| VIDEO | AUDIO |
| - Shouting
- Doll
- Title <Muay Thai>
- TR 12
- Pan. Arena
- “Pau” lying on floor 15
- Punching exercises
- Putting on protective gears
- Pan. Area 13
- Camera - - “Pau” on the ring
- Trainer putting his hands together
- Playing flute 26
- Huge fan 9
- List of match-ups 6
- Opponent fighting
- Fighting in the ring 17
- standing up again and starting to fight
- Audiences watching 16
- Pan. Ring
- “Pau”’s back 13
- “Pau” sitting down 5
- A sound
- “Pau” appears 11
- Interview
- “Pau” appears 20
- After receiving cash
- Car TR 11
- TR 25
- Children
- Interview
- Arm of a child appears 15
- A Child doing chin-ups 8
- School Full-shot 18
- Zoom-In
- Classroom 13
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Location Sound
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| / The crowd roars each time punches and kicks are exchanged.
/ Young athletes are going up to the ring. Intensive training and ferocious body-to-body combat mean much more than just sport. To them, it means money.
/ Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand.
/ A Muay Thai competition is in progress
/ There we met a twelve year old Muay Thai athlete called “Pau,” he was getting ready to fight.
/ “Pau” was warming up to relax before stepping up for his competition.
/ He is no different than an average Muay Thai athlete, he is a child.
/ A sense of nervousness is clearly visible on his face as he watches the others compete and waits for his turn to fight.
/ And finally it’s his time to fight.
/ Before the actual fight takes place, the ceremony for Muay Thai warriors and their trainers is carried out.
/ Fight starts right after competitors take off their “Monkons.” (Sound of gong)
/ Muay Thai is a combat method without originally developed for Thai warriors. Muay Thai consists of some very dangerous attacking methods; most nations prohibit the use of elbow blow. In Thailand, however, these attacks are allowed and this makes fights more intensive.
/ Betting on players made by audiences make the fight even more furious. After the first round, people start to bet on players,
/ Those players being bet upon are children who only weigh from 20 to 30 kilograms.
/ After their bets are in, audiences are even more intent, captivated by every move the fighters make. (Fight continued till a guy wearing a green shirt appears.)
/ Young fighters of ten years of age are up on the ring.
/ They are fighting against each other. It loooks too dangerous for children of their age. But for the audiences,
/ The safety of the fighters is none of their concern. What’s important is the money they spend on betting. (People cheering)
/ The crowd roars again when the competition finishes with the sound of gong.
/ People exchange the money they bet after the competition’s result come out.
/ “Pau” is depressed after losing the fight. But He, is a well experienced fighter, who qualified to compete here after defeating many other opponents. “How many fights have you had so far including today’s fight?” “Today was my fiftieth fight.”
/ “Pau” starts to inhale a strong pain killer to cope with the pain after the fight.
“You need more practice to be stronger. Don’t forget. You need more intensive training.”
/ Words of his trainer heavily burden “Pau”, but he knows he need to train even harder t win fights. That is the only way to make money.
“Pau makes about five to six thousand baht for a fight.” “How much does he make when he loses a fight?” “About four thousand baht.”
/ Pau gets his fight money right after he finishes his fight.
/ From his fight money, however, he has to pay about three thousand baht to his trainer mainly for tuition, food and shelter, leaving him with only about one thousand baht, the money he has to send to his family back home.
/ Pau falls asleep instantly in the car. TI has been an exhausting day
/ In hte country side, many more young children decide to become Muay Thai fighters like “Pau.”
/ Children start thier training in a local gym almost before they can walk. (a child falls down) He is only 4 years old.
“When do those four years old fighters start to fight in the ring?” “That four year’s old had four fights already.” “How is his record?” “Two wins and two losses. HE sometimes wins and sometimes loses.” “How much fight money does the four year’s old earn when he fights? “300 baht.”
/For those four and seven year’s old children, Muay Thai means both their way of having fun and making money. /Those children have to face some consequences when making money at such an age.
/Their bodies are full of scars from fights, (Pause) and those scars will never go away as long as they continue fighting.
