4 Legendary Muay Thai Schools to Train at in Thailand

I used to live in New York City. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I had a great time exploring Muay Thai at Coban (He was a legend. He had more than 200 fights in his career and only lost 10 fights). Unfortunately, they had to close down. 

It has been my partner’s dream to travel to Thailand and train Muay Thai with the very best. We weren’t just trying to find any Muay Tai gym, we wanted to learn from great trainers in a fun and foreigner-friendly environment. 

Let’s be real, we weren’t planning to fight in the ring. Coming out of COVID and traveling across Europe earlier that month, we were pretty out of shape!

Since it was also his first time visiting Thailand, we decided to explore a city a week, starting with Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and finishing with Koh Phangan. 

Before I share which Muay Thai gyms we visited, I’ll just put it out there... if you want to improve your skills, it’s best to stay put at one gym. I soon realized each gym had its own style, from preferred stances, elbowing, blocking, hooks and basically all the fundamentals.

Bangkok: Petchyindee Kingdom

Petchyindee was founded in the 1970s with 10 Muay Thai fighters based in Bangkok. Fast forward today, they have helped train renown fighters like Sagat Petchyindee, Jomtrai, Roeng-sak, and Yodpetch.

Format: I’m glad we spent our first week here because their group classes wasn't too intense! The format of the class starts with a 5 min cardio run, followed by 5 min of skipping, 5 min shadow boxing, 3 min 1:1 pad work drills x 3 with the trainer, bag work, 3 strength training exercises (including ab work), finished with a stretch. 

Schedule: They offer classes Monday through Sunday, while most gyms close on Sundays. Group classes run for 1.5 hrs. Start times: 12pm, 1:30pm, 6pm and 7pm. 

Booking: To book, simply give them a call, or message them via Facebook Chat. It is preferred that you book at least 4 hours in advance. Reason being, they will ensure enough trainers are present to support the 1:1 pad work of the class. 

Cost: Depending on your package, costs will vary. Do note, they don’t offer drop-in classes. Just 1 trial class at 350 THB. We had to opt for the monthly despite only training for 1 week.

• 1 month unlimited: 3000 THB
• 1/10/20 personal training session(s): 1500/13500/25500THB
• 1 Training session with a top fighter: 5000 THB
• Private Group Training (min. 2 ppl): 700 THB/pp

Gear: Yes, you can buy gloves (+3000 THB), shorts, hand wraps (+250 THB) … but, you can also borrow equipment for FREE! The quality of the equipment for guest use, I’d characterize it as fresh!

Accommodation: If you want to opt-in for room and stay, packages typically includes 2 meals/day (breakfast + dinner), access to the gym and sauna facilities, and including daily personal training sessions at 4800 THB/pp for 3 days, 2 nights and 12800 THB/pp for 7 days and 6 nights. Rooms include air conditioning in a modern building!

If you’re traveling alone and plan to train regularly, I highly recommend the on-site accommodation experience because you get to form closer bonds with other trainers, make friends, and join a group of likeminded individuals to explore Bangkok. It’s similar to a hostel vibe but with Muay Thai trainees, with more space and better living conditions.

Also, Petchyindee although close to the main city center is still a walk away. At the time, we stayed at a hotel nearby called, the SCENE Bangkok Noi Hotel. It was a 20-25 min walk away depending on if you’re following the highway route or back alley route where you cross through the slums of Bangkok.

Originally, we wanted to train at Yokkao because Saenchai trains there. However, they were closed during the month of September 2022 due to COVID. Hopefully they have reopened by now!

Chiang Mai: Sit Thailand Muay Thai

Compared to all the Muay Thai studios we've visited, Sit was probably the most raw and intense. The atmosphere is serious. Fighters travel across the world to train with Sit, hoping that he will hook them up with local fights so long as they are deemed fight ready.

Sit is a famous trainer and fighter from Kru Thailand Pinsinchai. He won teacher of the year recently, and students from this lineage can benefit from soaking up all the knee, elbow and clinching expertise.

