Working in Thailand Series: How to be a Sports Commentator in Thailand

English-language Muay Thai commentator Matt Lucas explains how he landed a ringside seat at Pattaya’s MAX stadium, and why a job that pays a few thousand baht a show means nearly every commentator keeps a day job.

The following post is a chapter from our book, Working in Thailand: How to Ditch the Desk, Board the Flight, and Land the Job, written by Patrick Taylor and Karsten Aichholz.

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Key Takeaways

English-language Muay Thai commentary is a tiny niche, and even Matt Lucas thinks few people will land a job like his.
A commentator earns roughly THB2,000 to THB9,000 per show, so most keep a day job.
Matt stacked commentary, freelance journalism and gym liaison work to reach about THB40,000 a month.
Credibility in the Muay Thai community comes first, and writing about the sport is the usual way to build it.
Gym liaison jobs are harder to get and need spoken Thai plus good relationships with gym owners.
Matt got his commentary seat through a recommendation from a commentator he had interviewed years earlier.
You need a Thai work permit before starting any paid work here, ringside commentary included.

The Sports Journalist

All quotes by Matt Lucas, TV commentator.

If asked to imagine a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) ring, the first image that comes to mind is probably something akin to the cheesy 1980s Jean-Claude Van Damme action flick Kickboxer—a rustic concrete square beneath a leaky tin roof in some rural backwater, the sounds of flesh pounding flesh and grunting accompanied by the squawks of chickens and the breeze through palms.

And indeed, in many parts of Thailand they’d be correct.

However, they do things bigger in Pattaya.

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