US soldiers get Muay Thai lessons at Cobra Gold military exercises
Thailand's famous boxer Sombat Banchamek, widely known as Buakaw, gave Muay Thai lessons to U.S. soldiers in Lopburi on Sunday (March 5) participating in the Cobra Gold joint military drills.
The Muay Thai lesson is part of the 42nd annual Cobra Gold, a war games event attended by soldiers from 30 countries.
“From my side, I’m an ambassador of Muay Thai (Thai boxing), our national art. I think it helps a lot. For every U.S. soldier who came to train in Cobra Gold, they also want to exchange and study our culture regarding Muay Thai, which is our national art,” said Buakaw.
At the end of the event, Buakaw tested both U.S. and Thai soldiers' strengths.
Adam Castle, a U.S. soldier told Reuters: “These are skills that are very applicable to our job."
"It’s been really great to learn some skills that we can take back and use in the future,” he added.
With a total of 7,394 personnel from 30 countries in this year’s full-scale training, the joint military exercises kicked off on Tuesday (February 28) and will held until March 10.
