Found at Tha Pae Gate, Chiang Mai, Thailand, this flyer advertises “Big Fights” at an “International Boxing Stadium” which, if one visits the website, seems to be more like a transformed bar space. Muay Thai, also known as “the Art of Eight Limbs,” is a combat boxing sport and Thailand’s national sport. Three languages are used on the flyer: English for the majority of the text and a little Thai and Chinese at top and bottom. The prominence of English speaks to the tourism industry and the effect globalization has had on Chiang Mai and Thailand in general; money making opportunities (and scams) are geared towards the large flow of Western and Chinese tourists. Also advertised are “Free Wifi Inside” and a “Free Welcome Drink.” “Cheap” and “VIP” tickets correspond to a price difference of 200 Thai Bhat, or roughly six U.S. dollars, playing on Thai cultural values of “high-so” and “low-so,” or “high society” and “low society” distinctions of race and class.
Sean Morrissey ’16 catalogued this item and created an online mini-exhibition as part of a Weaving the Streets project at St. Lawrence University. Funding support was provided by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the University entitled Crossing Boundaries: Re-Envisioning the Humanities in the 21st Century.
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