Gym Review: 13 Coins Muay Thai an MMA (with video tour)

I just got back from 13 Coins Gym up in Bangkok doing some Muay Thai and MMA.  I went up mainly to visit my friend Will "The Kill" Chope and ended up staying for 4 days at the camp to check it out.

The first thing I noticed about 13 Coins is that if you ask any Thai person they know of it not as a Muay Thai gym but as a chain of luxury restaurants and hotels.  The 13 Coins Gym happens to be a part of the 13 Coins Airport Resort which has a swimming pool, restaurant, and hotel rooms.

But what I love about 13 Coins is that the owner, Mr. Coke opened the gym not for profit but because he loves Muay Thai.  Even today, he sits through every single Muay Thai class and watches the students train.  The other cool thing is he has the restaurant staff bring out free iced tea during training, which is a refreshing delight.  What you'll end up loving about 13 Coins is Mr. Coke's generosity and all the little things that you get for free such as free ice water whenever you want, and even food, but more on that later.

Here's a Video Gym Tour of 13 Coins Gym in Bangkok:




13 Coins MMA Program -

Brandon Kesler, aka BK is a pro MMA fighter from America and is the head MMA Trainer at 13 coins.  Really cool guy and good training.  He brought along his BJJ rolling partner Bobby, a very high level purple belt who loves jiu-jitsu and loves to roll with anyone.  13 Coins even built an MMA Cage for training, it's square but works fine for training purposes.


13 Coins Muay Thai Program -

 I did a couple sessions of Muay Thai at 13 Coins and liked the style of teaching.  My favorite part of Muay Thai is the padwork and at 13 coins they leave it up to you to do your own warm up, stretches, and bagwork.  It's a relaxed, non-structured class.

13 Coins used to be known for having Muay Thai superstars such as Saenchai sor Kingstar training at the gym, but he is now at Sinbi Muay Thai in Phuket.  For me personally, I don't think it affects the training, and am not the type of guy who bases my training decisions on what celebrities are there or not.  However, the classes are pretty unstructured.


The Food at 13 Coins -

My favorite thing about training at 13 Coins was the food, especially the nightly dinners with Mr. Coke and the trainers.  Every night the students and staff have dinner together in the restaurant and it's a really nice family feel, plus the food is delicious.  For some of the long term students the dinner was free and included in their monthly costs but since I was just there for a few days I simply gave Mr. Coke 100 baht ($3.33US) a night which was definetely worth it.

The restaurant is based on the 13 Coins Restaurant in Seattle, USA where Mr. Coke worked at during his 9 year stay in America.  They serve excellent Thai and Western Food and breakfast is included with your training and accommodation package.  For breakfast you can basically order anything on the menu up to 100 baht and sign it to your room.

The only downside to the food at 13 coins is it's not cheap, and there are no restaurants within an easy walking distance from the gym to eat at.  I'd end up spending 150 baht for lunch everyday there, and since I often eat more than 3 meals a day, I'd go hungry waiting for lunch or dinner.  There are cheap Thai food stalls that have food for 30-50 baht but require you to take a taxi or a long walk.


The Accommodation -

The standard hotel rooms at 13 Coins are VERY nice, clean, brightly lit with a mini-fridge, hot showers, and discovery channel on cable TV.  You can stare a room with a friend with two twin beds to save some money.  Someone on MuayThailand mentioned the rooms were dark and dingy, the one I stayed in was bright, clean and nice.

I do not recommend the budget thai rooms to anyone.  I am used to staying in low cost rooms here in Thailand and the one here are not suitable for anyone but the poorest thai kids.  I stayed in these rooms for 3 nights and cannot recommend it to anyone.

For those on a budget, there are thai apartments down the road for 3,000-5,000 baht a month ($100US-$166)  They have Thai style squat toilets, if you can get used to that.

Prices at 13 Coins Gym -

All inclusive of MMA, Muay Thai Training, a Standard Hotel Room, and Breakfast - 30,000 baht a month which is $1,000US.  Prices for 1 week of all inclusive training costs 8,000 baht, which is $266US a week.

If you share a room with a friend it is a bit cheaper.  The prices at 13 Coins is a more expensive than other Muay Thai an MMA gyms but you also get a lot of nice things included for free that other gyms will happily charge you for.  Some things off the top of my head are, water, ice, glove rental, drinks, food, internet, daily newspaper, and other small things that are nice and pleasant to have.  And if you are nice to Mr. Coke you might even end up with free dinner or some extra days free.

For Pro Fighters and Long Term Guests - I recommend you email BK the MMA Coach at bkproductionsinc@hotmail.com   and see if he can work out a deal for you.  Tell him how long you plan on staying for, if you have had any pro fights, etc. You can tell him you got his info off of my blog, he knows who I am.

For everyone else, you can check out the 13 Coins Website at http://www.13coinsgym.com/


Overall: 

I only stayed at 13 Coins Gym for 4 days so it's hard to say for sure, but I liked my experience a lot and it was very different training in Bangkok than it is here in Phuket where there are a lot more westerners and less Thai's training at the gym.  My favorite moments were the nightly dinners, karaoke and even just waking up to read the day's newspaper over breakfast.  Bangkok also has a lot of normal Thai people, where in Phuket, 99% of the Thai girls you would meet work are "Bargirls."  We went to a local club called Route 66 at RCA and had a fantastic time with normal, university Thai guys and girls, something you would never find in Phuket.  Also Taxi's are metered in Bangkok, which is a cheap and easy way to get around, where in Phuket you need to rent a motorbike.

My short trip to 13 Coins in Bangkok was a vacation for me and I know that if I stayed longer I would discover all the little annoyances just like every city and very gym.  I've come to realize that every place has it's pros and cons, and you just gotta pick the place that you're happy at.  Or be like me and just be a gym whore and bounce around!

13 coins is the type of gym I would check out during my layover in Bangkok.  For me personally I don't think it would be somewhere I'd stay long term.


Warm Regards,

Johnny at My Fight Camp.