A week in rural Chiang Mai at a working Muay Thai camp
There are limits to what can be transmitted remotely. Some things require presence — physical proximity, shared effort, shared meals, the kind of conversation that only happens when there is nowhere else to be and nothing else to do.
The Forge is a week, or two, at Buakaw Village — the professional camp of Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek, set on rural land in the Mae Taeng sub-district of Chiang Mai, about 50km north of the city, near Sri Lanna National Park. It is a working gym where fighters in the Banchamek stable prepare for their next fight. Far from the city. No night life, no large crowds. The real thing.
You book directly with the camp and pay them directly for accommodation, training, and meals — approximately USD 65 per day. The Forge fee covers my presence and what happens around the margins of the training: the walks, the meals, the conversations.
I am not a guide or a coach there. The camp handles all of that, and does it with more authority than I could bring. I am someone who understands why you came, available for walks, meals, conversation, or silence. A companion on the edge of the experience, not a manager of it.
Muay Thai has a long and storied history — an upright art, no ground work, beginning on the battlefield and gradually becoming Thailand's national martial art. It is unique among martial arts in having no belt grading system. Fighters are known only by their reputation in the ring. That egalitarian approach shows in the gym. As a complete beginner, you train with the same coaches who train world champions. You would never know it unless you were told.
Muay Thai suits the bearing of a man who wants to stand tall and engage with what life throws at him. That is the point of being there — not the technique, but the disposition it cultivates.
Prior experience is not required. Willingness is.
The days follow the camp's structure — training in the morning, rest in the heat of the day, training again in the late afternoon. The margins are where most of what matters occurs: the walks before breakfast, the meals, the evenings with nowhere to be.
A week is where things begin to open up rather than conclude. Two weeks if you need it and can take the time.
2026: 19 May – 22 June, or 14 July – 17 August
2027: 11 May – 14 June, or 20 July – 23 August
Maximum 12 in each group. First come, first served.
$950 per week — my fee, separate from the camp's charges of approximately $65 per day.