Sangmorakot Muay Thai Academy is an authentic and local Muay Thai gym located in Bangkok, offering introductory training for visitors.
Why Choose Sangmorakot Muay Thai Academy?
Here are a few reasons why you should consider training at Sangmorakot Muay Thai Academy:
- Experience authentic Muay Thai training with knowledgeable coaches.
- Personalized workouts tailored to individual skill levels.
- Intense yet rewarding sessions focusing on technique improvement.
The gym has a great local vibe and plenty of young locals training. The boss speaks English and is very welcoming, while the instructors can make themselves understood to improve your technique. Private classes are also available for a more personalized experience.
Training Experience
Training at Sangmorakot Muay Thai Academy includes warm-ups, pad work with the instructor, and rounds at the bag. Workouts are described as intense but rewarding, with opportunities to work on specific skills like clinching and pad drills.
A typical workout may include:
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- 10 minutes of jump rope with heavy jump ropes.
- Hand wrapping.
- 6 minutes of shadow boxing.
- 4 rounds of pad work.
- 4 rounds of bag work drills.
To maximize your workout time, demonstrate your stamina and specify what you want to work on. Consider attending morning classes for a different training experience and engage with various trainers for diverse instruction styles and techniques.
After an hour, they might ask if you are tired. If you demonstrate that you can keep going and ask for specifically what you want to work on, you might be able to extend your training session.
The workouts are described as intense but rewarding, with opportunities to work on specific skills like clinching and pad drills.
The gym's location inside a temple adds to its unique charm and authenticity.
Location and Atmosphere
Sangmorakot translates into “shining emerald” in English, but the gym itself isn’t particularly shiny. It’s boxlike-walled or fenced on three sides, perpetually shady though with a calm slant of light in the early mornings and evenings. It’s no coincidence that Sangmorakot sits in such close proximity to a temple. In Thailand, temples and Muay Thai are inextricably linked.
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As owner Jar Tui explains it, temples were historically a gathering place for villagers, especially those with no homes or few places to go. Over the years, hosting Muay Thai fights in temples became increasingly popular. Gyms popped up in and around temples.
Winding through the roads of one of the oldest neighborhoods of Bangkok, the driver turns into a narrow street and suddenly stops. “Your destination is on the left”, the GPS navigation announces in Thai. I quickly get off the motorcycle, thank him, and look around. I don’t see any sign of a Muay Thai gym nearby. I open up Maps on my phone, and it looks like the gym should be just a short walk away. Feeling a bit unsure, I walk through the gates of a nearby temple and ask a woman selling food if she knows where the gym is. She responds clearly and simply, telling me to keep walking straight and that the gym will be on your left. “You’ll see it,” she says confidently.
I start walking deeper into the temple grounds, passing by a school and some monks. The nerves set in. Maybe I’m in the wrong place? Still, I trust her directions and keep going. Sure enough, there was a gym.
The gym is located on temple grounds, which gives the whole place a special atmosphere.
Sangmorakot Muay Thai Academy is located in Central (although slightly west) Bangkok, not too far from the old neighborhoods of Chinatown (Yaowarat), Talad Noi, and the famous Khao San Road. These areas are full of family-run shops, cozy restaurants, vintage stores, hostels, and more. The streets are lively with the sounds of local workers and tourists looking for a good place to stay that isn’t too chaotic. In fact, Rajadamnern Stadium is only a few minutes away from the camp!
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This unique setting paints a rather interesting experience. It’s not uncommon for the monks of Wat Sitaram and kids from the temple school nearby to stop occasionally and observe training.
Address: 21 Damrong Rak Rd, Khlong Maha Nak, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok 10100, Thailand
People typically spend 1.5 hr to 3 hr here.
When asked how Sangmorakot is different from other Bangkok gyms, Jar Tui states the obvious: his gym is in a temple. But more than that, he says, his gym is “like family.” He points out that unlike many other prominent Bangkok gyms, Sangmorakot doesn’t buy its fighters. “Our fighters come here of their own accord,” he says.
Originally from Bangkok, Jar Tui quit his own Muay Thai fighting career when he was a teenager to join the Royal Thai Air Force.
