Thai Fighters Face Decline as Foreign Talent Takes Over Muay Thai, Says Insider
Sia Boat Petchyindee is a key figure in Muay Thai being a top promoter and gym owner, and he is worried that the destiny of Muay Thai will not feature much Thai in the future.
Muay Thai’s Future
Sia Boat is the leader of Petchyindee the gym and fight promotion in Bangkok. In May 2023, he announced his intention to part ways with ONE Championship, a major international fighting promotion, citing dissatisfaction with the treatment of Petchyindee fighters. Sia Boat remains committed to elevating ‘The Art of Eight Limbs’ in Thailand and worldwide. He continues to run Petchyindee as a successful gym and promotion, focusing on developing fighters and providing them with opportunities to improve their lives and support their families.
However, he believes the future of Muay Thai may be taken over by foreign talent in the coming years. Farang is the Thai word for foreigner and Nak Muay is the term for fighter from Thailand. In a recent interview, he explained:
“No more than 5 years, and Thai fighters will not be able to compete against foreign fighters in Muay Thai. In 5 years, all the world champions will be foreigners. 100%. Thai fighters always come from poverty. They have nothing to do, or their parents can’t afford to raise them, so they send their children to Muay Thai gyms. But now there are lots of options. You can be a footballer or do other things, so the amount of nak muays is decreasing significantly. Only the ones with no choices will become nak muays.
“Right now, Japanese fighters are already better than Thais, and in 5 years Thai fighters will not be able to compete against foreigners. 5 years is the latest. In fact, it’s already happening.“
All-time great fighter Samart Payakaroon raised similar concerns about a decade ago. He was concerned about the decline in stadium attendance, blaming promoters for waning interest among Thai people in their own sport. Samart predicted that Muay Thai would eventually be controlled overseas, with foreign passion for the sport outpacing that of Thais.
