Sitmonchai Review

Location

A few hours outside of central Bangkok, Sitmonchai gym can be found in Thamaka a province of Kanchanaburi. Depending on traffic and the time you head to Sitmonchai gym, you can get from Bangkok to the gym within one and a half hours. To get there it’s best to get in contact with Abigail through the website www.Sitmonchai.com. You can take buses or a minivan to Sitmonchai. Another option is to have someone from the camp to pick you up while they are in Bangkok which is very convenient.

So what’s near the gym? Alot of sugar cane and rice fields, that’s what. Don’t worry it isn’t as rural as you picture it. Within walking distance there are internet cafes, a Tesco Lotus, a pharmacy, hairdressers Coffee Shop and plenty of food stalls. The Tesco Lotus is where you can buy everything like groceries, donuts, toiletries and so on. A marketplace is set up next to next to the the Tesco every Tues and Wed night whith plenty of stalls to buy cloths, food, dvd’s and much more. The 7/11 is a small motorbike ride from the gym. If you feel like some western food, there’s a donut shop in the Tesco or you can take a 15 min drive to the KFC.

For some nightclub action you’ll have to take a 30min drive into the centre of Kanchanaburi where you can find clubs similar to RCA in Bangok but on a smaller scale and with no farang!

There are plenty of temples around, a sauna, bridge over the river Kwai and waterfalls in Kanchanaburi.

Price And Accomodation

Being in Thamaka the price cannot be beat. Your best choice is to stay at the gym. There is a hotel next to it which costs 500 baht a night, so it is more expensive than staying at the gym. For long term stays there are apartments available for as cheap as 1,500 baht a month.

If you plan on staying at Sitmonchai for a week, the price is 800 baht a day, which includes accomodation, laundry, training twice a day and food twice a day.

For stays over two weeks the price drops down to 700 baht a day.

I’d like to take a moment here and tell you that the food is DELICIOUS! Once it hit’s my tongue it’s as if i have a mouth orgasm. Beware, the food tastes so good you may end up putting on weight instead of losing it. The owner’s mother cooks for all the farang and the Thai’s after each training session and the food is to die for. All of it is Thai food and not too spicy, but if you ask for some spicy dishes she’ll whip them up in no time.

Back to the accomodation. There are currently 4 rooms for foreigners at Sitmonchai. All of them are twin share. They have aircon, private toilet and shower, but no hot water. Just make sure you shower straight after training and you’ll love the cold water. Also make sure to bring some fly spray and mosquito reppelant while your at the 7/11. There is Wi-Fi at the gym that you can use from your room.

These are two separate singles. I'm just a bed hog

At the gym they have 3-4 scooters. If you ever want to borrow them to take a small trip anywhere, just ask the owner and he’ll be more than happy to lend them to you. Just make sure you throw in some fuel!

Training

We get up at 6.30am put on our runners, mope around for 20 mins and then go for the morning run. The air out here is cleaner than Bangkok which is a great change. The morning run is 8-12kms. On most runs the gym’s pet dog with accompany us and have little scraps with all the neighboring dogs we come across. The distance you run is completely up to you. The pace is slow and we run along a wide open back road next to the river. You can turn back anytime. The afternoon run is 4-6 kms. The running path is in a big circle around the block. Once back at the gym, we skip for 20 min then wrap up our hands. The training routine follows your average Thai camps routine. We get in the ring, hit pads for as long as you can and work the heavy bag. The difference at Sitmonchai gym is that they are well known for their knockout hands and strong low kicks. If this is what you want to develop than Sitmonchai is for you. After your thai pad rounds your always guaranteed a round or two busting out as many low kicks as you can combined with punches.

Around the ring the young Thai boys who don’t train but stay at the gym check the timer and shout out how much longer your round will last. In between rounds they give you ice cold water.

Most days after your pad and bag rounds you’ll find yourself clinching with the Thai’s or going over technical sparring with them where you’ll get a bucket load of direction and advice on improving. This is one of the points that i’ve most enjoyed. They are like private lessons from the experienced Thai fighters. I found that this is where i have improved the most technically. After this we bust out 200 skipping knees on the bag, followed by chin ups and then sit ups.

All the fighters fight regularly at Lumpinee, Rajadamnern and in Chiang Mai. The first week i arrived, 5 of the Thais fought and all won by Knock Out! Amazing!

Trainers

There are only three trainers at Sitmonchai Gym.