Format: DIY warm-up. Most folks skip rope for 5-15 minutes before self-stretching. Then, you can start bag work until the trainer tells you to join them for the 1:1 pad work (they call it lao). Expect 5 min laos for 5 min each, with 1 min rest in between. Yes, it’s tough, but so worth it. 

Once you’re done, go back to the bags. Most folks will follow the 5 min bag work and take the 1 min break together. Afterwards, you can join fellow fighters in their ring for some clinch work, and/or sparring on the floor. Do bring a mouth guard because it will be worth it!

Schedule: There are 2 classes per day. One at 7:30am and the next one at 4:00pm. You can opt to come in at 6:30am and 3:00pm to do you 10km around the scenic village in the back. It didn’t seem like the early runs were too popular! Classes are 2 hours. They take Sundays off.

Booking: just show up! Sit Thailand is more of a family-run business, so everything is more chill.

Cost: we signed up for the 1 week (which auto includes 2 classes/day) was 3000 THB. If I remember right, if you sign up for 1 month, it is 10000 THB. 

Gear: They did not seem to really sell gear at this Muay Thai gym, however you can buy MT shorts here. The cleanliness level at this gym isn’t strong at the grading scheme, however, it does give the gym an atmosphere of being hardcore.

Accommodation: none. However, folks that trained here stayed at nearby apartment called PJ? They were paying about 3000 THB/month for a studio and a bed. Yes, you’ll have to furnish it yourself.

We stayed at an Airbnb that was a 20 min walk away called Malinee’s House for about $35 usd/day. It was a full on bungalow with 2 bedrooms, washing machine, living room, dining room with a kitchen. It was tucked away in a residential area, so you can also see how locals live.

Phuket: Sinbi Muay Thai

Probably the largest a Muay Thai gym I have ever trained at. They have about 15-20 trainers supporting the group class, and 1:1 personal training. As you can imagine, even during the end of COVID, there were 40+ foreigners training altogether (ranging from beginners to fighters).

Apparently Saenchai Sinbimuaythai trained here for 1.5 years. They have a massive punching bag section, about 5-6 rings, and a shop downstairs where you can buy all the gear. There's also a fitness studio and showers below. Most folks come here by scooter and park in their driveway. We on the other hand, walked 20 min from Rawai Seaview Condominium.

Format: 10 or 15 minute run around the gym (never looked at the clock!). This is followed by stretching and 2x shadow boxing session. The group then separates into beginner vs. normal vs. clinching/sparring. I went with the normal class since I wasn’t experienced. The normal group class then splits into 2 more groups. Group A will start in the ring where they will do 3 x 1:1 bag work with a trainer, meanwhile Group B will do freestyle shadowboxing with the punching bags for the same amount of laos. Afterwards, the group will rejoin in the center where we work on combos, followed by some Muay Thai drills, ab workouts, stretching and lastly, a hand-in-hand circle hurrah!

Schedule: classes last 2 hours and start at 7:30am and 4pm. They take. Sundays off. 

Booking: there is no need to book, just show up!

Cost: the best part of Sinbi is you pay for what you need. In my case, I just paid per drop-in because my schedule was unknown.

• Drop in for 1 / 2 classes in a day: 500 THB / 800 THB
• Weekly 1 / 2 classes per day: 2500 THB / 3500 THB
• Monthly 1 / 2 classes per day: 11000 THB / 27000 THB
• … feel free to check their website for other options

Gear: they have a full-stack Muay Thai shop. So, you can buy everything from shorts, gloves, wraps, bands, mouth gear, kids gloves, tank tops, and even water!

Accommodation: they have a beautiful and modern apartment complex 3 min walk from the gym that also includes air conditioning, WiFi and pool. The benefit here is, you can meet new friends while training. At Sinbi, the classes are huge, so you a can feel pretty anonymous here. Sinbi is located in a residential area, so getting around for food is fine because there are options within a 10 min walking radius. You can also use Grab App to order food or a ride if you’re a lazy! 

