The other day I decided I wanted to do a quick side trip away from Bangkok. Originally I had planned on going to Samui for a night or two. I forgot that Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on flights into Samui. I looked into flights from Bangkok 8,000 Baht… what a piss take. F you Bangkok Airways. So where to should I go? Screw it I’ll go to Phuket, It’s been about 10 years since my last trip.
Since I’ve moved away, there have been boatloads of low cost carriers that have entered the scene. I booked with Nok Air for 3,500 THB. As I was getting on the plane I remembered I had exchanged a few e-mails with Sing, aka Sinbi Taewoong from Sinbi Muay Thai about linking to his camp. I think I’ll drop by for a session.
It’s about 4pm and the air is fairly muggy. I’ve been lounging around on Kata beach and getting the snot knocked out of me body surfing. I’m secretly hoping they don’t work me too hard.
I’m greeted by “Good Girl” the camps full time PR Manager, Marketing Manager, Translator, and Camera Women. I have to say I really like to layout of the camp. If you’ve never seen the camp you can check them out here. The camp is under a giant hanger, which gives it a nice open and airy feel. There about a dozen students warming up getting ready for their rounds. There is a small contingent of pro fighters from Korea, among them is Park Yong Soo. Thank god he doesn’t read English or heard of Mymuaythai.
Sing is busy checking his stop-watch, and watching over everything. I’m surprised and impressed at how involved he is with everyone’s training. Good Girl has a quick chat with him and introduces me. He wants to know how long I’ve been training… and we jump right into leg kicks and blocks. He makes some adjustments and corrects my technique. He tells me to put on some gloves and points me in the direction of Sohn, a Thai Trainer who’s spent the last couple of years training fighters in Sweden.
I think Good Girl told them I was going to be doing a post on their gym. As soon the round started we went to work. We ended up doing 5 rounds, despite my last round being decidedly feeble. After pad sparring Sing pointed to the bags, he wanted me to do some teeps and knees; I wasn’t going to be let off the hook just yet.
There were a lot of foreign students who had just recently come over from Rawai Muay Thai: Italians, Australians, English and American’s. They were all pretty fed up with scene over there. I was told that unless you’re a pro fighter they weren’t interested in spending anytime on you. I haven’t spent anytime at Rawai, but judging from the number of defections I would have to say there must be some truth to it all.
I’ve only been in for a short visit, but I like the feel of the place. The trainers are attentive, and I could see myself training there. It seemed to me that there was a good ratio of trainers to students. It was nice to see trainers stopping the action to point out errors.I asked how they thought they would fair if they doubled the amount of students. I was assured that Sing had a waiting list of well qualified trainers who were waiting to join the gym.
I was also surprised to find that Phuket has a thriving local fight scene. I think you can watch fights most nights of the week. Phuket has three boxing venues; the night I was there I went to Bangla Boxing Stadium… more on that later. If you’re interested in fighting in Thailand, I would suggest coming to Phuket. I was told that the Sinbi can arrange a fight for practically anyone even on short notice.
So ff you’re in visiting Thailand, or looking to train in Thailand Sinbi Muay Thai is another camp I can recommend without reservations. Any of you guys been yet?
Here’s a nice HL of Sing in action.
May 14, 2007 at 3:55 am
Sinbi Muay Thai seems to be a good camp..
May 15, 2007 at 12:03 am
I was thinking about training there the next time I visit. I want to go around December though (peak tourist season), so I hope it’s not too crowded….
May 15, 2007 at 6:42 am
Well, I’ve always heard many good things about Sinbi, so I am sure it’ll be next on my list for sure. I know a lot of Swedes who went there, and they all speak highly of the gym.
May 15, 2007 at 7:43 am
Next time that I trip to Thailand certainty I will know this camp.. :)
May 15, 2007 at 9:03 am
Nice HL of Sing. Cool music too. His kicks are fast.
May 16, 2007 at 11:35 am
In your opinion, what’s the best time to travel to Thailand (specifically Phuket) for a little partying and some training??
