Female Thai boxers conquer tradition

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of fans filled the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, famous for its Thai boxing, or Muay Thai. But it wasn't just admiration for the fighters that drew crowds, like this fight in the summer of 2019. On good days, more than a million dollars in betting profits could change hands — and that in a country where gambling is largely illegal.

Now Lumpinee has reopened — with almost revolutionary changes. The stadium's owner, the Royal Thai Army, says it has turned the forced break into an opportunity. Major General Ronnawut Ruangsawat told news agency AFP: "The arena has been completely renovated, betting is now prohibited and women are allowed to fight."

"We want to clean up the sport and we hope that other venues in Thailand will follow," the major general continued. He said betting "led to too much cheating with players sometimes being paid to lose the fight." Industry experts, however, are skeptical. "[People] will continue to bet online — gambling is part of the Muay Thai DNA," warned Jade Sirisompan of the World Muay Thai Organization

The second change seems more far-reaching: For years, women were forbidden to even touch the ring. There was a superstition that menstruating bodies could destroy the magic that is supposed to protect the ring. Other venues have already allowed female fighters, but the Lumpinee Stadium — as legendary for Thai boxing as London's Wembley Stadium is for football — held back.

"We are so proud to have been the first women to fight here. We've been fighting for more equality for years," 21-year-old Kullanat Ornok told AFP. But just as important to her as the political aspect is the economic one: "I hadn't fought in almost a year. I used to earn a hundred dollars a match, then nothing for months to support my family."

Twenty-seven-year-old Australian Celest Muriel Hansen (seen here having blood dabbed from her forehead after the fight) lost her battle against Kullanat Ornok, but she was still satisfied. "We have come such a very long way. This was so much more then just a fight," she said.