/Injuries from fights are not the only problem they have to face. We met Pau again in his school.
/He is an ordinary student of his age, very different from his persona in the ring.
But it is clear that his fight training have stopped him maturing. He is falling behind his classmates.
Of course it’s worrying. The kids should be taught to look after themselves better. It’s ok to do fights, but if a child this young plays in consecutive fights he won’t be able to handle it. His learning abilities will slow down visibly compared to the other children his age.
Pau’s small build, frequent absence, and slow learning abilities make him a targeted loner at school. In school, he is always by himself with nobody to talk to.
The only place Pau can really feel comfortable in Bangkok is the gym. Like Pau, many of the children here have come from the rural areas of Thailand.
The children’s dormitories aren’t taken proper care of. There isn’t sufficient sunlight, and the sanitary conditions are very bad. Still, it’s thanks to these facilities that the children can do any training at all.
It’s been two years since Pau left home to live in Bangkok.
While other children his age are living at home under the care of their parents, Pau is learning how to live alone and take care of himself.
Even just by looking at the dormitory, it’s quite obvious these children live in terrible conditions. The children are barefoot, practicing in the streets where people and cars go by.
Here the children practice for three to four hours a day.
Since Muay Thai is a fighting sport, it is essential for these children to build up stamina.
But it’s almost painful to watch these children as the practices are extremely tough.
The training can become so intense that the children are injured.
The children don’t complain about the training because they wish to win.
I’m going to stay strong, work hard and make ten thousand, a hundred thousand baht
To earn money, they must win the fights. This was why the children swallow their pain and endure the harsh and dangerous training.
The training goes on late into the night. It was well after sundown that the children were given their dinner and a break.
Dinner is the most awaited time. The children are in their formative years and big appetites, and they’ve had an extensive practice.
But during the fights, they aren’t even given these short breaks.
I had plenty to eat today, but if there’s a fight tomorrow I have to starve today. I’m not even allowed to drink any water. I have to bring down my weight to pass the weight limit. Only then can I have enough to eat.
On top of the exhausting training, the children need to be concerned about their weight. This is an extremely demanding condition for the children.
Sudden weight loss and not enough food consumption very quickly bring people down to a vulnerable state.
After enduring all this, the adualton of Champions is well deserved. We met with past champion Bowe, who has received two brain surgeries since his retirement.
He finds it difficult even to walk up the stairs. His right arm and leg are paralyzed and so he finds it difficult to move.
Out of 145 fights I won about 110.
Bowe was once the world Muay Thai champion. He enjoyed wide fame that even landed him a cover on a Japanese magazine. Bowe retired at 29 later than most other fighters.
I began at 17, so did it for 12 years. Some fighters start as early as ten and since they usually do it until 24-25 that’s about 15 years in total. 15 years is the longest amount of time, meaning your time is up.
After retirement he worked as a trainer for a while. But the injuries he received as a fighter caught up with him. They had ruined his body. He is currently without a particular job. The severe after effects of the fights have made him incapable of looking after himself. The most he can do now is moving his paralyzed limbs in physiotherapy.
This is how the former Muay Thai champion Bowe is spending his days.
Bowe is not the only one living a difficult life since retirement. Most former fighters don’t find suitable jobs and end up unemployed.
Many of the people who didn’t save up during their fighter years end up with nothing after they retire. They just stay at home because they have no money.
But even the difficulties after retirement don’t deter the children’s dreams.
These children have dreams to become Muay Thai fighters, and the difficulties they face seem like investment for a better future.
The same thoughts could be read on their bright expressions, so comparable to the dark expressions they had in school.
The children don’t have a sufficient training environment, and so are training in the streets.
It is a tiring and difficult sport, but the children continue to live on their dreams each day.
- What will you do when you have money? - I’m going to buy a house for my dad. - I’m going to buy a taxi for my dad. - I want to become an engineer. - I want to work in a bank. - I want to work in an office.
These fighters are working to earn money for their poor families. They endure the fierce fights and possible injuries. The reality of the matter is that they don’t have much other choice.
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