Featured Festival
National Muay Thai Day:
Celebrating a Symbol of
Thai Heritage
important part of their cultural heritage.
It is also a day of giving honor and respect
to a Muay Thai legend, Nai Khanom Tom,
whose statue stands proud at the Ayutthaya
sports grounds.
Nai Khanom Tom – The Muay
Thai Hero
M
arch 17 is National Muay
Thai Day in Thailand. It
is a day when Thailand
celebrates its national
sport and honors one of the sport’s greatest
heroes. Although not a public holiday, this
day is special to Muay Thai enthusiasts,
teachers and students not just in Thailand
but all over the world.
Muay Thai was the main and most
effective self-defense method used by Thai
warriors for thousands of years. Off the
battlefield, its first use as a sport was during
Ling Prachao Sua’s reign. He was so in
love with it that he used to fight incognito
during village contests. He was good with it
and when Thailand was at peace, he ordered
the army to train in it. It was from this that
organized competitions originated.
The town of Ayutthaya celebrates an
annual week-long festival culminating on
the March 17. Muay Thai demonstrations,
exhibitions, and title competitions
participated in by local and foreign boxers
draw huge crowds to this ancient Thai
capital. You’ll witness the ancient wai kru
ram muay traditional dance and playing
of Sarama (Muay Thai music). Traditional
Thai cuisine and art, Thai tattoo and
Aranyik sword forging demonstrations are
part of the festival too and so are movies
and live music at the Phra Nakhon Si
Ayutthaya Stadium. Elephant shows are
also part of this festival. The National Muay
Thai Day gives a glimpse of how Thailand
values and takes pride in Muay Thai as an
Nai Khanom Tom, from Ayutthaya, was
well-trained in Muay Thai. Captured by the
Burmese troops during the fall of Ayutthaya
in 1767, Nai Khanom Tom together with
other boxers and residents of Ayutthaya
were held prisoners in Burma and it was his
prowess in the art of Muay Thai that freed
him from captivity.
Accordingly, during a Buddhist
religious festival, Burmese King Mangra
wanted a contest between Muay Thai
and Burmese Lethwei martial artists to
test which form of self-defense was more
superior. Nai Khanom Tom was chosen to
fight the Lethwei champion. As customary
for all Muay Thai boxers, Nai Khanom Tom
performed the Wai Kru, a mesmerizing
dance-like ritual done before fighting to
pay respects to his teacher, country and
the sport. Nai Khanom Tom came out the
winner but the referee contested the victory,
saying that the ritual dance distracted the
Burmese champion.
Nai Khanom Tom was made to face 9
other Burmese boxers, whom he fought
one after the other with no break in
between. Again he came out victorious,
which impressed the King, who granted his
freedom. It is in his honor that the National
Muay Thai Day is celebrated.
National Muay Thai Day is also a time
when Muay Thai artists express their
gratitude to their teachers or trainers
for passing on the fine art of Muay Thai
to them.
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