4 Activities Stay Fit While in Thailand 🥊

We all love to take a holiday every once in a while, though we don’t always love the effect it can have on our waistlines. When travelling, you almost inevitably step outside of your typical fitness and nutrition routine, and it can be very easy to gain a few excess pounds without meaning to.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! In fact, finding ways to exercise while on a trip abroad can make that trip all the more interesting. This is particularly true at some more exotic and adventurous destinations, which is why below I’m covering some activities that can keep you fit during a once-in-a-lifetime getaway to Thailand.

Attend a Muay Thai Class

Muay Thai is a very popular fighting sport from Thailand that is known for incorporating “eight limbs” (both knees, elbows, fists, and shins). With all of these muscle groups being involved in a Muay Thai match, the activity can rightly be considered the ultimate full-body workout. Naturally, as a tourist and presumably a first-time fighter, you probably won’t want to throw yourself into the ring just yet in any competitive sense. Luckily, however, Thailand’s big cities have a lot of gyms that offer classes specifically for beginners and travellers who are looking to get a little taste of this intense sport. One spot that’s suitable for first-timers is Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, where there’s a regular schedule of classes for fighters of all levels.

Go Scuba Diving or Snorkelling

Swimming is always an exceptional workout, and carries the added benefit of being fairly relaxing in the moment (even if you might be sore the next day). Conveniently, Thailand is one of the best places in the world for water-based activities like snorkelling and scuba diving. If you’re not the strongest swimmer you may want to stick with snorkelling, where you often stick to relatively shallow water, you can wear a lifejacket, and it’s easy to come up for air when you need to. For this, I’d recommend heading to Mu Koh Surin Marine National Park, where you’ll be sure to see interesting, beautiful things underwater even in the shallows.

On the other hand, scuba diving is a somewhat more intensive activity that is on many people’s bucket lists. If it’s on yours, or if you’re just interested in a more involved water-based activity, Thailand has some incredible places to do it. The island of Koh Phi Phi certainly ranks among the world’s best scuba spots, and also happens to make a great luxury beach getaway. So really, you can get the best of both worlds, exercising as you explore the sea and relaxing on world-class beaches when you’re done diving.

Join a Football Match

Football remains without a doubt the most popular sport in the world, and in Thailand its popularity rivals and perhaps even exceeds that of Muay Thai. Even though the national football scene hasn’t joined the ranks of the world’s elite, many Thais are consistently glued to the sport through international action. It’s typically easy enough to follow the world’s biggest leagues from Thailand, and for the past decade or so 188bet has given fans a means of staying involved through betting as well. Various promotions and easy deposit options have in fact made betting popular enough that it’s fair to say it has enhanced national interest in football abroad.

As much as Thais love the sport by this point, you’d best believe they spend a lot of time playing it as well. With a little bit of research and effort, you can find a casual match to get in on so as to enjoy some more exercise. In bigger cities the gym organisations may direct you to a match, and elsewhere you may well have luck simply asking around.

Take a Bicycle Tour

Instead of taking a taxi or tuk tuk between sightseeing destinations, you can also enjoy some exercise by riding a bike! This is an easy alternative that is not only affordable but will help you burn off some of the calories from the street food you’ll probably be enjoying throughout your time in the country.

You do the typical bike tour of a city that lasts about half a day, or you can opt to cover more area if you’re up for a challenge. Tour companies like Spice Roads offer expeditions ranging in length from 4 to 11 days and taking you through gorgeous parts of the country you might not see otherwise.

Hopefully through these suggestions you can begin to see not just how you can stay fit while travelling, but how at a destination like Thailand, an active approach can actually enhance your trip.