Phuket Top Team Review

Location

10/3 Moo 5, Soi Ta-ied, Ao Chalong, Muang Phuket, Thailand, 83130, Thailand. What does this mean? It means it’s in the Chalong area of Phuket. About 15-20 mins motorbike ride to Rawai and to Patong. It can take even less time depending on how flat out you drive that motorbike/scooter.

Phuket Top Team is basically on the same soi (street) as the well known Tiger Muay Thai and Phuket Dragon Muay Thai. It can be found on the opposite end of the soi to where Tiger and Dragon are positioned. The best way to get there from the airport is to print out the address written in Thai beforehand or to get the gym phone number to call when at the taxi stand and hand the phone over to the driver.

When you arrive at Soi Ta-ied, you’ll notice you won’t have to go far at all if you’re in need of anything. Food, accommodation, amenities, massages, tattoos, swimming pools, spa’s, scooter rental, car rental, supplements and training equipment, is found easily on this street. It is literally saturated to cater to the tourist population that inhabits this small melting pot of muay thai and MMA enthusiasts.

For outside attractions Phuket is the premiere place to be for tourists. Everything is within distance. There plenty to keep yourself busy and even just to relax. Beaches are within 15-20 mins drive. Some more populated, while others more secluded depending on your tastes. For clubs and pubs Rawai is a nice choice and closer than patong. Though Patong is an experience in it’s own if you’ve never made your way to Thailand, do yourself a favour and have a walk down Bangla road at night. Temples, adventure sports and day tours are easily available and close by for those wanting to get away from the daily grind during their training holiday.

Price and accommodation

Phuket top teams training prices are on par with that of every other gym in Phuket. Having so many gyms in close proximity to each other creates a very competitive and tight market here in Phuket. No one is charging over the top prices and no one is giving out low priced training. There is a number of options to decide from when training at PTT. You can sign up for all classes or decide between grappling style classes or stand up classes. There are also privates to choose from.
An overview of the prices can be viewed at http://www.phukettopteam.com/membership/

As far as accommodation goes, there is an abundant amount of options to choose from on the soi. From budget bungalows to resort style living you’ll find many options to keep you guessing where you want to stay.

If there’s something that Phuket Top Team offers that most gyms don’t, it’s the affordable accommodation. For what you pay, you get an amazing deal. There are two options available at Phuket Top Team.

The first is the on-site budget rooms. There are currently 8 available. They include

*Comfy DOUBLE bed
*T.V. with DVD Player & USB plug in
*Table & Chair setup
*Wi-Fi internet connection
*In room Fridge (for food and drinks)
*Wardrobe for clothes
*Ceiling Fan (much cooler than regular side fan)
*Rooms are 20 metres from MMA and Muay Thai training area
*Bathroom with Hot/Cold showers and toilet facilities are shared facilities (For every 4 rooms we have 3 shared showers)
*Laundry Service available
*Each Room has a designated Lock Box inside the MMA Gym Area
*On-Site security during the night for added peice of mind

All of that for the following prices
Weekly – 1,600 baht
Monthly – 5,500 baht
3 Months – 14,800 baht

In comparison to most on-site accommodation and even the accommodation around the area, this is a great price for what you get in return.

The other option at the gym is the Thai Style Bamboo Huts.
Im surprised at how nice these little huts are to hang in. Rafael and I are always chilling with the trainers in their huts and eating thai food. Quite a few foreigners take these huts like Will Chope and Johnny Jen. Johnny has set his up real nice. With a small table and a hammock set up on his porch, I regularly catch him lazing in it while watching movies on his laptop between training sessions.

With these huts you get

*Comfy Single bed
*Fan
*Wi-Fi internet connection
*Mosquito Net
*Rooms are 20 metres from MMA and Muay Thai training area
*Bathroom with Hot/Cold showers and toilet facilities are shared facilities
*Laundry Service available
*Each Room has a designated Lock Box inside the MMA Gym Area
*On-Site security during the night for added peice of mind

Prices are as follows
Monthly – 2,800 baht
3 Months – 8,100 baht

Training

I’m sure this is the part everyone is interested in. Training starts at 7.30am. There is no group run, but people are expected to go for a run on their own initiative. There are a few running options here, you can run up and down the street that the gym is on, passing by the other gyms and many restaurants. Or you can go out on he main road and head to Chalong circle. If you want a shorter run then head the other way and keep turning at the traffic lights. You’ll end up back on the soi you came from. The latter two can have a lot of traffic on the road. Touch wood I haven’t been hit yet. But I do know people who have been hit and hurt bad, just to have the thai person who hit them, speed off in their scooter. Just keep your eyes peeled and senses about you. You’ll be fine.

Back at the gym you’ll skip for 10mins, then stretch in a group. I prefer to keep skipping for 20mins all up, which I do while everyone stretches. After your stretch the trainers will wrap your hands (they even roll up your wraps while you stretch!) and then you shadow box for two rounds. 10 push-ups in between rounds.

The gloves slip on, up to 5 people on pads and then everyone else on the bags. The morning session is more relaxed than the afternoon where they push you for more rounds. In the morning it’s 3 rounds of pads and then you go 3 rounds on the bags. All rounds go for 4mins and have 10 pushups in between. If there is too many people then they will get you to spar lightly or go over partner drills for technique in the morning if you did your pads and bag rounds and are still waiting. This is a good idea as it keeps everybody busy and doesn’t let you sink into the boredom of hitting the bag for 8 rounds.

