TITLE: Observations on Muay Thai

You squeeze into the back of a pick-up truck and commute for six hours to support your fellow fighter. You then agree to fight as a last-minute replacement at 2am in chilly, outdoor conditions without knowing anything about your opponent. You fight the next night while injured without complaining. You do all this for sustenance and the faint hope that some day, hundreds of fights later, you will earn enough money to retire. That is the life of a fighter in Thailand. It is the life that I spent five years documenting across all four regions of Thailand.

Muay Thai is Thailand’s national sport. Sit in any social spot with a television, and you’re sure to catch a fight. Commonly referred to as “The Art of Eight Limbs,” the sport is a brutal one, yet simultaneously graceful. Fighters can strike opponents using fists, shins, elbows and knees. Often compared to Western Boxing yet requiring added creativity, it is a sport that is steeped in ancient tradition and laced with Buddhist beliefs. 

Having been granted full access, I was privy to the inner workings of the industry, enabling me to delve deeply into a world of gambling, grit and rituals. Having chronicled the day-to-day life of fighters, I was struck by their humility, courage and lighthearted way of confronting destitution. Ultimately, Muay Thai is seen as way out of poverty, courtesy of the gambling industry who sustain the sport.

AUTHOR: Lord K2 (United Kingdom)

Lord K2 is a visual artist from London based in Barcelona. In 2011 he seized trading stocks and ventured into the art world. After an initial stint exploring stencil graffiti in South America, Lord K2 shifted his focus to photography in order to pursue ethnographic visual story telling. His first project was to document the graffiti subculture in Santiago de Chile followed by the street art scene in Tokyo. Both projects were released in book form by Schiffer Publishing. He subsequently spent 5 years living in Asia in order to chronicle the Muay Thai and Sumo cultures. He gained a reputation for his raw and gritty immersive style of photography. Lord K2 is now experimenting with drones.