With only two bags and a small training space, the first Sangmorakot was in a tiny corner by the Prince Palace Hotel, a short walk from where the current Sangmorakot sits. Luckily, the chief monk at nearby Wat Sitaram also had his own small gym and invited Jar Tui to combine their gyms.
Jar Tui reports that his modest gym costs about 40,000 to 50,000 baht a month to operate.
Instead, Jar Tui funds Sangmorakot largely from professional gambling. He’s a regular all over Bangkok, gambles on Muay Thai nearly every day. Everyone knows him at the stadia; he doesn’t pay door charges. And he never bets on his own fighters. “I don’t bet on my fighters and I don’t buy them,” he laughs.
To obtain fighters, Jar Tui works with a network of gyms outside Bangkok. It’s a good move for qualified fighters. Jar Tui is also known as a fair boss.
Stories of abuse perpetrated against young, vulnerable boxers abound in the culture of Muay Thai, but by all accounts, Sangmorakot’s owner is generous and caring. Like a handful of other Muay Thai gym owners with philanthropic leanings, Jar Tui is known to take in young boxers whose parents are no longer able to care for them.
Sangmorakot also prioritizes the career development of its employees. Trainers come through on a rotating basis, and with the gym’s help, many of them accept short- or long-term positions at gyms abroad, mostly in Australia and Japan.
Sangmorakot is known for its high-ranking fighters, but neighborhood kids interested in learning their cultural martial art are also welcome. During our interview, while Jar Tui offers me jackfruit and teaches me gambling hand signals, two little 13-year-olds joyfully kick the bags and each other off to the side. Beem and Bik, who both attend the adjacent school, have been coming here multiple times a week for the last few years. Neither has fought yet, neither is sure he wants to fight. For now, they’re having fun. Jar Tui happily allows the trainers to take them on pads despite their noncommittal nature with competitive Muay Thai.
“Kids come here from all around the area,” Jar Tui says. “They just show up and play. The trainers teach them, and it’s free.
When they’re ready, Jar Tui will have no problem getting them a fight. As a promoter at Lumpinee and Omnoi Stadium, as well as with Thai Fight, finding opportunities for his boxers is rarely an issue.
Gym Details
Let’s start with the obvious: the gym is not big. Heavy bags and punching tires line the mats of two sides of the gym, while a large ring is tucked into the back corner. The remaining corner has some dumbbells and other basic equipment. It’s the true definition of no-frills.
The mats could use some replacing; they’re quite worn down, which makes the surface slippery when the gym gets busy with foreigners and roster Thai fighters training at the same time. That can make it tricky to keep your footing during padwork or sparring.
But what this gym lacks in polish, it makes up for in reputation, having been developing fighters for decades. In 2004, Sangmorakot won the “Best Muay Thai Camp of Thailand” award and has been consistently recognized internationally.
“Our camp is very traditional,” says Top. “We focus on the training more than anything else. We want people to train hard.”
Sangmorakot may be small, but it has a surprisingly large team of 8 to 10 trainers. They range in age from their 20s to their 70s. Kru Gae greets all new visitors personally. He always asks for their names, tells them what to do, and when to do it. He’s very friendly and makes sure everyone feels comfortable. The other trainers tend to be more reserved. They are spread throughout the gym, chatting and waiting for their turn to hold pads.
The trainers’ padholding styles also vary a bit depending on their age. Most of the older trainers stick with a very classic Golden Era style of training, calling for mainly power shots. The younger trainers are a bit more dynamic and include lots of combinations, incorporating some stance changes as well as spinning techniques.
There are several professional Thai fighters at the gym who fight at all different levels and Muay Thai scenes. Some, like BinLaden and Worrajaklek, fight on the three-round shows like ONE Lumpinee and Thai Fight. Supachailek and Petchphayathai fight on the stadium scene. There are numerous other fighters of different ages and experience levels, including some teenagers who are allowed to attend school in addition to fighting.
Top is a matchmaker for a few shows in Bangkok and is able to get you a fight during your stay (provided you are there for an amount of time deemed acceptable and at a level suitable for the show).
At the back of the gym, there are two bathrooms with showers and changing areas. There’s also a bigger space with just urinals. They provide water, so don’t forget to bring your own bottle!
They have some loaner gear for people who didn’t come with their own wraps, gloves, and shinguards, but, as always, for hygienic reasons, it’s always better to bring your own.