May 16, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Ernesto-
Long time no see buddy. Well, the mildest time of year is Dec-Feb. That would be ideal for training, but it also means it’s the peak of tourist season. Everything will be packed and expensive. Right now it’s the rainy season, cheaper and more vacancies but very little beach time.
March – June is hot as shit. It’s okay for beach etc. But I’m too much of a pussy to train then. I’ll only train in the morning 7am… otherwise it’s painful.
When we going? We should do a My Muay Thai.com tour of Thailand. Train, party, catch some fights, eat, and repeat
May 17, 2007 at 8:18 am
Mymuaythai.com Tour of Thailand…..Dude….that would be some sick (as in good) shit!…..Oh…u meant just u and Ernesto…..Oh!…..:-(
May 17, 2007 at 9:21 am
Spydaman-
Ernesto and I don’t need a romantic holiday. A group trip would be fun though wouldn’t it?
May 17, 2007 at 11:07 am
No need for a “man date” LOL A “My MT” trip would be def be sick. August would be sweet. Would it still be raining then? See you guys at FNF tonight..
May 17, 2007 at 1:22 pm
lol……well….yea…..it would def be fun…u might wanna look into it Nopstar, u neva know….lol. I’m sure we could probably get a group rate too.
Ernesto…..Wut’s FNF????
May 18, 2007 at 10:10 am
FNF = Fight & Fitness
May 18, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Me and the wife are planning on going back in January to hopefully the beginning of June. We’re going back to Chiang Mai (I’m not a big fan of Bangkok) and her family lives in Chiang Rai (she’s Akha).
Personally, I love the rainy season.
If you guys have your My MT trip around then come up to Chiang Mai, I’ll show you around to the camps up there!
May 18, 2007 at 3:31 pm
“FNF=Fight and Fitness” iz that a TV show or something?
May 20, 2007 at 6:14 pm
http://www.fightandfitness.com
it’s where I train.
May 22, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Oh….lol….my bad…thanx!
May 29, 2007 at 12:06 am
[...] was told by the folks at Sinbi Muay Thai that they are able to arrange fights on short notice and of varying abilities. I think if [...]
May 31, 2007 at 12:08 am
[...] you get the chance to head to Thailand and are looking for some beach time while training I suggest you head to Phuket. I think there are better beached else where in Thailand, but I think [...]
June 5, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Hello Nopstar
I emailed you a few days ago in regards to comments you have made in your article in regards to the training @ Rawai Muaythai Camp.
I was hoping you would ammend your article or delete the crap you wrote about Rawai Muaythai, but I see no change.. Disapointing !
I will fwd your blog to the owners @ Rawai Muaythai and let them deal with it..
For your readers .. below is the comments in question >>>
There were a lot of foreign students who had just recently come over from Rawai Muay Thai: Italians, Australians, English and American’s. They were all pretty fed up with scene over there. I was told that unless you’re a pro fighter they weren’t interested in spending anytime on you. I haven’t spent anytime at Rawai, but judging from the number of defections I would have to say there must be some truth to it all.
As the wab site @ http://www.rawaimuaythai.com VERY Clearly shows …. most of the students fighting @ Rawai are NOT pro fighters.
See Fight results >> http://www.patongmuaythai.com
Rawai Muaythai Camp is a very buzy gym with 50+ students every month, compared with Sinbi gym that has 5 – 10 students most months.
The 20 students that defected to Sinbi gym from Rawai Muaythai was because Rawai had more than 30 extra students turn up at the gym with out a reservation, sooo with Rawai being MAXED OUT all month .. the over flow of students went to Sinbi Gym..
Rawai Muaythai is a quality Training Gym and by far the most popular Muaytahi Gym @ Phuket.
check out the web site and judge for your self >> http://www.rawaimuaythai.com
August 3, 2007 at 11:14 am
[...] not secret how I feel about Soo. I met the guy while I was at Sinbi. He’s a nice enough guy; I don’t have issues with him as a person. [...]
