Tourism Authority of Thailand wants foreigners to fight like Buakaw
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has offered foreigners a unique opportunity to learn Muay Thai from renowned fighter Buakaw Banchamek as well giving them a real taste of it in the ring with the concept “Amazing Fight”.
Twenty selected applicants will get to travel around the country free of charge to learn “ancient” Muay Thai in each of the four regions: Muay Tha Sao in northern region, Muay Korat in northeastern, Muay Lop Buri in central and Muay Chaiya in southern.
Foreigners, both male and female, may sign up on the website, www.tourismthailand.org/festivalexperience by uploading their photo performing Muay Thai, and write the reason why they like the martial art. The application can be sent until the end of the month.
In the preliminary round of the event, the 20 selected participants will be divided into two groups based on gender. Only 16 of the most outstanding performers advance to the next round where they are split into four groups of two male and female contestants apiece.
Only eight highest-scoring participants then qualify for the final round in Bangkok, where they are divided into four pairings. Four winners will be judged by their performances on the boxing ring.
During the trip and the event, video clips will be made and uploaded on www.tourismthailand.org/festivalexperience to let the audience vote for their favourite participant. The one with the highest vote will win the popular vote and win an accommodation package in Chiang Mai.
The “Amazing Fight” event’s objective is to promote tourism in Thailand among foreign tourists as well as to emphasise the country's unique cultural treasures. As of now, the website www.tourismthailand.org/festivalexperience has 306 candidates, 11,336,871 page views and is visited by 3,036,183 users. The poll for the popular vote will be opened for public between March 15 and 24. The final result of the popular vote and lucky winners’ name list will be announced on March 25
