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Western boxers enjoy using their learned Thai to reach further into the local culture, broadening the limited horizons that are for those who are merely passing through. The communities that inhabit the mountainous regions of the north are far away from the publicised beaches of the south and the bright lights of Bangkok.
The Thai boxers of the camp are from this Northern region where Muay Thai can be seen at its grass-roots stage. The boxing newspapers are read from cover to cover and five days of televised Muay Thai a week provide views of the competition and the heights to which to aspire.
Camcorder tapes of their fights are reviewed for the umpteenth time and met with enthusiastic approval. The relevant cameraman is held up to critical acclaim for capturing three successive brow-splitting elbows.
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