September 29, 2007 at 8:26 am
[...] know Soo has been spending lots of time at Sinbi, and he’s improved since his Kaoklai match… but he’s on the same level of these [...]
January 25, 2008 at 6:37 pm
First off, it was great to see you at the airport Mai, good luck overseas!
I am going to chime in here about Rawai Gym. I think it’s fair that I give my comments too since I have attended both Rawai and Sinbi in October. I found Rawai on the web and thought it would be a great gym for my first experience in Thailand. They have a blog site where students can ask and give advice on Phuket and the gym itself. My first warning sign was when, would be students, would write in about where the working girls were, could they bring them back to the gym, and some idiot asking where they can get opium in Phuket. So I get to Rawai and spend a week there. Everyone there besides the trainers is a farang. Most were not very friendly and the place was rather clicky. That’s fine, since my goal was to train. The place is a victim of its own popularity. Way too many people there. Alot of the time you are sitting in a school circle waiting your turn to train on a bag or in the ring. When you get the chance to work with a trainer, the whole time they are pushing for you to buy a VIP training package to work extra hours with them for more money. I understand that they want to make more money, but I was there to train and not be pushed into VIP training. When I politely declined, the trainer would say “why, you not like working with me?” Huh, dude I just want to train, I don’t need that crap. The feel I got is that the place is all about making money. Everything in their store is way over priced. Water you can buy at the 7-11 is 10 baht they would charge like 25 baht. The gear is way over priced too and not even good quality. I was just really disappointed with the whole experience there. So I heard from the locals about Sinbi Gym. I checked it out and immediately felt comfortable there. They are a new gym so not so crowded. Only about 10 people when I was there. Very nice facilities and great trainers. Since there were only a handful of students, they really get to cater to you one on one. The trainers are world class. No attitude there at all like at Rawai. Rawai had a bunch of people who thought they were the shit just because they were training in Thailand. Now, this isn’t Rawai’s fault, but it still just adds to the poor atmosphere at Rawai. So, to sum this up…Yes Rawai is a victim of their own popularity, but I feel they have totally steered away from providing great training and more on making money and having a good flow of tourists. Sinbi seems more geared towards providing real, good muay thai training whether you are fighting or just training.
January 31, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Way to go, Ryan.
I also went to check out Rawai, and they were so rude that I was immediately turned off. Firstly, they didn’t seem interested in fielding my questions, even when I told them that I was checking out Sinbi and Rawai and deciding which one to spend two weeks at. And when I asked for directions to Sinbi, they said they didn’t know. Guess which one I chose?
I had a great time at Sinbi and have been back for a repeat visit in December, and probably will be back again this year.
February 1, 2008 at 6:19 am
Yea, it’s ashame, but that is great everything worked out for you. I am so jealous you are going back again…I want to go back so bad. I actually emailed Sinbi the other day asking them if there was anyway I could order some new Tshirts and a new pair of sinbi Thai shorts. Even though it’s probably going to be a pain in the ass for them, they were very gracious and said they will get working on it right away! Gotta love that place..Have a great time Girlfight!!!!!!!
July 6, 2009 at 3:36 am
I just found this entry and this picture. I’m actually the guy standing right next to you, with the enormous beard.
July 6, 2009 at 5:31 am
why does sinbi look korean?
September 18, 2009 at 10:30 pm
hey guys
having trained for 2 months at Rawai muay thai in early 2009 – i have to completely disagree with the assessments given above by Nopstar and others about the gym. Ive met Danny Avison (see his comment above) and completely agree with his comment that Rawai Muay Thai is a quality gym. The training i recieved there was comprehensive and highly personalised (i went there in peak season), with every option and extra effort being made by the staff to not only satisfy, but to exceed the expectations of the students there.
I also take into account the idea that some gyms may not be for everyone – but of the 50- 60 people i met there – 99% loved the place. Of my new friends that i know in australia (that i met at the gym) – all speak fondly of their time there and many wish they were back there training now.
Sinbi is less popular. This is true. Each to their own i suppose.