The Best Muay Thai Gyms In The World
Muay Thai is one of the most popular striking arts in the world. The reason why this brutal form of kickboxing is so popular is due to its effectiveness in both self-defense and MMA. Having the ability to defend yourself with 8 limbs is an excellent skill set to have, which is one of the many reasons why people love to train Muay Thai.
In terms of gyms, there are thousands of different places to train all around the world. Whilst you will still find that the best gyms are clustered in the birthplace of Muay Thai – Thailand, there are still many other countries that offer great places to train. Some of these gyms are set up by westerners who have proven they have the same skillset as the Thai’s, whereas others are set up by Thai boxing legends after they decided to retire in a foreign country.
Either way, there is an abundance of Muay Thai gyms across the globe, which will cater to your every need. For Muay Thai camps specifically in Thailand, you will find that many gyms offer accommodation with training throughout the day. Gyms outside of Thailand mostly focus on day-to-day training in a western format and will generally not offer other services such as catering and living quarters.
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Best Muay Thai Gyms In The World
Thailand – Punch It Gym
Location: Koh Samui
Website: https://www.punchitgym.com/
Quite simply paradise for Muay Thai. In all honesty, there is not really anything else like Punch It Gym in the world, let alone Thailand. Koh Samui is a very saturated location for Muay Thai, which goes to show just how good this gym has to be in order to stand out.
What sets Punch It Gym apart from the competition is the hotel-style rooms it has on offer. If you wish to train at Punch It for a month or so, you are able to essentially live in one of these months for your entire stay at a reasonable price. Punch it really goes the extra mile and will offer services such as picking you up straight from the airport. They also offer scooter hire, which is very useful and not what you would expect from a martial arts gym. The scooters are all relatively new and match the high quality of the entire resort. Overall, the setting and design quality of the gym is second to none.
If this wasn’t enough, Punch It has an extremely solid roster of coaches which includes the founder Markus Muster as well as 6 other Thai natives. As you would expect, these are both current and former fighters with great records.
USA – Evolution Muay Thai
Location: New York
Website: https://evolutionmuaythai.com/
By far the best Muay Thai gym you can find in New York. Evolution Muay Thai has a schedule that is absolutely packed with classes. No matter what your job or setup is, there will always be a class to suit your personal timetable.
Located right in the center of New York City, if you walked past the building you would be forgiven for thinking it is just another office block. However, once you’re inside, you can clearly see this is a typical martial arts gym and has quite an old-school feel to it.
Perhaps the main selling point of Evolution Muay Thai is that there is a skill level for everyone. This goes for beginners who have never tried Muay Thai before, all the way up to elite-level fighters who take part in invite-only classes. The instructors are very good as you would expect, this is one of the best gyms outside of Thailand.
Thailand – Tiger Muay Thai
Location: Phuket
Website: https://www.tigermuaythai.com/
Simply an awesome gym with a really large training complex. If you’ve lived in the west your entire life, you will have to experience a setup like this in person to truly understand the scale of how big a Muay Thai gym can be.
Tiger Muay Thai has pretty much everything you could ask for in terms of a gym. It offers classes for complete novices, as well as advanced strikers. The gym also has a good network and is able to help organize fights for those who want to compete.
One cool feature of Tiger Muay Thai is that they also offer various other martial arts. Specifically, they offer the traditional Thai forms of Muay Boran and Krabi Krabong, which are certainly 2 styles that you’re unlikely to see anywhere outside of Thailand.
Lastly, much like the best Thai boxing camps for foreigners, Tiger Muay Thai offers accommodation and even has an on-site restaurant! As you would expect with Thai food, this is both tasty and healthy.
Thailand – Phuket Top Team
Location: Phuket
Website: https://phukettopteam.com/
A Muay Thai gym that has heavy roots and connections with MMA. You will find pretty much every martial art required for the MMA skillset being taught at Phuket Top Team. The gym is 100% legit and has been visited by a number of prestigious UFC fighters. The list is pretty long and features the likes of Michael Bisping, Zhang Weili, Cris Cyborg, Cody Garbrandt, and many others. This alone should assure you about the skill level of both MMA and Muay Thai specifically within the gym.
