Striking Portraits of Young Muay Thai Boxers from Bangkok Slums

The boys are subjected to grueling workouts in oppressive heat; their bodies endure brutal punishment; and they are trained to be ferocious and merciless. By the time they are in their early twenties, many of them will have compromised their physical and mental well being as a result of years of excessive training and countless savage bouts. All proceeds from their winning purses are used to maintain their squalid training camp and provide for meager sustenance.

I visited the camp every day for nearly a month before taking any photographs. As time passed, it became increasingly apparent these boys who reside at Thailand’s margins are at once admired and unwanted; savage and forlorn; innocent and jaded; cultivated and commodified. I was inspired to create this series to illuminate these contradictions.—Noah David Bau