#1 in Ubon

After a long hiatus from the internet (i spent most of the last week in the middle of a ricefield, penned in by torrential rain), i am ready to post again. Last Saturday, I hopped on a bus to Ubon Ratchatani, or Ubon, to pay a visit to an American professor, Dr. Peter Vail, who has done extensive work with Muay Thai fighters in the past.

Vail is currently doing linguistic research among the ethnically diverse populations of Isaan (straddling the Lao and Cambodian borders) whose political status remains hazy more than 2 decades following regional demographic-shifting conflicts. The Khmer, Suai, Lao, and Guay ethnolinguistic groups are all well represented in the Muay Thai world, even if their status as Thai citizens remains a persistent question. I'm content with getting down as much Thai/Lao as possible for now.

I arrived in Ubon in the rain, a theme that would persist throughout the week. Motoring across the sprawling city, I had the oportunity to visit several muay thai camps that each offered a different view of the life of a muay thai fighter. With two helpful guides named Pooky and Boy, students at Ubonratchatani University, we set out from the university area (15 km outside of the city) on a daily basis to conduct our survey. Although we visited a half dozen camps, two in particular grabbed my attention.