In most countries, boxing lies directly in the realm of sport, but in Thailand, muay Thai, or Thai boxing, infuses elements of art and ritual. The sport is a mixture of conventional boxing and eastern martial arts such as karate and tae kwon do. Opponents can use their fists, elbows, knees, and feet to batter their opponent in just about any part of the body where the opportunity avails itself.
Watching the sport, you will find it hard to believe that it could ever be more violent but it used to be. Up until the 1930s, the rules and regulations were few, and serious injuries were common among fighters, who also employed biting, scratching, strangling, and spitting in their repertoire. (The sport was banned in the 1920s and revived in the 1930s under new rules.)
Before the match begins, strident music erupts from a small orchestra in the stadium. The fighters enter the ring wearing a colored headband and an 
armband, which are regarded as sacred ornaments that offer blessing and protection. They kneel and perform a quick prayer, then -with the orchestra still playing- move into a mesmerizing boxing dance around the ring called the rom muay. The dance, performed with heavily exaggerated movements and in slow motion, is traditionally the participants’ way of paying respect to the trainer and the boxing school to which they belong.
After the rom muay, the headband is removed, but the armband, which contains a small Buddha amulet, is worn throughout the fight. The orchestra keeps on playing throughout the five three-minute rounds, with often frenzied crescendos rising and falling in tune with the action in the ring.
There are an estimated 60,000 muay Thai fighters in Thailand. Fights are held regularly at Lumphini Boxing Stadium and Ratchadamneon Stadiums in Bangkok and in towns and villages around the country.
Thai Boxing (Muay Thai)
Traditional Dance & Drama
Khon 
This classical theater finds large numbers of exclusively male dancers.
Traditionally, khon was played out by hundreds of dancers in front of royalty and their guests; today, because of the expense, numbers have been reduced. Khon relates tales from the Thai epic, the Ramakien, with performers adorned in a dazzling array of costumes, head dresses, and masks representing four types of characters male humans, female humans, monkeys, and demons. Performers mime the dialogue provided by narrators and choruses, and the performance is backed by the Thai pipat orchestra. Truncated but still dazzling versions of khon can be seen at Bangkok's National Theater.
Li-khe
This is the most popular form of live theater, performed at temple fairs, village festivals, and other venues in towns and villages throughout Thailand. It is good-time theater, incorporating classical and folk music, wild costumes, slapstick comedy, melodrama, and sexual innuendo. Often it is used as political satire and cutting social commentary. Traveling troupes of entertainers put on the shows, and entire villages gather for a night of boisterous fun. Over the centuries li-khe has remained hugely popular and has translated well onto the television screen. Li-khe sitcoms are now a staple on daytime Thai television.
The southern version of li-khe is known as the ma-norah. It is loosely based on the Ramakien, where, in this case, Prince Suthon travels in search of the kidnapped Manhora, a half-woman, half-bird princess. Narrators relate the story of the prince's travails in comic rhyming prose.
