Why should you go there and how do you do it right?

Thapae Boxing Stadium is Chiang Mai's centrally located Muay Thai arena, just minutes from Thapae Gate and the Old City guesthouses. This makes it the ideal place for a Muay Thai fight night in Northern Thailand. Simply head there after dinner, buy a ticket, and you're good to go! The lineup features young talents from the north, experienced local fighters, and international athletes from regional training camps. Gyms in Chiang Mai use these events to give their students their first competitive experience, so there's a good chance you'll witness someone's first fight while the whole team shouts instructions from the sidelines.

The evenings feature eight to ten fights, starting with the youngest boxers and culminating in the main event, complete with the Wai Khru ritual and traditional live music. Compared to the arenas in Bangkok, the atmosphere is intimate – just a few hundred seats around a single ring – and it's precisely this proximity that makes it so charming. You can hear the instructions, the punches, and the conversations in the corners between rounds.