If you are looking for somewhere to stay, Phuket Top Team offers very affordable budget accommodation on-site at the gym. This is ideal for those who are on a budget and do not want to stay at a luxury apartment with a swimming pool (although this is available too). Worth mentioning is that Phuket Top Team also has a restaurant with a monthly meal plan available if you do not wish to cook for yourself whilst in Thailand.
Canada – Siam No.1
Location: Toronto
Website: https://www.siamno1.com/
If you want to train Muay Thai in Canada, make sure you visit Siam No. 1 in Toronto. In all honesty, Canada is not the first country that springs to mind when thinking of Muay Thai, but Siam No. 1 is truly one of the best gyms in North America.
Siam No 1 is a traditional kind of Muay Thai that places a great emphasis on fitness and conditioning for beginner students, whereas advanced students will learn the finer details of technique. Overall, Siam No 1 is a great example of what happens when you have an owner that is actually passionate about Muay Thai and teaching students, rather than just being there to make money.
Netherlands – Mikes Gym
Location: Oostzaan
Website: https://mikesgym.com/
One of the highest-level kickboxing gyms in Europe. Owned by “Big Mike” Passenier, you know you are in safe hands with the level of instruction. For those not aware, the likes of Alistair Overeem, Badr Hari, and Melvin Manhoef have been trained by Big Mike himself. As the most popular kickboxing gym in the Amsterdam region, you’re never going to worry about finding a sparring partner in Mike’s Gym.
Granted, you will find a K1 style rather than pure Muay Thai since this is a European gym. If you are a kickboxer this will likely not bother you, but if you wanted something authentically Thai, your best bet is training in Thailand.
With that being said, Mike’s Gym is certainly a tough and authentic kickboxing gym. The Dutch are already known for their hard sparring and Mike’s Gym is no exception. You will never be in danger, but should be prepared for some real sparring, not a casual gym.
USA – Wooden Man Muay Thai
Location: San Francisco
Website: https://woodenmanmuaythai.com/
You’re unlikely to find a Muay Thai gym in Thailand with as good instructors as WoodenMan in San Francisco – the other side of the world. Classes are taken by the wooden man himself who is known for his sense of humor, as well as clearly being an extremely talented fighter and teacher. Of course, there is a whole host of other high-level Muay Thai fighters in the gym as you would expect.
As the gym is in a heavily populated area of California, there are class times to suit everyone. There are around 5-6 classes per day which start very early and end in the evening, ensuring no matter what your work schedule is, there will always be a time to suit you.
USA – Heritage Muay Thai
Location: Houston
Website: https://heritagemuaythai.com/
A great Muay Thai gym with an excellent culture. You will find high-level athletes at Heritage, which include the owner as well as the coaches and skilled students. However, this is not an elite gym with brutal sparring and is really a place for everyone – including complete beginners and kids.
Overall, this is a very safe gym and a professional environment. This is not a place where the instructors will overlook unsafe practices and behaviors that may end up in injury. Quite simply Heritage Muay Thai is proof that the attitude of people running the gym are more important than any achievements or accolades they may have. Not only is this one of the best gyms in Texas, but it is recommended to the whole of North America.
Thailand – Yokkao Training Center
Location: Bangkok
Website: https://uk.yokkao.com/pages/bangkok
Anyone who knows anything about Muay Thai will likely already know about the Yokkao training center in Bangkok. In terms of top-level instructors, you cannot really beat Yokkao. Classes are always run by an experienced fighter with top professionals such as Saenchai, Singdam, and Yodchai often appearing and training in the gym with regular people.
Yokkao is not your typical Muay Thai training camp as you won’t find any accommodation or restaurant on site. However, there are programs for both beginners and pros – depending on your personal skill level. As Yokkao is a brand as well as just a gym, you will find their equipment is heavily branded, although this is certainly not a bad thing since they are a high-quality brand.
