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Allow me to set the stage. In 2004 Buakaw Por Pramuk had already won the omnoi, Thailand and Toyota tournament titles when he won the k1 max championship title. From that point on he only competed in muay thai sporadically. It's clear, judging by his performances in k1, that Buakaw was just entering his prime at only 22 years old. It pains one to think what Buakaw could have accomplished in Muay Thai, had he been allowed to reach his full potential, instead of focusing his energies on k1.
Today we find ourselves in a similar situation. Sittichai Sitsongpeenong and Kaew Fairtex, two of muay thai's best and brightest, were plucked from the warm confines of Lumpinee stadium (where they had both already won titles) and placed on kickboxing's biggest stage. And, in the damndest bit of bad luck, it turned out that Sittichai and Kaew were just hitting their respective peaks too! Both fighters went on to enjoy tremendous winning streaks and are looking better than ever. Again, it pains me to think, as someone who loves muay thai deeply, all the amazing fights we missed out on when we lost Kaew and Sittichai. At a time when fighters like Panpayak and Sangmanee are struggling to find suitable match ups, it is frustrating that the men who would be their greatest challenges are being lured over to kickboxing.
This strikes me as the greatest crisis facing muay thai today. In much the same way that the culture and intellectual life of entire countries have been ravaged by so called brain drains, so too today is Thailand's muay thai culture being ravaged by the money and prestige of kickboxing and muay thai abroad. From the aforementioned Sittichai to the incomparable Jo Nattawut the list of Thais, who are leaving thailand just as they are on the verge of discovering their greatness, is becoming disturbingly long.
In my opinion, this represents the problem greatest problem for the next generation of Lumpinee promoters: how to avoid letting the big fish slip through the net? Stadium promoters might do well to think about what kinds of incentives they can offer their fighters to try and prevent devastating loss like this in the future. What would you suggest that stadium promoters do in order to avoid losing the potential next "King of Muay Thai" to kickboxing?
Today we find ourselves in a similar situation. Sittichai Sitsongpeenong and Kaew Fairtex, two of muay thai's best and brightest, were plucked from the warm confines of Lumpinee stadium (where they had both already won titles) and placed on kickboxing's biggest stage. And, in the damndest bit of bad luck, it turned out that Sittichai and Kaew were just hitting their respective peaks too! Both fighters went on to enjoy tremendous winning streaks and are looking better than ever. Again, it pains me to think, as someone who loves muay thai deeply, all the amazing fights we missed out on when we lost Kaew and Sittichai. At a time when fighters like Panpayak and Sangmanee are struggling to find suitable match ups, it is frustrating that the men who would be their greatest challenges are being lured over to kickboxing.
This strikes me as the greatest crisis facing muay thai today. In much the same way that the culture and intellectual life of entire countries have been ravaged by so called brain drains, so too today is Thailand's muay thai culture being ravaged by the money and prestige of kickboxing and muay thai abroad. From the aforementioned Sittichai to the incomparable Jo Nattawut the list of Thais, who are leaving thailand just as they are on the verge of discovering their greatness, is becoming disturbingly long.
In my opinion, this represents the problem greatest problem for the next generation of Lumpinee promoters: how to avoid letting the big fish slip through the net? Stadium promoters might do well to think about what kinds of incentives they can offer their fighters to try and prevent devastating loss like this in the future. What would you suggest that stadium promoters do in order to avoid losing the potential next "King of Muay Thai" to kickboxing?