“It’s the kind of fighting that shakes your heart,” Sakbantoon Sutiprapa told Zach Hoffman, a senior majoring in journalism. Sutiprapa teaches the martial art of Muay Thai, which is the national sport of Thailand. “Muay Thai is a gentlemanly sport,” Sutiprapa says. “We might be fighting in the ring, but outside the ring we are friends.
“It’s about taking care of your body. I take care of my body very well. I’m going to box until my body fails me.”
Here, Sakbantoon Sutiprapa stretches after winning a Muay Thai fight the night before. He is thirty-four years old and must constantly work to compete with younger fighters.
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Zach Hoffman
Even at the age of eight, Muay Thai fighters are considered professional boxers. Sutiprapa trains children as young as seven in the traditional art of Muay Thai.
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Zach Hoffman
Sutiprapa delivers a powerful kick. Because there are several ways to strike, Muay Thai is sometimes called “The Art of the Eight Limbs.”
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Zach Hoffman
Sutiprapa rests in the corner of the ring between rounds.
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Nacho Corbella
“I’m doing it to wash away the sins that have accumulated from my relatives and family, so that when they die they can go to heaven,” Juttipong Wongpet told Nacho Corbella, a master’s student in the School of Journalism. Wongpet became a Buddhist monk for fifteen days. Corbella says that Buddhist men in Thailand can choose to be ordained for any amount of time, from a few weeks to a lifetime. Corbella’s story is titled Robed in Merit.
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Nacho Corbella
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Nacho Corbella
“Being a monk is like being a book,” Wongpet says. “If anyone cares to open it and read, they would benefit so much from what they read and learn.”
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Nacho Corbella
Wongpet tinkers with the engine on a piece of yard equipment.
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Nacho Corbella
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Nacho Corbella
“My name was Juttipong Wongpet. Now, after the ordination, I am known as Pharakamon. It means ‘one who has great perserverance.’”
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Phil Daquila
“I tried to live on the mainland, but I couldn’t,” a man from a fishing village on the tiny island of Ko Panyee told Phil Daquila, a master’s student in the School of Journalism. “Though our roofs are practically attached to each other, we are free to do whatever we want.” There are around three hundred homes on Ko Panyee, and about twenty-six hundred residents. Daquila’s project is titled Anchored in Faith.
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Phil Daquila
In a heavily Buddhist nation, almost all of Ko Panyee’s inhabitants are Muslim.
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Phil Daquila
Ko Panyee’s tsunami evacuation route goes straight up a limestone karst.
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Selket Guzman
“It remembers you by your smell and by your tone of voice,” Surin Jaitrong told Selket Guzman, who graduated from Carolina in 2007 with a degree in journalism. Jaitrong says his elephant “will know instantly if a foreigner is a good person.” Guzman’s story is titled My Elephant, My Brother. Here, Jaitrong bathes his elephant Plai Gaew, something he does every day.
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Selket Guzman
“This is what I have to do,” Jaitrong said. “You let everything go. Your mind becomes clear. No adjusting is needed.”
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Selket Guzman
“Elephants stand out, look regal and intelligent,” Jaitrong said. “They are enchanted creatures. They are our family and we must protect our family always.”
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Kate Napier
“I get everything I need, whether it’s a little or a lot,” Habbideen Wahala told Kate Napier, a senior majoring in journalism. Wahala fishes, raises shellfish, and grows hydroponic vegetables. Napier’s story is titled The Sabai Life. Napier says “sabai” is a Thai word with no simple English translation. It describes happy, comfortable living. “There are times when it’s exhausting and hard,” Wahala says. “But I’m not the kind of person to stress or think too much about this way of life.”
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Kate Napier
Wahala rebuilt some of his shellfish and fish farms after the tsunami, but now he spends more time farming and less time fishing.
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Kate Napier
A young Muslim student. Wahala teaches Arabic to children in his village. “If you are born a Muslim,” he said, “it is a crucial part of your everyday life.”
In 2008, three and a half years after the tsunami that battered Southeast Asia, Carolina journalism students set out to document the lives and culture of the people of southern Thailand. Here are five of the stories they found. Hear and see more at: