Muay Thai fighters when they get old

Muay Thai film ‘Fighter’ reveals mystique of popular Thai sport.

Marko Randelovic’s film ‘Fighter’ shows the life of a former fighter who now trains young local and foreign Muay Thai boxers in far northern Thailand.

A new film by young filmmaker Marko Randelovic explains what often happens to Muay Thai fighters when they get old.

For some fighters who had a long career in the ring – years of intense training and excitement that was often seen by millions of people in Thailand – they do the next best thing: take up work as a trainer.

Wisarak Wat Suksiriwararak is one Muay Thai fighter who never wandered far from the ring after he had his last bout in 1992.

Wisarak set up the Sor Wisarut Muay Thai gym in Pai, a popular tourist resort in Mae Hong Son, several hours north of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.

There he trains young men – locals and foreigners – who want to learn the traditional skill that Thais have practiced since the late 1700s. It went on to become a national sport and today there are thousands of Muay Thai gyms in Thailand and around the world.

Randelovic’s short film, ‘Fighter’, gives an insight into why many Thai men revere the fighters and the sport of Muay Thai.