We landed.

I got off the plane.

Start getting ready to collect my luggage… and guess who’s there?

Meet my new Beach

So, if you’ve been following along you’ll know that I’m now in Thailand.

Last week I spoke about training at FA Group, PK Saenchai, and… illness.

So, after spending a few days off training and absolutely sweating it out

(I’m not kidding, I literally woke up to fetch a towel and wipe myself down, then went back to sleep WITH the towel)

I felt pretty fed up of being isolated in a hotel room - remember those COVID days? Eugh.

When I wasn’t in my hotel room trying to recover, I was either sitting in peak Bangkok traffic or walking past it.

And you know what, I decided there was no point in forcing a stay in Bangkok when the only reason I was there, was for Muay Thai.

The gyms won’t go anywhere, but I CAN go anywhere.

So, I did some googling and settled on going to the islands. Right now, I’m writing to you from the beautiful Koh Samui.

My thinking is simple, why isolate yourself in a concrete jungle filled with traffic when you can recover by the sea, sippin’ an iced coconut coffee?

Also, accommodation is cheaper, people are way more easy going and you have island activities.

Well, I was blessed. The plan seemed to work instantly.

There is a plane from Bangkok to Koh Samui roughly every hour - I chose one at a nice, cushty 4 p.m.

As I get off the plane, I see some guy wearing One socks in front of me.

I notice that his girlfriend is the one pulling a suitcase and look at him - both of his arms are occupied with teardrop shaped One bags.

The math starts mathin’.

I half boomed:

“… and NEW!”

Jonathan Haggerty and his girlfriend, Kenzie, turn around instantly.

What were the chances?!

I think it’s a combination of the Muay Thai community being so intimate and blessings from God but I was already feeling more connected than I had been in Bangkok.

I think that’s one thing people don’t realise about Thailand and training Muay Thai here - you WILL bump into the biggest names.

Obviously, this was mainly by chance. But if you train at a gym, it’s very normal to see the superstars out.

They’re just normal fighters doing their day jobs and people seem to forget that.

Anyway, it was nice to catch up with both Jon and Kenzie and share our experiences from One Fight Night 16.

What is next?

So the next destination on my agenda, was of course, Lamai Muay Thai.

Ralph Beale, the owner of Lamai and general MT godfather, had been generous enough to invite me to Rajadamnern Stadium.

So once I touched down in Koh Samui, he wasted no time in inviting me to train.

Of course, I had to give myself a few days to recover, but keep an eye out and you may see the inside of Lamai MT C very soon!

3 Items to Pack for Thailand

To start this list off, I want to say that if you’re going to a pretty established touristy area

(e.g. Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Krabi etc)

there will pretty much be everything you need, already there.

Honestly, I think Thailand has better quality and stock than England.

That being said, these items are pretty essential and I think you’d want them on hand, even if you could buy them out here.

1. Antibacterial/Antifungal - having a general anti-everything-harmful spray to use on your body and kit after training, is a must.

I’ve seen people’s cuts become HUGE overnight and a staph infection is NOT pretty

(spoiler - it turns into a hole in your body and needs to be stuffed with gauze).

2. Bug Spray - I think this flies under the radar (get it? no? ok…) but having a quality bug spray is really useful.

The amount of times I’ve been bitten up or distracted by bugs while training, stretching or just working is insane.

You really don’t want to be flapping your hands about every 15 seconds if you’re tired, sweaty and already sore.

Or, if you want to put your head down and get some work out the way, it’s pretty infuriating to be dive bombed by bugs.

3. Your Gloves - Maybe I’m picky, but I think having your own gloves is pretty essential.

I turn up to training drenched in sweat from the walk over, so imagine how many times the gym gloves will be bathed in different people’s sweat. Not great.

Plus, your own gloves make it less likely to get injured because they fit your hand snug. (Also remember we get 15% off Muay Thai kit - link here).

3 Items to Buy in Thailand

Okay so now that we’ve discussed items you should pack, what can you buy there?

1. Shorts/T-shirts - this includes Muay Thai shorts.

Basically, clothes here are way cheaper, plentiful and are great quality with a load of different designs.

It’s also pretty hot/humid/rainy so there’s no real point trying to be a fashionista.

Save the luggage space and buy clothes when you get here.

2. Balsam/Ointment - No, I’m not talking about Deep Heat.

The range of herbal ointments (Tiger Balm counts) here is really great for random Muay Thai injuries so stock up!

I find the ones with a snake or scorpion are nice and potent.

3. Muay Thai Kit - despite prices going up, it is still cheaper than buying kit that has been imported to your home country.

Plus the selections are amazing and you can spend hours looking through the Muay Thai stores here!

And there you have it, some things to pack and some things to leave behind.

What else would you suggest? Have I missed anything? Shoot me a DM or respond to this email!

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Let’s meet here next week for more Muay Thai goodness!

I hope the start of your week is blessed.

TNT BABY 🧨