Speaker 1:

[inaudible]

The Thai national sport, Muay Thai. It's violent, vicious and very much a male domain. Kickboxing might be a patriotic requirement for one half of the population, but such behaviour has long been unthinkable for women.

This is the sort of demure accomplishment expected of Thailand's young ladies and [inaudible]. But this young lady is rebelling. And she has the full support of her mom.

Not [inaudible] this family is a boxing fanatic, but she was never allowed to fight in the ring herself, so she turned to training on the fringes.

[foreign language]

[inaudible] fighter here now is her youngest daughter, and a mother of two herself, [Issimar].

[foreign language]

Since they were allowed into the ring a year ago, women have been flocking to the national sport. Most men are complaining. In fact, the bedding scene here has never been [inaudible].

Still, the women are doing better than the men on one score. They're so popular, they're earning twice as much as them.

Issimar is just getting home from her day job as a receptionist. She started at 6 am, but she's got a fight tonight at 10, and it will earn her 10 times as much. And what's her recipe for stamina? Punch, of course, made from lemonade and egg yolk.

[foreign language]

On the other side of Bangkok, Issimar's competitor has arrived at the boxing hotel from her village in the north. At 15, [Ludtao] is half her opponent's age and smaller. But her trainer says she lands a wicked upper cut and she's determined.

[foreign language]

Young Ludtao is fighting not only a feminist cause, but a financial one as well. She's boxing to earn enough money to become a doctor. In the other camp, another concoction. [Laong] is frying up salty dried squid and Chinese sausage for her daughter. But her family's getting nervous about their youthful opponent.

[foreign language]

But being an outsider in a big city in unnerving, and Ludtao knows that many other young country girls have come to grief in Bangkok. Once inside the boxing stadium, the tension starts to rise. There are some preliminary matters, but they're just the norm. Nothing to get too excited about.

[inaudible]'s smell of linseed oil is overpowering. Ludtao and Issimar face each other for the first time. It's a cautious start. Issimar's experience gives her an edge over the school girl. Certainly she's the [inaudible] favourite, and her form has one of the sport's biggest betters leaping with excitement.

[foreign language]

But Ludtao has decided it's not over yet. Then suddenly the final bell and it's victory for the upcountry school girl.

[foreign language]

For the loser, disappointment but no broken bones. It's mostly her pride that's been hurt.

[foreign language]

For Ludtao, a career in the ring? No. She'll hang up her gloves when she becomes a doctor in the new feminist Thailand.

[foreign language]