fair purse splitting between the fighter and the camp. As far as I can tell, there is no mention of anything related to promotion of other professional martial arts events in the Act.
There has been some speculation as to exactly why the ban has taken place. The Bangkok Post article mentions that the SAT was approached by a private company looking to hold MMA events in Thailand. One area of speculation stems from the origin of the MMA promotional company. The article makes no mention if the company was headed by Thais or foreigners, however, it could be speculated that a foreign owned or managed MMA promotional company wouldn’t be allowed to stage events in Thailand due to certain restrictions in the Boxing Act. The Act states “Under the Boxing Act B.E. 2542 (1999), boxing services supplier must be owned by Thai nationals. The manager of a boxing services supplier must be a Thai national.” If the MMA company was owned or managed by a non-Thai, this would effectively render any chances of them doing business non-existant. The wording of the Act is a little foggy, I would assume that by “services supplier” one could include a promoter or promotional entity.
Other areas of speculation which seem relevant could just come down to national pride, and the inherent threat of lost revenue that MMA may pose to those in the Muay Thai business. As readers of this blog are well aware, Muay Thai has seen a great resurgence in recent years. What was once not long ago looked down upon as a lower class activity has gained greater acceptance, and is once again a source of national pride. In my opinion, it’s been a combination of many things happening in succession that have thrust the sport back into the public eye. The success of Tony Jaa’s films, celebrity acceptance and involvement, and the recent push that the art has received from events such as Thai Fight have all helped to bring the art back into the mainstream. There’s no denying that MMA has grown in popularity worldwide, and it’s quite possible that the banning of the sport in Thailand may be similar to the way boxing promoters reacted as MMA started gaining popularity in the United States. Personally, I don’t think MMA is a threat to Muay Thai promoters in Thailand. I think culturally, those that flock to the stadiums to watch will flip-flop any time soon. The art is too deeply embedded with those are involved, the fighters, the camp owners, the gamblers. From my trips to Thailand, and other exposure to Thai culture, change isn’t something that happens overnight. I can’t see the country switching out flower garlands for Tap-Out T-shirts any time soon……
Your thoughts……?
April 3, 2012 at 11:37 am
When I read this a few days ago, at fight I thought it was a “boxing-type” reaction designed to protect MT. The end result being an increase in interest due to the attention of the ban itself. However now that you have discussed it from different angles, I am now seeing the economic side..and the money trail.
I would believe if this had more to do with preventing non-Thai entities from staging events, allowing native commercial ventures to have more control…and more revenue. No businessman/woman would turn down a chance to make a profit no matter what the card, so I think this is really a barrier to entry; at least until local sanctioning bodies have time to sort it out and get players in place. On a future note, if/when the do happen, I wonder if we will see MMA and MT on the same card. I been wondering who will do that first and try to get the best of both markets. IN reality both markets are linked, why wouldn`t you want to cater to them together.
April 3, 2012 at 12:02 pm
Nice article Bryan!
Sounds like the MMA promotion company that initial went in had never done business in Thailand.
If they wanted any sort of success, they would have needed the backing of a major stadium promoter someone like Songchai, local partner like Tuff etc.
When I originally saw the article I thought it was a means of protecting the sport, keeping Nak Muay in Muay Thai… After reading this clear, it’s more about how do we make money from this.
MMA won’t take off in Thailand, if anything someone like Chatri from Evolve mma will snatch up some up and coming nak muay, groom them for MMA. That nak muay will start making money abroad (like buakaw) and other nak muay and camp owners will sit up.
April 3, 2012 at 4:50 pm
When I was in Thailand the fighters and fans looked at Mma as a b-level striking/ wrestling sport. They referred to it as boring wrestling.
However I also observed the resurgence of several Mma training in some gyms fairtex/ tiger. The classes were not packed at all as most people flocked to the gyms to train pure striking.
April 3, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Well written article but I have to disagree with the author’s opinion that aspects of Thai culture won’t change overnight. For example, look at the influence of multinational corporations in Bangkok, most specifically McDonalds and Starbucks which can be found on nearly every corner and are consistently packed with locals. I remember having a conversation with Rob’s wife while at Kiatphontip. She was telling me how in Thailand goods used to be wrapped in banana leaves, but since the introduction of the plastic bag (in a plastic bag, in a plastic bag lol) that is no longer the case. The conversation went on into excessive waste in Thailand and how things are not done as sustainably as before. So, I think that rapid shifts in culture are possible in Thailand, as evidenced by the reckless industrialization of some parts of the country. I’m not sure how I feel about the ban itself, but I do think the government’s argument that MMA could adversely affect Muay Thai is correct
April 4, 2012 at 1:31 am
Interesting development, but I see that MMA is not very popular in many Southeast Asian countries. I think it is only popular in Japan and maybe gaining ground in perhaps other first world countries in the area like Singapore. Evolve has the money to snatch up all the outgoing Nak Muay talent and convert them to MMA though, and I agree that MMA is still in its infancy and striking/grappling is not quite up to par with those sports that focus exclusive on one aspect.
April 7, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Tong,
Some of the more exciting fighters on OneFC – the big SEA promotor and Evolve MMA partner, are from your native Philippines. So MMA is definitely getting bigger there.. Check out the Ole Laursen vs. Edward Folayang.. Not a very technical fight but 2 pinoys slugging it out..
Also, just as Ong Bak ushered in new fans to muay boran, the recently released Indonesian film (set in Jakarta) called The Raid : Redemption is blowing up not only in SEA but internationally (NYC and SF film festivals etc..) It has *brutal* fight scenes.. think Ong Bak mixed with Flash Point (Donny Yen’s MMA-inspired film) and Hard Boiled gun violence.
My point is, I think there is a market in SEA for MMA. I agree with some of the earlier sentiments, that keeping it out of Thailand may be a pure money play. The OneFC owner I believe is either from Singapore or China. Supposed to be a good guy (unlike the many scummy promotors out there) , but you never know how hard it would be to make it happen in Thailand.. it’s all about the money.
All that said, I would prefer it to not come into Thailand personally…
April 9, 2012 at 8:45 pm
I saw clips of The Raid- looks crazy.
As for MMA in PI, I only saw the “upper class” folks interested in it- mainly from around the Manila area. I even saw one buff kid, with a lot of tattoos kicking a bag in his garage type area in one of the more privileged areas. My friend told me he was a pro fighter, but his skill on the bag was no Por Pramuk. I actually think they could use some good MT trainers over there, if MMA ever takes off there, but some English would be a necessity.