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Thai boxing (Muay Thai) Perhaps the most internationally famous Thai sport is Thai boxing or Muay Thai. Bouts are five, three-minute rounds separated with two-minute breaks. Contestants wear international-style gloves and trunks (always either red or blue) and their bare feet are taped.     Matches take place on a 7.3 square metre canvas covered floor with rope retainers supported by four padded posts, rather than the traditional dirt circle. Each fight is preceded by a wai khru dance, in which each contestant pays homage to his teachers. Each boxer wears a headband, mongkhol, which has been blessed by his  teacher, and armbands.

  Increasingly popular worldwide, Thai boxing is now practised as a part of exercise regimes by movie stars and keep-fit enthusiasts worldwide. It is  particularly popular in the USA. In Thailand there are Muay Thai stadiums in all  towns across the country. The main tourist spots often provide twice-weekly shows  but the real thing is best seen in Bangkok.

  WHERE TO GO
    Lumpini Stadium
 Rama IV Road. Tel: 0 2252 8765 Fight nights: Tuesdays and Fridays from 6:30 pm,  Saturday afternoons from 5 pm-8 pm, Saturday nights from 8:30 pm
    Ratchadamnoen Stadium
 Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue Tel: 0 2281 4205 Fight nights: Mondays, Wednesdays  Thursdays, Sundays, starting at 6:30 pm.
    Channel 7 Stadium
 Opposite Chatuchak Park. Tel: 0 2272 0201 Fight schedule: Sundays, from 1:45  pm, third Wednesday of each month starting at 12 noon.
    Rangsit Stadium
 Prachathipat Road, Rangsit, Pathum Thani Tel: 0 2992 0099 Fight Nights:  Wednesdays & Thursdays from 8:30 pm
    Samrong Stadium
 Samrong Road, Samut Prakan. Tel: 0 2393 3592 Fight nights: Fridays and Sundays,  from 8:30 pm
    Omnoi Stadium
 74 Moo 12, Krathumbaen, Samut Sakhon Tel: 0 2420 4317 Fight schedule:  Saturdays from 11:45 am International Stadium, Chachoengsao
 23/22 Moo 6, Thepkunakorn Road, Chachoengsao
 Tel: 0 3882 1746-50 Fight schedule: Sundays, from 4 pm
  WHERE TO LEARN
    The Muay Thai Institute
 336/932, Prachathipat Road, Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani.
 Tel: 0 2992 0096-9 www.muaythai.th.net
    Muay Thai Academy
 900/32 Sport Club, SV City Towers, Rama 3, Bangkok
 Tel: 0 2682 8469. Fax: 0 2682 8469 www.muaythaicenter.com
    Pattaya International Muay Thai Training School
 193/15 Moo 11, Thepprasit Road, Pattaya City, Chon Buri
 Tel: 0 3841 0111. Fax: 0 3842 6555 www.alcazar-pattaya.com
    Sityodthong / Payakarun Boxing Camp
 90 Moo 6, Nongprue, Pattaya, Chon Buri Tel: 0 3824 9018

Long-boat racing Long-boat races have remained popular from the days when waterways were the prime form of transportation in Thailand. Regattas are featured in many country fairs to celebrate the end of the rainy season (September to November).

Long narrow wooden boats, bedecked with flags and lucky garlands on the prow, are manned by often more than 50 people. Each boat represents a temple and races are held in the sprit of great enthusiasm between two boats at a time. Celebrations are held for the winner with speeches made by representatives from their district.       Many provinces, among them Phichit, Surat Thani, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Phanom, Nan, Phitsanulok, Bang Sai, Ayutthaya and Bangkok stage spectacular races. Dates vary in each province but are listed in the TAT Events, Traditions and Festival Calendar. For the 2001-2002 events,

Buffalo racing Water Buffalo racing may seem a strange pastime, but to the farmers of Chon Buri Province, near Bangkok, it is an important annual festival, beginning in mid-October. Starting at dawn, farmers walk their buffalo through surrounding rice fields , splashing them with water to keep them cool before leading them to the race field.

About 300 buffaloes race over a day, in groups of five or six, spurred on by riders wielding wooden sticks, as hundreds of spectators cheer.       It is not only for fun, the festival also helps a great deal in preserving the number of buffalo, which have been dwindling at quite an alarming rate in other regions. Modern machinery is rapidly replacing buffalo in Thai agriculture. The festival usually takes place in October.

Takraw  The second most popular Thai sport is probably takraw. The difference between this sport and Thai boxing is that takraw is played every day, in every city, town, village, farm, temple or wherever there is space. The aim of this game is to keep a woven rattan ball (about 12 centimetres in diameter) in the air for as long as possible by using the feet, knees, elbows, and heads but not the hands. There are three different types: Takraw wong or circle takraw, sepak takraw or net takraw, and takraw lot huang or hoop takraw.

The most common version of the game, is circle takraw. The ball is passed from player to player and each is given points for style, consistency and retrieval of difficult balls. After a set time or a set number of throws, the highest score determines the winner

For sepak takraw, a head-high badminton net separates two three-man teams. The ball is tossed into play and served over the net by a slashing kick. Thereafter, the rules are similar for volleyball except that a player may touch the ball three successive times but must not, of course, use his hands.Players pass, set up and spike - all using their feet and heads in a lightning-fast blur of pirouettes and somersaults. The most spectacular move is the 360-degree airborne cartwheel spike.

 
    The most popular version in Thailand (albeit the most difficult) is probably hoop  takraw. A team, usually of seven players (never less than six), stands at the  perimeter of a circle, hoops are suspended over the centre and the players must hit  the ball through them during a 30-minute period. Successive teams try to surpass  the previous score.

    The most simple version of the game is tossing takraw, which has far fewer rules  how many times can the ball be hit aloft by the same player. Some can hit the ball  from stooping or lying positions. A good player is able to keep the ball aloft for ten  minutes, and if others join him the group should manage to keep it in play for about  an hour. A takraw ball is a popular souvenir for tourists.

Kite-flying      Kite flying is a competitive sport and Thailand is probably the only country where battles are fought between two different types of kites: one depicts a male, the other a female.    The male kite, chula, is one-and-a-half metres or more in length and shaped like a five-pointed star. The female kite, pakpao,

is diamond-shaped, 0.76 metre long and usually has a long tail. The female kite,being light is normally handled by just one person,but the male kite can  be so large that it requires anything up to 20 men to send it aloft and manoeuvre it.       There should be a minimum of two chulas and four pakpaos to compete in a  match. There are many rules governing the contests but the object of the air battle is  to force the opponent's kites into each other's territorial ground-space.       These competitions are generally held in the hot season of March and April and  a popular venue is Bangkok's Sanam Luang near the Grand Palace.       Aside from the fighting kites, Thais make and fly all sorts of other kites in  hundreds of different shapes: owls, fish, faces, serpents and so on, ranging in size  from a few centimetres to more than seven metres.