Muay Thai trainer opens restaurant to make up for losses during pandemic

Caitlin AshworthPublished: 17:56, 04 February 2021| Updated: 17:56, 04 February 2021

176 1 minute read

Muay Thai trainer opens restaurant to make up for losses during pandemic

PHOTO: Nation Thailand

A Muay Thai trainer opened up a restaurant in Bangkok after his Thai boxing camp lost more than 80% of its revenue, adding to business downfalls brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The trainer, Charoenthong Khunmanee, says the number of trainees also drastically dropped. The gym went from an average of 20 to 30 trainees to only 5 or 6.

To make an income, Charoenthong now sells curries, rice dishes and noodles at a restaurant in the Meng Chai area near the Muay Thai gym. And business seems to be doing well. Olympic boxer Somjit Jongjohor, who won the gold medal at 2008 Beijing games for boxing in the flyweight division, ate at the restaurant as well as Suebsak Phunsueb, who is a professional sepak takraw player, a Southeast Asian sport known as kick volleyball.

Caitlin Ashworth

Caitlin Ashworth is a writer from the United States who has lived in Thailand since 2018. She graduated from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies in 2016. She was a reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette In Massachusetts. She also interned at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia and Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida.