Percentage of Thais

[folkstyle+thai**]

What percentage of thais do you think know muay thai? Now this could be a variety of questions;
-what % know what it is?
-what % train in it?
-what % are actual fighters?

 

[grrthetree]

100%

All asians know Muay Thai, so if you see a short yellow man squinting at you, you'd better not mess with him.



No but honestly, its the damn national sport of Thailand, everyone knows what it is.

 

[deluxeMT]

This is like asking what percentage of Americans play American Football.

 

[folkstyle+thai**]

there are 3 questions
-not all americans play football
-not all americans are professional football players
now can i get an answer from someone who actually knows shit

 

[ich1ban]

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[ambertch]

What percentage of thais do you think know muay thai? Now this could be a variety of questions;
-what % know what it is?
-what % train in it?
-what % are actual fighters?

I don't think exact statistics exist, but I think I know what you're trying to get at.

- 100% know what it is
- VERY few thai train Muay Thai. It's a poor person's game. Kind of like boxing was over here until it got fashionable for middle class "white collar boxers" (which expanding to MT and MMA includes most of us on sherdog) A lot of Thais are surprised at foreigners wanting to watch Muay Thai, much less PAY a fortune by thai standards to train in it.
- Again, very low percentage. About the same that have trained in it I would guess. Muay Thai is not like martial arts in America where people recreationally train in it or train for self defense. Most everybody who trains MT in Thailand is doing so because they are fighting

 

[deluxeMT]

Just another thing to point out, Thailand is a big country. Even if 600,000 people trained in muay thai, it'd be aaaalmost 1%.

 

[Jiu-Jitsu Cop]

Very hard to come up with these stats. There are just too many variables. Just to give a few....How many women are there verses how many men in Thai land. How many kids and how many are too old to train. Are we counting people who used to train or only currently train. Does one fight make you a fighter or only if you compete on a circuit.

Not trying to mess with your thread but it poses a question which is very hard to answer with any acuracy. Someone above said it best it is like Amercian football over here.

 

[eateer]

I would just make a broad statement to say that if you are middle or upper class here they are completely unaware of muay thai. All they will say is ohhh thats hurts na... I would actually put the number pretty small. Even amongst the lower class, most of them like to get drunk and gamble on it because its allot easier then training and fighting.

 

[NINEZeRO**]

What percentage of thais do you think know muay thai? Now this could be a variety of questions;
-what % know what it is?
-what % train in it?
-what % are actual fighters?

I can answer some of those. I remember reading/hearing that there are 65,000 pro muay thai fighters in Thailand, thats about .1%, but those are PRO fighters.

I would guesstimate that for every pro fighter there are between 15-30 people who train it, so that would be 1.5 to 3% of Thais who train Muay Thai.

But its misleading to look at it as percentages of the population of the country because the population is so large.

It sounds and is more dramatic to say that there are 65,000 pro Muay Thai fighters and maybe up to 1 to 2 million people who train Muay Thai (If my guesstimate is low, this figure could be 4-5 million). To put that in perspective there are about 2,000 pro boxers in the USA (.0007%).

 

[NoSmilez]

you actually learn it in gym class at school over there..... its like basic american basketball. everyone here played before but not everyone is a pro.

 

[yetione]

What percentage of thais do you think know muay thai? Now this could be a variety of questions;
-what % know what it is?
-what % train in it?
-what % are actual fighters?

all Thais train as muay thai fighters for the first ten years of their life. most of them are killed during these years.

 

[Payak]

65000 registered fighters but not that many train, they cannot afford to train seriously unless they fight to pay for the training, all thais do however learn krabi krabong at school

 

[jlagman]

On a similar note, what percentage of African Americans play basketball?

 

[furdog]

I can answer some of those. I remember reading/hearing that there are 65,000 pro muay thai fighters in Thailand, thats about .1%, but those are PRO fighters.

I would guesstimate that for every pro fighter there are between 15-30 people who train it, so that would be 1.5 to 3% of Thais who train Muay Thai.

How ignorant. I'm guessing you haven't been there.

Nearly everyone who trains is a pro fighter in Thailand. It is extremely rare to train that martial art just as a leisure activity. I would say the only people who are training and not fighting pro are police officers and soldiers in Thailand. I've met only one middle class Thai guy who trained occasionally for fun.

I met a lot of 12 year old pro fighters in Thailand. They fought real fights because they needed to pay their school tuition. They don't just train as a hobby.

Hang out with the middle class in Thailand and you will find out they look down on boxers.

 

[ambertch]

How ignorant. I'm guessing you haven't been there.

Nearly everyone who trains is a pro fighter in Thailand. It is extremely rare to train that martial art just as a leisure activity. I would say the only people who are training and not fighting pro are police officers and soldiers in Thailand. I've met only one middle class Thai guy who trained occasionally for fun.

I met a lot of 12 year old pro fighters in Thailand. They fought real fights because they needed to pay their school tuition. They don't just train as a hobby.

Hang out with the middle class in Thailand and you will find out they look down on boxers.

Agreed. It never ceases to amaze me the western fascination with Muay Thai when it's such a low class (albiet culturally significant and popular) activity.

I guess we're just too comfortable and wealthy over here so we get bored and seek thrills, Muay Thai being one of them

 

[Azy]

At a wild guess

95%
10%
1%

 

[cali_chute_boxe]

On a similar note, what percentage of African Americans play basketball?

Hahaha. I was waiting for someone to throw that funny shit out there. Too many of my people I think see being an athlete or entertainer as the only way to success. And no I do not play boring ass basketball or American football.

 

[folkstyle+thai**]

im not fascinated by muay thai for the thrill, I like it because it's an effective fighting style i couldn't care less about thrills or adrenaline rushes but maybe thats because
i grew up like them.
ANYWAYS
just to add sumthing

What % of Brazillians
-Know what BJJ is
-train in it
-are MMA fighters, fight in vale tudo, or engage in BJJ or sub wrestling comps.

 

[Payak]

you grew up like them, where are you from because if your from a western country you cant even begin to know real poverty.