The Rawai beach is also close, home to some amazing pick your own seafood experiences! Also, if you’re looking to stay near Patong for the partying, it is only about 600 THB away or if you are looking to stay in Old Town Phuket it is a 15 min ride away. If you’re looking for something to do on Sunday, you can head to Kata Beach in 10 min and learn how to surf for about 800 THB for 1.5 hours.

Koh Phangan: Diamond Muay Thai

Probably my favorite Muay Thai gym experience was at DMT. Maybe it’s the chillness of being on an island, the area is not too touristy, or perhaps it’s walkable. It’s most likely the charming teachers, and the friendly community that was developed during my stay there. If you go here, I highly recommend you to stay at their dorms, enjoy the 2 meals per day, and get to know the folks!

Format: We start off with 15 minutes of skipping (literally thought my arms were going to fall off because the ropes were heavy!), followed by a stretching session, then we go into some May Thai drills, 2 rounds of shadow boxing, then 3 sets of 1:1 pad work, and punching bag work at 3 min rounds x 3 sets. Sometimes the class will break out into combo technique work, and other days… sparring! Afterwards, we do some ab work, ending with a stretch where everyone contributes to 1 stretching exercise. Then, a final fist pump of gratitude to all your classmates!

Schedule: 2 classes per day that last 2 hours each. Classes start at 8am and 4pm from Monday to Saturday. Sunday is a rest day. 

You can also come train on your own, or with your new found Muay Thai buddies. Since there were no classes on Sunday, a bunch of us did a light warm up, followed by a friendly sparring match in the ring. It was super fun!

Booking: there’s no need to book, just show up!

Cost: you can pay drop-in (1 vs. 2 classes per day), unlimited weekly and monthly. If you opt-in for the accommodations, this is included with 2 meals per day. During COVID, they offered nice 20% COVID discount rate. DMT also puts their price list on their website.

• Drop in for 1 / 2 classes in a day: 400 THB / 600 THB
• Weekly 1 / 2 classes per day: 2000 THB / 3000 THB
• Monthly 1 / 2 classes per day: 7000 THB / 10000 THB

Gear: there’s apparently a Muay Thai gear shop not too far from DMT. I don’t remember much, but you can buy mouth gears here (mine was 300 THB, and you can form it there), hand wraps, shorts, and shirts. They also have hand wraps, gloves and shin pads on-site for trainees to use. They try to keep it as clean as possible.

Accommodation: honestly, I was super jealous of everyone who trained and stayed at DMT because the bond that’s naturally created was super tight. But, if you’re just a drop in person like me, you can ask to be added to the WhatsApp group to know what dinners, beach days, weekend trips folks are organizing, and tag along!

I digress, there are three types of accommodations at DMT:

• On-Site Huts: looks super cute, you are going to be one with the nature, with a cute hammock to take naps in. There’s a shared bathroom and shower… the only caveat is that if you’re a light sleeper, the dogs howling at night might get to you. There’s also no A/C, but I heard from the trainees, you get used to the heat. It also includes a mosquito net, so you can keep the bugs out. Some huts are for a, others for 2. 

• Apartment: these are great options, it is literally a 5 min walk away from the gym. It’s clean, you’ve got a private bathroom and a bed. If you have the extra budget, I’d go for the apartment option.

• Luxury Apartment: it is in the same complex as the standard apartments. The only difference is, the luxury apartments are upstairs, they have a kitchenette / living or dining room area. So, if you like hosting folks over for a drink, this is a great option. If you and your partner are remote worker nomads, then this is also a good option because you can block sound with the sliding glass door. Yes, there’s only 4! 

We ended up booking an Airbnb that was also a 5 min walk away from DMT. It was a stand-alone hut with 1 bedroom for $29 usd/night. Pretty sweet for your own space. But, the luxury apartments give the same or even better appeal because of the all-inclusive training and 2 meals/day bundle.

All to say, Thailand has so much to offer! I loved the food, culture, history, Muay Thai, sandy beaches, seafood and the little yoga I did. Hope you get to visit one of these gyms!