High Season has come around to test out Phuket Top Teams capabilities to handle large group sizes and they have fared very well. Class sizes have doubled and almost tripled. Phuket Top Team employed more trainers to battle this, put up more heavy bags and built another ring in time. I still haven’t seen someone mindlessly walking around with nothing to do.

After this it’s always something different. They mix up the end of class often to maintain variety and change the pace. You can end with boxing sparring, clinching, muay thai sparring, knees and teeps to the bags, etc.
After class it’s 100 sit-ups and 50 push-ups. It’s up to you if you want to do more.

One thing I love about the muay thai here is that I don’t feel a segregation from the trainers like I do in most Phuket gyms. They laugh and joke when not training you. At the end of class we all shake hands and thank each other for the training, quite the same as you do in BJJ. There’s a comradery that’s created within the gym between both the students and the trainers.

The afternoon starts 4pm on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Every other day is starts at 5.30pm. Sessions shows the same routine. The difference is that you will be pushed harder and be given more pad rounds. Just remember that if you want more pad rounds all you have to do is ask.

Trainers

I haven’t trained with all the padholders so I will have to write about the one’s that I have. As like all gyms there’s the good eggs and the bad eggs when it comes to trainers. There are trainers that work with you good and ones that don’t work. Just because one trainer is great for one student, it doesn’t mean they will be great for you. You have to work with and choose the trainer you want to do pads with for the rest of your trip. So go find your trainer!

• Daeng – the technique nazi of the gym. I love going with him and if your looking to improve your technique to the finest and smallest movements then he’s your man. I haven’t had someone try and improve or change my technique as drastically as Daeng has. But this is also why some people do not prefer Daeng. Most rounds he won’t get you gassing out because he is always on your technique. Daeng also loves positioning your hands lower than usual and quite wide which can feels extremely unnatural to many. He is still my favourite trainer to hold pads for me.
• Robert Lek  -  a great character. One of the Thai’s that I hang around with out of training all the time. He speaks the best English out of all the trainers so if this is important to you then Robert Lek is your trainer. He provides the perfect mix of technique all the time pushing you on the pads. Very friendly and very helpful. You’ll find him approaching a lot of people during class to give advice while they hit the bags.
  
  

  Robert Lek working with UFC and Bellator fighter Roger Huerta

• Chart - Easy to spot in the gym. He’s the trainer with the two front teeth missing, from what? I have yet to ask, but I hear if you do, he’ll just say “my wife, my wife!”. He seems to be the go to trainer for when the Thai’s want to kick pads. I’ve been with him a few times and he always like’s to hold one kick pad and a focus mitt on the other. The guy is a great padholder and always in a happy mood to joke around. What he is really excellent for, is to spar and clinch with. Chart is a magical wizard disguised as a Muay Thai trainer. A sneaky little man with a lot of tricks up his sleeves. If you get the chance just ask him to spar and clinch. Be prepared to feel very small.
• Choek - A former Lumpinee Flyweight Champion, Kru Choek is probably the most accomplished trainer at the gym. Just as with Chart I find that Choek is one of the go to guys when it comes to sparring and clinching. A real technician.

The Gym

Phuket Top Team consists of two full sized rings, 10 heavy bags, plenty of floor space, a small weights area with free weights, bench press, kettle bells and bar bells. Everything is very new and the gym is sponsored by Fairtex.

There is an office area where you can go pay your fees, organize fights, buy equipment (gloves, shin pads, shorts, mouthgaurds, supplements etc).

To check out more of the gym watch the video below. Remeber there’s a new Strength and Conditioning section along with another full sized ring!

What Set’s This Gym Apart

Sponsorship
Phuket Top Team has an active sponsorship program available for Muay Thai fighter who are serious and dedicated about their training and fighting in Thailand and abroad.

Phuket Top Team can help set up fights domestically and internationally as well as help promote and market you as a fighter. For more info all you need to do is contact them at phukettopteam@email.com

Fighters
You’ll find that Phuket Top Team always tries to maintain a constant stream of international fighters coming through their doors. Muay Thai fighters, Boxer and also Mixed Martial Artists that fight professionally will be in class with you training and to help out.

Strength and Conditioning
There’s a dedicated strength and conditioning program at Phuket Top Team that is run from Monday to Friday once a day. It’s very popular amongst everyone on the street. Even people training at other gyms will come to Phuket Top Team just for the S&C session. Here’s a video and more details about the session.

Contact Details

phukettopteam@email.com
08 061 333 12

Address
Phuket Top Team
Chalong, A.Mueng
Phuket
Thailand
83100

Born in Australia, training in martial arts since the age of 9. My first trip to Thailand was back in 2007. Since then i have made numerous visits back to the "land of smiles" to feed my addiction of Muay Thai. During the month of November in 2010 i had to decide between working a 9 to 5 job back home for the rest of my life, or sell all my worldly possessions and move to Thailand to live and train for the next few years. Thankfully i chose the latter. I now spend my time training Muay Thai, meeting new and interesting circles of people, sipping coconuts under palm trees on the beach and measuring the cost of everything on how much Pad Thai i could buy with that money.

Mike (Admin)

View all posts by Mike (Admin)
s website