26-10-2023 (BANGKOK) The inspiring journey of a Chinese woman who cycled 4,000 kilometers from her hometown in southern China to Thailand, all in pursuit of mastering Muay Thai, has taken the internet by storm.
Li Zhen-xiang, a resident of Mianyang city in China’s southwestern Sichuan province, shared her remarkable goal with Chinese media. She expressed her deep admiration for the Thai martial art and her burning desire to learn from none other than Muay Thai superstar Sombat “Buakaw” Banchamek.
Li’s grand plan involved meeting Buakaw at his boxing camp in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. From there, she intended to embark on a 700-kilometer cycling journey to Bangkok, where she would immerse herself in six months of Muay Thai training at a dedicated school. Her ambition included participating in real boxing matches, a challenge she anticipated five or six times.
In an interview with Chengdu Daily Star News, Li acknowledged the difficulties she anticipated on her unique adventure, such as weather-related challenges, language barriers, and the rigorous nature of Muay Thai training. She stated, “I am biking alone this time, and my destination is Thailand. Certainly, I will face difficulties and challenges due to the weather, language barrier, and tough training.”
Li’s extraordinary undertaking has not only captured the attention of her fellow Chinese but has also found a place among the top trends on the popular Chinese social media platform Weibo, where her story currently holds the third position.
On the other side of this unique Muay Thai saga, Buakaw’s Facebook page has extended a warm welcome to Li as she embarks on her journey. The post praised Li for her dedication and noted, “As fellow fans of Muay Thai, we should be proud that foreigners also admire our national martial art.”
This isn’t the first time Muay Thai has made headlines on social media. An American 7th grader named Reed Harrington recently posted an Instagram message in which he pledged to follow the advice given in the most-liked comment if he reached 200,000 followers. The top comment, which astonishingly amassed over 2.5 million likes, urged the teenager to “fly to a small town in Thailand, get accepted by their people, learn the language, train Muay Thai for a year and a half, fight in a tournament, win the tournament, return to the USA, join the UFC, stay in shape, and go undefeated in your weight class, retire, and do an interview saying this comment was the reason you fought so hard.”
Reed is now raising funds for air tickets to Thailand for himself and his father. Notably, this caught the attention of former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij, who tagged Buakaw and Muay Thai film star Tony Jaa in a social media post, suggesting they could provide assistance. Buakaw swiftly responded to Reed, saying, “Hello, I am Buakaw! Both myself and the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand extend a warm welcome and are prepared to assist you during your stay in Thailand. I will send you a direct message to discuss this further,” as he expressed his support for the aspiring young fighter.
