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Earlier this month on the occasion of Graham’s birthday (I’m sure he won’t mind me telling you that it was his 61st), after an excellent celebratory meal at a new Italian restaurant, we crossed the road for an evening of Thai style boxing at the New North Pattaya Indoor Ring.
The last time we had visited this place, about 6 months ago, it had been a simple outdoor ring assembled on a plot of wasteland. Now in this short time this had been replaced with a new indoor arena complete with centre stage, surrounding tiered seating, a VIP area with tables and chairs, and changing rooms and toilets.
And the admission charge (500 Baht) was half of what we had been charged before, and for this princely sum we found ourselves escorted into the VIP area, albeit someway from the ringside..
Apart from it being Graham’s birthday, a second reason for attending on that night was that amongst the bouts was a match between an English boxer, trained by Paddy, our gym instructor, and a Thai.
Before this however we were entertained by several other bouts ranging from some very young boxers (but not I suspect quite as young as they appeared), to some serious adult contests.
I must confess that having seen quite a bit of Thai boxing in my travels here, I find that about 3 to 4 bouts is my limit before I start to lose interest. Too often most of the fight seems to take place in clinches and only rarely is a telling blow struck.
But what enlivens the whole spectacle is the activities of the spectators, who are not only extremely vocal in support of their preferred contestant, but who actively engage in betting with anyone else in the crowd willing to risk their money. Several times we were asked if we wished to take a bet but probably sensibly declined.
Unfortunately due to our distance from the ring, it proved difficult to obtain many worthwhile pictures but here are a few... 
To view these in full size, just click on the appropriate image.
‘Our man’ was on in the fifth bout of the evening, and in fact his was a normal boxing (as opposed to Thai boxing) event, but that did not stop the crowd from their enthusiasm, and not only for the Thai opponent, who was on the day the more accomplished performer and won on points.
Shortly after this we decided we had seen enough for the evening, and making our way out through the melling throng, headed home after an enjoyable and impressive display.
Another venue to add to the growing number of Pattaya attractions.
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