Training Schedule
Morning training officially starts at 7am. “In the mornings, we have the fighters focus more on running,” says Top. “The Thai professional fighters head to a nearby park around 6, and come back to the gym around 7:30. If they have a fight coming up, they hit pads.” For the foreign visitors, most are not expected to go running. But, like most camps in Thailand, if you are a fighter and planning on fighting during your stay at the gym, it is expected that you get up to run. The training in the morning is the same everyday: padwork, some bagwork, and sparring.
Afternoon training starts at 3pm, but people can trickle in later with no issues. If you want to do all the training activities, it’s best to get there right at 3. Arriving much later might mean missing out on sparring or specialized attention during shadowboxing.
Afternoon training starts with 20 minutes of skipping, followed by 2-3 rounds of shadowboxing. Then comes padwork (or bagwork, depending on when you get called for pads), sparring, some knees, and teep on the bag. And, if they deem your level to be appropriate (assuming you aren’t wiped already!), you’ll be asked to get into the ring to clinch.
The afternoon training sessions are also the same every day: skipping, shadowboxing, padwork, bagwork, sparring, and clinching. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, there is boxing sparring. If you wish to take part in boxing sparring, make sure you let the trainers know you wish to join. After clinching, you may be told to do some knees on the bag along with some drills that involve the push kick and/or middle kicks. Then the training is finished. If you usually do some kind of bodyweight exercises at the end of training, you will have to be self-disciplined and find some space within the gym to do these.
Pad rounds are 4 minutes long with 1 minute rest. Everyone starts and finishes each round together, following the timing on a big kitchen timer near the front of the gym. Everyone gets four rounds of padwork by default - most other camps do three rounds. “If you have an upcoming fight, we’ll have you do extra training and more rounds on padwork, like 6 or 7 rounds,” notes Top.
Important Considerations
The Muay Thai training at the gym is structured similarly to most other camps, but with more guidance. Everyone in the gym is doing the same things at the same time (usually).
The vibe at Sangmorakot is that of a traditional, old-school fighter gym, shaped by a combination of its social dynamics, training philosophy, and physical environment. The gym has a distinct atmosphere that feels quite masculine, a “boys club” vibe, though not in an overtly discriminatory way. While many camps in Thailand somehow balance this energy, Sangmorakot’s environment felt different, and not simply because I was often the only woman present.
The trainers were consistently respectful and maintained professional boundaries with their behavior and speech. With the fighters, the social dynamic was very high-spirited and enthusiastic. As a foreign woman fighter who speaks Thai and was training there consistently, I noticed some fighters engaged with me in a particularly excited and personable manner. (This was a different style of interaction than I observed with women who were visiting for single sessions.) The trainers often joined in on the general laughter and banter, contributing to an overall casual and the previously mentioned “boys club” vibe. This isn’t necessarily “good” or “bad,” but it’s an aspect of the gym’s dynamic worth noting for context.
Despite the masculine energy in the gym, Top and the trainers are really fair and welcoming to everyone. They always consider each person’s skill level. On my very first day, after I finished sparring and working on the bags, Top came over and asked if I wanted to clinch with the Thai fighters (of course, I said yes!). Over the week, the trainers quickly adjusted their padholding and instruction to better match my capabilities and experience, which I found very encouraging and refreshing.
Speaking of Top, it is extremely clear that he runs a tight ship and expects everyone to work together as a team. When he’s around, he keeps a close eye on everything and gives helpful advice as he passes by. To the foreign fighters, he might suggest sparring tactics to help them score more points in a fight. To the teenage fighters, he’ll tell them to adjust their hands when they clinch to gain a more favorable position. He even steps in to hold pads if there are lots of people. On my third day, he looked around and asked if I had hit pads yet. Before I could answer, he loudly asked, “Who held pads for her?” to make sure I wasn’t just hitting the bag by myself all the time. Top isn’t just the boss; he’s a true leader. He talks the talk and walks the walk. Because of that, everyone in the gym respects him and knows what he expects. He does his best to not write off any paying customers and makes sure all visitors get value for their time and money.
Women are expected to go under the bottom rope when entering and exiting the ring.
Highlighted Reviews
Here are some highlighted reviews from people who have trained at Sangmorakot Muay Thai Academy:
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