How Much It Costs To Train As A Muay Thai Fighter In Thailand

Anyone who takes Muay Thai seriously will have at least considered going to Thailand to have a training-style vacation. Unlike a regular holiday destination, going to Thailand to train Muay Thai is certainly not relaxing. You will find yourself being involved in 5AM runs, eating clean, and training at least once per day. That’s not to say that people do not have fun whilst they are training in Thailand – but this is not the priority.

The appeal of training Muay Thai in Thailand is that it is relatively cheap to practice there for a month or two without working compared to the west. Not only this but you’re guaranteed to find top-level instructors who have hundreds of full-contact fights under their belt.

Aside from this, the weather, beaches, and lifestyle of Thailand are very appealing if you’ve been stuck in a rainy city working an office job for a few years. It is certainly a big change of scenery and lifestyle to leave your own country and train Thai boxing for an extended period of time.

About Training In Thailand

As Thailand is a developing country, it is a LOT cheaper than the west. However, Thailand has become a lot wealthier during the past decade, so if you’re expecting third-world prices – think again.

In addition to this, Thailand is a lot more conscious about the types of people entering their country, as well as the types of visas you can stay with. Long gone are the days when you could receive a “student” visa and stay in Thailand whilst training Muay Thai full time. This once shady but allowed practice is no longer allowed and police will check up on you if they think you’re doing something you shouldn’t.

On the other hand, training in Thailand is still relatively accessible to everyone provided you have enough money and are not someone with a hardened criminal background. Most things are achievable provided you pay for them and Thailand is not a country that has high security around immigration like the USA. With that being said, you certainly shouldn’t be looking to break any rules or laws in order to enter or stay in Thailand longer than your visa allows. Thailand will take this kind of breach very seriously.

Fighters Budget & Currency Conversion

Thai Baht is a relatively stable currency. For the past 5 years it has ranged between 0.027 to 0.030 to 1 USD. This means that $100 USD is worth around 3500THB. You should keep an eye on the exchange rate as you are planning your trip, as although the currency has been very stable for the last decade, this is not an indicator of future performance.

As a quick breakdown, it will cost you roughly $900-$1500 USD per month to train, stay, eat and sleep in Thailand without any major budget problems. It can be done on a tighter budget than this, although if you are inexperienced at traveling and have never been to Thailand before, it is certainly not advised that you have less money than this.

Training Cost & Where To Train

There are an abundance of places to train within Thailand, all with varying costs. The prices listed below show the monthly rate, although tourists can drop into gyms as a one-off. The main decision you make will be whether you are going to pay for on-site accommodation at a gym. If you’ve never been to Thailand before, this is ideal and is discussed below. The training prices listed here DO NOT include accommodation.

Gyms To Train At & Cost (per month THB):

Punch It Gym – 7300 THB

Tiger Muay Thai – 12400-15500 THB

Phuket Top Team – 9000 THB

Yokkao Training Center – 11000 THB

Venum Training Camp – 12000 THB

Banchemek Gym – 16000 THB

As you can see, there are large price differences between each gym. The quality of the gyms listed above is the top level you will find in Thailand. The reason for the difference in prices is due to location. Tourist-heavy areas such as Chiang Mai will generally cost a lot more money than less popular locations.

Accommodation

Another essential whilst training in Thailand is accommodation. This is something you want to organize well in advance. If you’ve visited or lived in Thailand before, you may be more comfortable with organizing your own living arrangements. However, if you’re a tourist who is visiting to train Muay Thai for the first time, it is well worth letting the gym sort this out for you. It will cost a little more, but if you can’t speak Thai and have no knowledge of how Thai society works, then this is well worth the money.

The main cost of accommodation is the location of the gym, followed by the standard of rooms offered.

For this reason, the variation in price is HUGE.

For example, Tiger Muay Thai offers single basic rooms for around 16000 THB per month. These are very basic but have their own en-suite shower, toilet, and bedroom. Overall – there is really nothing wrong with these rooms and they are well maintained.

At the other end of the spectrum, Punch it Gym offers luxury rooms with sea views for 200000 THB per month. This style of living is more akin to a hotel than a Muay Thai training camp and is a very high-end accommodation.

Overall – you should budget between 15000 – 20000 THB per month for a place to live whilst training. As this should be booked and paid for in advance anyway, you will not have to worry about going over budget once everything is confirmed.

Food

Eating is a variable expense and therefore needs to be budgeted for properly. Unlike the western world, food in Thailand is inexpensive.

If you are cooking for yourself at home, you will only need around 4000-4500 THB for the entire month. This won’t allow you to live like a king, but will certainly be sufficient enough for you to survive and eat well.

On the other hand, if you hate cooking, some gyms have restaurants, whilst as others have complete meal plans.

As an example, Tiger Muay Thai offers a meal card for 12000THB per month, whereas Phuket Top Team offer 1 meal per day for 5500 THB.

In summary, if you are confident in your cooking ability, it is significantly cheaper to look after yourself than pay someone to cook for you.

Medical Insurance

Getting medical insurance before you travel is a must. Ending up in a hospital in your own country is bad enough, but if you can’t communicate with doctors who are demanding payment, things can get ugly pretty fast.

Fortunately, health insurance is relatively cheap for travelers. One month’s cover will cost around $100-$150, which is not bad at all. Of course, there are many providers for this kind of service, so you may be able to save some money if you shop around. Of course, it is important to find out what you are covered for to make sure the insurance covers any kind of Muay Thai – related injuries, as well as any tropical diseases.

Visas

Provided you are from the USA, Europe, or Australia, Thai visas are relatively inexpensive. A single entry tourist visa is valid for up to 60 days within Thailand and will cost in the range of $30-$50.

Things become complicated when you start leaving and re-entering Thailand over an extended period. However, if you’re just looking to train in Thailand for 1 month, there will be no issues with this.

Other Costs

When staying in a foreign country for an extended period of time, it is always a good idea to have some extra money available just in case anything goes wrong. In case of an emergency, you should make sure that you have enough money to leave the country if you need to go home sooner than expected.

Other than this, your trip in Thailand can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. The essentials have already been covered above, so it is up to you whether you want to visit tourist attractions, restaurants or venture into the depths of Thailand and explore. Depending on where you go and what kind of activities you plan, this can be extremely cheap or expensive. There is no set rule of how much you can spend or save.

Overall Cost

At the low end of the budget, it will cost somewhere around 30000 THB per month to live, eat and train Muay Thai in Thailand.

Thai Culture and What NOT To Do

As you are in a foreign country, you should respect the culture and customs of Thailand. Most of this is common sense as you are a guest in a foreign place, so you should behave as such.

One thing worth mentioning about Thai culture is the concept of “face”. This is essentially a person’s pride and honor – something that is extremely important in Thailand.

To summarise, you likely won’t have a problem with anything like this within a Muay Thai camp since instructors are used to westerners and there shouldn’t really be any problems. However, outside of the gym, you will want to avoid arguing with people or getting involved in any kind of altercation which involves someone becoming embarrassed or corrected for a mistake in a public setting.

It goes without saying that you should avoid crime whilst in Thailand. This means both committing crime and also taking precautions in order to stay away from dodgy and shady areas within the country. Thai police are pretty much the last people you want to deal with in the country due to their corruption, so it is advised you stay away from this side of Thailand.

If you’d like to learn more about Muay Thai then check out this training book.