Training boxing in Thailand

The largest and best-known training complex in Thailand, running Muay Thai alongside a full MMA and BJJ programme. Big enough that you can always find training partners at your level, and structured enough that a total beginner is never left guessing. The trade-off is scale: it feels like a fitness resort rather than a Thai gym, and it is priced accordingly.

The main established training option on Koh Samui, running a mixed programme with fitness classes alongside Muay Thai. Works well for a training-and-holiday split, or for someone travelling with a partner who is not training.

A multi-discipline academy at Woktum running two Muay Thai sessions a day, with a separate all-access membership covering the other classes, the ice bath and the open gym. If Muay Thai is all you want, the Muay Thai pass is the cheaper way in and the membership is not worth the gap. Three bungalows sit on the gym grounds without a published rate. It also sells a six month membership that includes documents for a visa application, which says plainly who it is built for.

Sells nothing but accommodation-inclusive camps: every tier from one night at 1,500 to three months at 75,000 bundles a private bungalow with unlimited Muay Thai, boxing and gym access, and no training-only rate is published anywhere on the site. The property runs to over 7,000 square metres with eight bungalows, a pool, a sauna, a steam room, an ice bath and its own restaurant, so the comparison is with a training resort rather than with a gym down the road. It also runs CrossFit, Hyrox and strength work alongside the striking. Suits somebody buying a block of time and a bed in one go, and is no use to anybody already living in Hua Hin who wants to pay for training alone.

City-centre training centre attached to a well-known equipment brand. Convenient, modern and accessible by public transport, which matters more in Bangkok than anywhere else in the country.

Multi-discipline Bangkok club covering Muay Thai, MMA and BJJ under one roof. The practical pick if you are in Bangkok for work or a long stay and want a gym rather than a camp experience.

A city gym two minutes from On Nut BTS that leads with Brazilian jiu-jitsu and runs Muay Thai alongside it, rather than the other way round. That makes it a poor substitute for a traditional Thai camp and a good fit for anyone living in Bangkok who wants more than one art on the same membership. Its own site says beginners are welcome, and there are kids classes and private sessions.

Large resort-style training centre attached to the best-known equipment brand in the sport, with on-site accommodation and food. Polished and self-contained, which is either the appeal or the drawback depending on what you came for.

Runs structured multi-week training and weight-loss camps as packaged programmes rather than open drop-in training. Suits people who want the schedule decided for them.

A Chatuchak gym with a named fighter stable that prices nearly everything in US dollars rather than baht, and grades its privates by which coach takes them. Suits someone booking a long block from abroad who wants the cost settled before landing, more than someone comparing baht rates once already in Thailand.