A second-partial- lockdown is in the act in Thailand with most of the still surviving camps and promotions forced to close until at least the end of the month.
The main problem is that here muay Thai is, rather than a hobby or a pastime, a
big industry representing the only source of income for many households.
The vast majority of people in the business have been incredibly suffering in this period due to 3 main reasons:
1) the lack of income generated from competitions(even before the second stop, fight opportunities were scarce and purses sensibly reduced due to lack of sponsors)
2) the loss of profit due to the closure of borders that struck the Thai economy (more specifically much fewer tickets sold at stadiums and no students coming from abroad attending training camps)
3)the difficulty rather than almost impossibility for people in the muay Thai business to successfully land a job in any other industry that would grant similar income.
The above-mentioned reasons joined with an almost total lack of central aid, have launched a race for the immediate survival among ALL individuals in the fight community from promoters to camp owners and boxers.
The risk is that, with the continuing of the crisis (and possibly new upcoming crisis), muay Thai won’t be any longer considered a sustainable industry and the younger generations will choose a different working path other than boxing.
This will inevitably push muay Thai as we used to know it, to inevitable change.
