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this is a thread on the Muay Thai legend Parinya Charoenphol aka Nong Toom. a celebrated transgender boxing champion who revitalised the world’s interest in Muay Thai after years of the sport experiencing cultural & financial decay in the 90s
Nong Toom was born in 1981 to a poor family in rural Thailand. like the hundreds of thousands of under 10 years old aged “boys” in Thailand she attended a Muay Thai school paid for with the loans her parents took out.
the now retired champion started competing against boys under 16 earning small incomes at the age of 12 proving herself to be efficient at overpowering her opponents she quickly started competing regionally.
it was during her teenage years competing did Nong Toom started wearing makeup to matches, bare in mind she was competing as an openly trans girl during a time where cisgender female fighters were hardly heard of.
it only took her 4 professional years to climb the regional ranks & by the age of 16 she had pocketed herself a national match at Bangkok’s Lumpini Boxing Stadium, the world’s Muay Thai centre.
her opponent (a boxer who’s name the people do not mention due to his corrupt morals during their match) was a much larger, muscular cis male. he mocked her repeatedly before the fight with motivation from the massive crowd.
the 1998 match was watched by the entire country as a result of Nong Toom being the first “Kathoey” (derogatory term for transgender thai women) Muay Thai boxer to set foot in the stadium with almost all bets against Nong Toom to lose the fight.
nevertheless her first national match was a victory with Nong Toom aggressively defeating her opponent & then proceeding to give him the iconic “kiss” to say “fuck you”. the country & media went into a frenzy & it was in that moment that she had changed history.
Nong Toom’s first national win didn’t stop there. She continued competing against both native & international male fighters winning 20 out of her 22 matches during her transition, even after she had just received breast implants. (excuse the irritating wm misgendering her here)
The Champion was most loved for her Wai Khru pre-fight ceremonial dance where she incorporated the traditional style w her own feminine touch. (she pretended to put on makeup & comb her hair not just to establish pride but it also had the purpose of rly irritating her opponent)
i’m gonna pause coz errrr. do you realise how utterly CUNT that is???
during her prime Nong Toom had transitioned & her body was much thinner but she was still so overpoweringly skilled & tactically clever that her bigger male opponents would seek to kick her in the breasts knowing she had just had operation with the ref allowing it (
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she faced many obstacles during her professional years despite bringing in hundreds of millions of revenues for different thai & international organisations per season. Toom was also majorly underpaid & was heavily scrutinised & unfairly monitored by referees t/o her career.
though with all the hardships she’s faced, her legacy & impact on Muay Thai is immeasurable with many current greats like Sangmanee, Superlek, Buakaw etc crediting her for raising the bars, competitiveness & name of Muay Thai.
Nong Toom’s legacy & immediate impact was so huge that an award winning movie called Beautiful Boxer was made about her. Soon after the movie’s release in 2003 she juggled being an ambassador for LGBT people, actress & model.
she’s still currently advocating for trans people’s rights to participate in various sports, succeeding in lifting multiple bans against trans athletes in Thailand. Her retirement from Muay Thai now involves her doing occasional symbolic matches & teaching future gens the sport.
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