10 A Muay Thai Boxing Match

      Punchy entertainment for the whole family

      Muay Thai is the most artistic and mystical way for two men to beat the snot out of each other. As the two fighters step into the ring of Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok—the sport’s Mount Olympus for regular clashes of the Thai titans—they are both wearing garlands of marigolds around their necks and colorful headbands. After removing their silky robes, the two barefooted boxers walk around the ring, stopping to pray in each corner to the guardian spirit of the ring.

      Then live classical music composed of two drummers hand-pummelling their instruments, another man clinking finger cymbals together, and a Thai-style oboist playing melodies serpentine enough to charm a cobra, kicks in. The two boxers begin dancing around the ring. Their slow fluid movements ape the graceful movements of Thai classical dance. Occasionally, they both kneel down, touching their foreheads to the mat in obeisance to their coaches. After the two fighters and their coaches pray together for a minute in both corners of the ring, their mentors then remove the boxers’ garlands and headbands.

      In a martial art that flagrantly mixes the sacred with the profane, the men in the crowd make gestures and wagers on the outcome of the match before each fight begins.

      Make no bones about it, Muay Thai is brutal. Each of the 10 matches on a fight card, which begins in the early evening and lasts until 10.30 pm, is filled with punches to the head, elbows to the jaw, knees to the rib cage and vicious kicks to the throat, chest and calves.

      For the historical record, the origins of Thai-style kickboxing date back more than a 1,000 years, when a manual on warfare called the Chupasart instructed Tai warriors how to do battle with various weapons. When applying these techniques to hand-to-hand combat, the fists became the spear tips, the elbows and knees the battle axes, and the shin bones turned into the staff of the pike to both block and strike.

      A word to the wimpy: avoid the ringside seats unless you want to get splashed with blood and sweat.

      Opening Times 6.30 pm–10.30 pm Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Rama IV, near the park of the same name in Bangkok. 6.30 pm–10.30 pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Ratchadamnoen Stadium at 1 Ratchadamnoen Nok

      Address Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Rama IV, Ratchadamnoen Stadium at 1 Ratchadamnoen Nok

      Admission Fee 1,000, 1,500 and 2,000 baht

      11 A Long-tail Boat Ride in Bangkok

      Cultural immersion on an epically affordable scale

      The canals of Bangkok Yai and Bangkok Noi (“big” and “little” respectively) are capillaries that branch off from the main jugular vein of the Chao Phraya River. Twisting through the Thonburi side of the capital they are timelines flowing back through the centuries when Bangkok was called the “Venice of the East.”

      Chartering a long-tail boat to explore them could almost be classified as a “thrill sport”. The prow, laden with garlands to appease the Water Goddess, spears through the waves while the boatman at the back of the vessel steers it with a rudder connected to a big, noisy, diesel-spewing engine, which moves fast enough to have spawned a chase scene in the 1974 James Bond vehicle The Man with the Golden Gun.

      The canals are awash with traditional sights. Children use them as ad hoc swimming pools. Women use them to wash clothes. Vendors ferry fruits and vegetables to fresh markets. Families gather under the wooden pavilions in front of their houses that hover just above the waterline. And teenage boys play takraw—a kind of Southeast Asian volleyball played with a rattan ball manipulated by the feet, elbows and shoulders—on the grounds of Buddhist temples bordering the river.

      Most of these long-tail tours, departing from the bigger piers such as Ta Chang, near the Grand Palace, will include stopovers at the more impressive sights, such as the Royal Barges Museum and the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun).

      The saltier and more intrepid souls will, however, want to catch the river taxi to the end of the northern line in Nonthaburi, about an hour away. There, you can charter another long-tail boat to the tiny island of Ko Kret. Home to some 4,000, mostly ethnic Mon inhabitants, this enclave of artisans and spinners of pottery has no main roads or hotels. In an hour or so you can circumnavigate it by foot. Nearby is Khlong Om, another flashback of Bangkok’s Venetian past with a Siamese slant, reflected in its riverside temples and Thai-style houses.

      Opening Times Khlong tours run from around 9 am–5 pm from many of the major piers in Bangkok. Bargaining is necessary but expect to pay around 2,000 baht for a long-tail boat or around 500 baht per person.

      Fee Around 500 baht per person

      12 Bangkok’s Red Sky Rooftop Bar

      Rising above the mayhem of the metropolis

      Even taking into account the high standards set by Bangkok’s rooftop restaurants, Red Sky rises above much of the competition. At first glance, the roof of the Centara Grand hotel looks like it’s sprouted a gigantic lotus blossom that slowly changes hues and has an illuminated stem running down the side of the building.

      Inside, there are indoor areas with live jazz, an outdoor bar and area to chill out with the evening breeze, and another watering hole up above with 360-degree views of the “Big Mango” from 55 stories above the swarming streets. The wine list is so extensive that they have a special “glass elevator” to traverse the wine loft for that elusive bottle, while the Martini Bar whips up some of the city’s most originally inebriating concoctions (passion fruit is the house specialty).

      Meanwhile, the pan-European menu, with Asia Pacific accents, will take your taste buds on a journey of gastronomy through Italy, France, Tasmania, New Zealand and the US. Their signature dish, the two-story “Red Sky Surf & Turf Tower”, starring Alaskan king crab, giant Andaman shrimps, wagyu rib eye and grilled Maine lobster, is a work of sculptural art where style marries savory substance (a motif carried off with aplomb throughout the different bars and restaurants).

      To be fair, Bangkok’s glitzy hotels and high-rises have sprouted a number of crowning achievements in recent years, such as Sirocco on the State Tower as well as the Vertigo Grill and Moon Bar top hatting the Banyan Tree. All are sublime choices for a rendezvous with friends, rekindling old flames or sparking new romances, though visitors should be aware that the prices are as stratospheric as the views.

      Opening Times Daily 6 pm–1 am

      Address 999/99 Rama I Road, 55th floor of the Centara Grand

      Getting There Short walk from Siam Square Skytrain Station

      Contact +66 (0)2 100 1234

      Admission Fee Drinks and dishes are as steeply priced as the view

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