Overall the Yokkao training center is a great place to train and your chances of being starstruck by a high-level Thai boxer is very high when training here.
Thailand – Venum Training Camp
Location: Pattaya
Website: https://venumtrainingcamp.com/th/home/
If you’re looking for a holiday destination with some Muay Thai training, the Venum training camp is a great choice. Pattaya is not the home of Muay Thai by any means – and is considered more of a tourist destination. Of course, you must keep your wits about you when in Pattaya, but within the walls of the Venum training camp the only real focus is training anyway.
As this style of training is geared almost exclusively towards foreign tourists, you will find that the Venum training camp is significantly more expensive than training at other gyms throughout the country of Thailand. This is made up for by the convenience of having everything in one location and backed by a very well-established martial arts brand.
To summarise, this is not the most authentic Muay Thai in Thailand experience. But it is a safe option and does have some very solid coaches and nice accommodation.
Netherlands – Leths Train Muay Thai Gym
Location: Amsterdam
Website: https://lethstrain.amsterdam/en/
It is rare to find a gym that focuses on Muay Thai rather than the K1 ruleset in the Netherlands, but that’s exactly what Leths Train gym provides. For drop-ins and those not used to the Dutch style of sparring this gym is ideal since it’s not the usual 100% pace you will find in most other kickboxing gyms throughout the Netherlands. So unless you are a professional fighter looking for some extremely tough rounds, this is a real positive.
In its entirety, Leth’s Train gym is geared towards the technical aspects of Muay Thai rather than obsessive fitness or conditioning. As you can expect from a gym that wants everyone to improve, the gym is very welcoming toward beginners and doesn’t discriminate based on skill level or physical fitness. This is not to say that the gym is for beginners only, since there are many high-level practitioners that train here.
In short, this is a very friendly Muay Thai gym.
Australia – SRG Sydney
Location: Sydney
Website: https://www.thaiboxingsydney.com
Pretty much the most authentic Muay Thai gym you will find in the southern hemisphere. If it wasn’t for the English language being spoken inside the gym, you may think you were in Thailand.
Once again, the management of the gym shows that you do not have to be a world champion in order to create a great training environment. The attention to detail and commitment of all instructors proves that they truly care about their job and students. This is not a gym where instructors will spend time on their phones whilst a class is taking place.
One great thing about SRG Sydney is that there are classes for all levels of skill, as well as lessons for children. If you still want more time spent on technique, private lessons are also available. Given that this gym is in Australia which has a much higher cost of living than countries such as Thailand, you can expect to pay a lot more to train.
USA – Algeo
Location: King Of Prussia, PA
Website: https://www.algeomma.com
An MMA gym with a strong background in Muay Thai. The name of the gym comes from UFC fighter Bill Algeo who is obviously a very well-established MMA fighter, as well as a former Muay Thai pro. It’s always good to have a current professional leading a gym since their technique is always going to be 100% up to date, as well as extremely solid since their livelihood depends on it.
Even though there are elite-level competitors training in Algeo, it is still very much a family-friendly gym. This is what separates the gym from other facilities. There are many high-level MMA and Muay Thai mix gyms all across America, most of which are not beginner friendly. The attitude of instructors is what makes Algeo MMA a great place to train for everyone.
Thailand – Banchamek Gym
Location: Chiang Mai
Website: https://banchamekgym.com/
As you have probably already guessed by the name. This gym is owned and created by Buakaw Banchamek who is undoubtedly one of the best Thai boxers of his generation.
It goes without saying then that the gym is absolutely stacked in terms of talented coaches and current fighters. Put simply, the technical level of Muay Thai within the Banchamek gym is second to none. Much like other professional-themed Muay Thai gyms, you are able to stay in accommodation on site with a meal plan and training if you wish.
The only real negative of the gym is that foreigners will have to pay more than Thai citizens in order to train. As the gym is so authentically Thai, this is likely due to the language barrier since the high-level professionals will usually be speaking their mother tongue in order to teach others.
