Fighter Fuel: What to Eat in Bangkok While Training at YOKKAO!
Food in Bangkok can be intimidating, but like everything else in life, you must keep an open mind to trying new things. If you are training at YOKKAO, then it could already be assumed that you are a total badass and you are the type of person who does not follow the herd, you are the person who leads it, and your food fuels it. Living in Bangkok requires you to make a few lifestyle changes, adjusting to the traffic, the heat, and the copious amounts of water that you will consume. The suggested serving size for water is 8 cups a day for an average human, but at YOKKAO you are far from an average human-you double or even triple your water intake.
YOKKAO has its own in-house production of water that has been tested and certified to be pure. It contains all of the essential minerals that is imperative for the fighters to drink. If you get thirsty and you are away from the gym you will be able to find water any time of day almost anywhere, it is almost impossible to walk for more than 5 minutes and not run into a 7/11 or a street vendor that can hydrate you. If you want to keep it safe while training at YOKKAO, there is a 24 hour diner down the street from the gym that goes by the infamous name of Foodland. The menu offers a wide selection.
You can get an “All American Breakfast” that includes a cup of coffee, 2 scrambled or fried eggs, sausage or bacon, orange or guava juice, and a side of toast; all for about 68-79 baht ($2.50). You will also find some classic Thai dishes there as well such as “Pad Thai”, “Fried Chicken Cashew Nut”, and “Fried Chicken and Rice”. The hours of operation and close proximity to the gym make eating their tasty food unavoidable. At YOKKAO, our fighters also dig into some Thai Favorites that is prepared by our house cook. The cook never gets bored and enjoys serving new and exciting dishes for every meal of the day. After training all of the fighters sit down together and eat together like a family. White rice, steamed vegetables, and pork are the staples and are eaten routinely.
If these food options do not satisfy your tastebuds, you are in luck and have no shortage of options in Bangkok. There is a mall that is a 10 minutes walk from the gym called Terminal 21 that serves almost every type of food you can think of, from Korean BBQ to American steak. Not finding a satisfying meal in Bangkok is impossible. A daily meal at YOKKAO emulates something similar to this. Daily Fighter Fuel: Breakfast- 2 hard boiled eggs from 7/11 for 10 baht ($0.35), 1 banana from the Fruit Cart Dude for 7 baht ($0.30) Lunch- Street food from Auntie Chicken for a cup of rice and 2 pounds of chicken for 35 baht ($1) Dinner- Terminal 21 Mall Cafeteria has plenty of options for 35 baht ($1) such as a large size ramen bowl with chicken, or steamed vegetables and shrimp, or pork pork pork and did I say pork? Dessert- Street Food Banana Cart has fresh grilled bananas dipped in coconut syrup for 20 baht ($0.60) Water- 70-120 baht ($2.50-4) Total cost $7-9 This is the diet that provides the fighters with the adequate energy to train rigorously 6 days a week.
Muay Thai is not just a workout that you get to knee and elbow, it's a lifestyle that requires serious discipline from the amount of hours of sleep to the food that you put in your body. If you are serious about Muay Thai then you will have no difficulty adjusting to this lifestyle. At an arms length, you are just 1 jab away from training next to the greatest fighters in the world at YOKKAO. Recipe for success is to have a strong appetite to learn, and at YOKKAO your stomach will be full.