• Kru Jaa – has recently joined Sitmonchai Gym after leaving 13 Coins Resort in Bangkok. Highly regarded in the world of Muay Thai, he has been a trainer to some of Thailand’s best fighters for over 10 years. He is perhaps most well known as one of Saenchai’s top trainers, who he worked with for 8 years until Saenchai’s move to Phuket in October 2010. I’ve trained with Kru Jaa for a month while at 13 Coins. He is a great trainer and i bond with him well. He has trained alot of foreigners and is used to training them. His English is ok and he does well communicating with foreigners. Kru Jaa is the man if you want to be pushed till you puke your guts up all over the ring. Even then, he’ll expect you to clean it up and continue hitting the pads.
• Kru Dam – he been the head trainer at Sitmonchai for over 10 years. He is an excellent teacher of technique and has a keen attention to detail. Kru Dam also specializes in boxing technique, helping improve hand combinations with speed and power. He has been training Pornsaneh Sitmonchai for years, helping him rise through the ranks of the Muay Thai elite in Thailand. Kru Dam is a more technical teacher but hasn’t had much experience teaching foreigners. Therefore his English isn’t very good but he can communicate moves well through simple body language and illustrating the techniques himself.
• Kru Ben – Good old Kru Ben. He’s been with the gym for 14 years. He is the loudest, most charismatic and funniest guy around. I love the dude. The only experience he’s had with holding pads for foreigners is with me. Don’t expect him to call out punches, kicks and kness for you. This guy will just catch whatever it is you through at him. He is used to holding only for Thais and letting them work their style on the pads. He’s also a great character outside of training. Even though he knows i speak limited Thai, it doesn’t stop him from blurting out nothing but Thai at full speed.

Here is video of Kru Jaa holding pads for Thepnimit

This is Kru Dam holding leg kicks for Pornsaneh. Watch till the end where he really bangs them out.

Here is Kru Ben with Asanee

Fighters At The Gym

• Pornsaneh Sitmonchai – Pornsaneh is well known for his fighting style that consists of heavy hands and powerful low kicks. This is a style adopted by most of the Sitmonchai fighters. Out of his 105 wins, 52 of them are by knock out. Definitely one of the most exciting fighters to watch.Here are his achivements -Delo Cup Champion (110 lbs), Toyota 8 Man Tournament Champion (118 lbs), Rajadamnern Champion (115 lbs), Thai National Champion (126 lbs), WMC World Champion (126lbs), Thai National Champion (130 lbs), Fight of Year 2010, Lumpini Favourite Fighter 2010.
• Asanee Sitmonchai – He is well known for playing the role as Nong Toom in the film “Beutiful Boxer”. You can find the trailer HERE. Asanee has very good english. While training at Sitmonchai he would always take me aside after every lesson and go over some technical sparring with me. This improved my muay thai alot. He would point out small details that would make a world of differance. 
• Thepnimit Sitmonchai -A prominent and popular fighter under the Songchai One promotions in 2008/2009, Thepnimit has recently returned to the ring fighting at both Rajadamnern and Lumpini stadiums regularly.
  He has been celebrated in the press recently for a winning streak of knockouts. His last five wins have been through knockout. Most in the first two rounds. Thepnimit is a great teacher as well. He is patient and has alot of attention to detail. Great for clinching and sparring just like Asanee.

Besides Pornsenah, Thepnimit and Asanee there are 6 other Thai fighters. 3 of them in their late teens early twenties and the other 3 are young boys.

The Gym

The gym has one ring. There are plans to get another ring already, but i think they will wait until more foreigners come to the gym. There is plenty of space to skip and shadow box. They have 5 heavy bags, a chin up bar and 4 sit up benches. What can i say. That’s about it. It isn’t a big fancy gym. But is basic and simple enough to train foreigners and even Thai champions. Training is done on rubber mats covered with carpet. This carpet is nice to your feet. It isn’t like the carpet that was being used at Sinbi Muay Thai. It won’t chew your feet up and give you blisters.

Every morning you’ll find the owners Dad out in the gym getting in his daily dose of exercise. He’ll greet you with an enthusiastic “Good Morning!” when you see him as he kicks the bag. Not too shabby for an old man.

What Set’s It Apart?

The atmosphere. This gym makes you feel like your part of the family. You train with the Thai’s, you eat with them and you hang out with them most days. You actually get time to know the guy holding pads for you. On Sundays we have a small BBQ Thai style. You can have a few drinks with the trainers if you want while we all munch down on some meat and rice. Everyone joins in. The trainers and their family, the owner and the fighters.

So there you have it. I can say it’s one of my favorite gyms because i feel at home here.

If you want to check out more video’s of the gym, just go to my youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/MuayThaiTrainingCamp

There will be more video’s going up as the days go by. If you have any questions about the gym go ahead and comment!

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)

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