Kaimuay Diaries - Episode 3 | Going To Lumpinee (Patreon)

The intention behind Kaimuay Diaries is a kind of “fly on the wall” look at my gym, Petchrungruang. They’re a unique glimpse into the world of a camp and a study of the mundane, allowing the camera to just wait and watch in a way that’s very rarely seen by the “highlight” clips and commercial edits that have a place and context to themselves. This edition is a bit unique, in that it follows the process of piling 3 fighters, a cornerman, me and Kru Nu into a van to head out to Lumpinee in the wee hours of the morning, so that the boys can weigh in for their fights that evening. It’s a whole day and many folks who aren’t the fighters or cornermen themselves don’t often get to experience the full span of it.

Kru Nu’s son Bank (fight name Tongchai), Dti (fight name YodPT), and Sun (fight name Petburapa) are the fighters. Team (fight name Mahahaeng) as the cornermen to help throughout the day, Dti’s father, Kru Den, and Kru Nu as our fearless leader. I tried to get a bit of the boring parts, to show what such an excursion entails, but even those boring bits are just a matter of “Thai Time,” which is never rushed; never, ever in a hurry. I was impressed by the routine of it all, how accustomed the boys were to the process, the schedule, and the spaces we inhabited. Blessings from the founder of our camp, blessings offered from the boys to the dieties and spirits, cutting weight, interviews, a seemingly-bizarre account of corruption from gambling that’s actually also quite mundane, the atmosphere of Lumpinee – one of the most famous and esteemed rings in the world – and a bit of the fights. Hope you guys enjoy it. I live for this kind of thing.

To watch highlights from the TV broadcast of Bank's fight (Tongchai):  https://www.facebook.com/128079537314937/posts/1795442853911922/ 

Dti's highlights (YodPT):  https://www.facebook.com/128079537314937/posts/1795444917245049/ 

If you want to go down the rabbit hole on Youtube, just copy and paste the fighter's names in Thai: 

Tongchai   ธงชัย เพชรรุ่งเรือง 

YodPT  ยอดปิติ เพชรรุ่งเรือง 

Thank you to everyone for your support! Because of you I can experiment with additional unique and creative material such as the Kaimuay Diaries, sharing more of Thailand's Muay Thai with you.

Other Episode Kaimuay Diaries - Video Series 

Kaimuay Diaries - Episode 1  | Maintenance Mode (29 min) - a quiet look at the top stadium fighters at the gym in a typical maintenance mode day. With no fights coming up the training is light, communal and playful. watch it here 

Kaimuay Diaries - Episode 2  | At the Edge of the Gym (46 min) - in this episode I follow the training of young cousins Gang Gat and Bao, two Thai fighters working their way into becoming fighters for the gym. The oldest one Gang Gat is contracted, the younger Bao is just developing. It's a chance to see how it is that Thai boys work their way into becoming stadium fighters watch it here 

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