American teen gets Buakaw in his corner after Muay Thai dare goes viral
Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek may have just landed the biggest challenge of his storied career so far – from a 13-year-old American boy.
Reed Harrington, a 7th grader who lives in the US, recently posted an Instagram message promising to follow the advice of the most-liked comment if he reached his milestone of followers.
“Okay. When I hit 200,000 followers, I do whatever the top comment said on the video and post it," the teenager said in a September 29 video posted from his reed_harrington23 account.
The top comment, which broke the Instagram record with over 2.57 million likes, came from user fiven9nekid: “Fly to small town in Thailand, get accepted by their people, learn the language, train Muay Thai for a year and half, fight in a tournament, win the tournament, return to the USA and join the UFC, stay in shape & go undefeated in your weight class, retire and do an interview saying this comment was the reason you fought so hard.”
The comment caught the attention of former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij, who tagged Buakaw and also Muay Thai film star Tony Jaa, saying, “I'm sure these two gentlemen will be happy to help.”
Buakaw was quick to get back to the American teen:
“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."
Reed’s post has also drawn support from fellow influencers like Kush Papi, a Chicago-based comedian with two million followers on Instagram. He commented, “I’ll pay for the Thailand ticket.”
Just in case Kush Papi doesn’t come up with the money, Harrington has launched a GoFundMe page titled “Trip to Thailand for me and my dad”. The page had racked up total donations of US$7,679 as of press time on Tuesday.
However, with Buakaw and the Thai tourism authority now involved, Harrington and his father may find themselves handed free travel and accommodation in Thailand.
And judging by the numerous fitness challenges that Harrington posts on Instagram, with Buakaw in his corner he has a fighting chance of making a career in Muay Thai.
