Muay Thai holidays are fast becoming an industry in themselves. Far from the 80s, 90s and early 2000’s when only the most adventurous traveller or enthusiastic Thai boxing fan would dare brave the unknown dangers of a far off and exotic place such as Thailand, nowadays tourists from all across the world are coming to Thailand in huge numbers to train at one of the hundreds of muay Thai camps that cater especially to them. While competition and choice are good things, having more options can make it more difficult to decide where you want to train.  What follows are just a few points to consider when making that decision.

1. Location

This is perhaps the first and most important thing to figure out. These days you can pretty much find muay Thai camps anywhere. Basically, wherever there are tourists, you will find someone has built a gym to cash in on it. These applies not only to the usual mass tourist places like Bangkok, Pattaya, Samui and Phuket, but even little villages in the middle of nowhere in the north of Thailand that are more famous for their hippy tourists have gyms nowadays. This is a great thing for you, because depending on what kind of stuff you are into, you can pick your Thai holiday location first, then look for a gym in that area. If big cities with shopping malls are your thing then Bangkok is for you. If you want more of a tropical beach feel then check out Samui and Phuket.

2. Purpose

Depending on how much experience you have, your goals might differ. These days there are a growing number of people from Western countries with a pretty good background in MMA who come to brush up on their stand up skills. Some people want to come for several months or a year and have a few fights. Others Fought Muay Thai professionally already in their country and just see spending time in Thailand as the next step. Depending on your level and aims this will determine whether you want to train at a “serious” gym or a “tourist” gym. The truth is though that the tourist gyms are a much better choice for 99% of people coming to Thailand for various reasons. So, if you hear people belittling a certain gym calling it a “tourist” gym, don’t pay too much attention to that.

3. Facilities

This is an important thing to consider. This refers to things like the actual rings in the gym, as well as equipment like gloves, pads, bags etc and whether they provide all that for free. With so much competition about these days any good gym will provide that stuff for you to use for free. The other things to consider then are extras like on site shower facilities, if that is important to you, or even things like Saunas. Some gyms have saunas and if weight loss is one of your goals, that might be a deciding factor for you. Chances are you’re going be injured or too tired to train some days in which case a sauna would be great.

4. Trainers

The trainers can make or break a gym. A lot of gyms will advertise they have so-and- so champion teaching at their gym, and that is great. However, a great fighter is not always a great teacher and if you are going as a student you want someone who can communicate with you, is patient and builds you up step by step. Being a nice guy also helps. The truth is there are so many good thai boxers in that country that any of your teachers will have hundreds of fights experience and more than enough techniques to teach you, if they know how to teach. The other thing to consider is the teacher to student ratio, this can vary massively from gym to gym.

5. Size

Bigger is not always better. Sure there can be many advantages, but it can also go the other way. Training with 300 other students might mean you have 300 potential new friends. It could also mean you get lost in the crowd.  That is not to say a small gym doesn’t have any disadvantages as you’ll probably find their equipment and facilities not as good. The main thing to check is the student to trainer ratio. The more trainers there are compared to students the better, because this means you’ll get more time with them. Also, bear in mind if your trainer is holding pads for 7 guys before you, it’s a fair bet he isn’t going to be able to give his all. After all these guys are human.

6. Price

This is probably the last thing you should think about. That isn’t to say that money isn’t important, but if you compare the monthly prices between gyms there usually isn’t that much in it. You don’t want to end up at a gym that isn’t for you just to save a few bucks, as choosing the right gym will make or break your vacation.  Some gyms will offer you discounts if you pre pay for your stay online, and that’s a fair marketing strategy. But why commit when you don’t have to. You can spend the first few days checking out different gyms in the area on a day by day basis, then just pick the one you like best.