About Us - Our Story

The story of Muay Thai Fever begins long before the gym opened its doors. It begins in 1994, when Derry first came to Thailand looking for adventure and answers.

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At that time, Derry had not long left the British Army. He was already deeply involved in martial arts and had spent years training, competing, and testing himself. He was the European 72kg Tae Kwon Do champion, a 4th Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and a 7th Dan black belt in kickboxing.

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This was a different era. MMA had not yet been introduced to the world in the way we know it today. There was no internet, no YouTube, no online fight libraries, and no easy way to study different styles from the other side of the world. But inside the martial arts community, people were talking. One name kept coming up again and again: Muay Thai.

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There was a growing belief that Thailand’s fighting art was something special. It was hard, practical, dangerous, and brutally effective. For Derry, that was enough. He wanted to see it for himself.

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What was supposed to be a six-week holiday quickly turned into something very different. Thailand was no longer just a place to visit. The trip became a six-month boot camp, and the beginning of a passion for Muay Thai that would continue for the next 30 years.

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During that first period in Chiang Mai, Derry became part of the early foreign fighter scene. He was the first fighter for Lanna / Kietbusaba Gym and the first ever foreign fighter to fight at Kawila Army Stadium in Chiang Mai.

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At the time, he could not have known where that first trip would eventually lead. He had come to Thailand looking for adventure and to discover Muay Thai. What he found was a sport, a culture, and a way of life that would shape the rest of his future.

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The next five years saw Derry fully commit to the life of a nak muay.

He lived in the gym, trained twice a day, and fought as often as possible. This was not a part-time interest or a short adventure anymore. Muay Thai had become his daily life. The rhythm was simple but demanding: train, eat, rest, train again, and prepare for the next fight.

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During those years, Derry travelled between different gyms, learning from as many trainers and fighters as he could. He trained at respected camps including Meenayothin, Sor Khamsing, and Burklerk Gym, gaining experience from some of the best Muay Thai environments in Thailand.

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The highlight of his fighting career came in 1999, when he was ranked number four in the world at 72kg and fought in a world title eliminator at Rangsit Stadium in Bangkok. It was the peak of a long journey that had started with curiosity and grown into a serious professional fighting career.

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By the end of his elite fighting years, Derry had completed 50 professional stadium Muay Thai fights. Although he would still take lower-level fights later in life, even fighting up until the age of 48, his main career as a professional stadium fighter had reached its natural end.

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After retiring from serious competition, Derry wanted to stay close to the sport that had shaped him. He had also started to gain formal recognition within Muay Thai, including Professional Instructor certification with the World Muay Thai Council, IFMA 11th Khan Amateur Coach certification, and later Ministry of Education,

 

Department of Skills Development Muay Thai Instructor Level 1 certification.

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His next goal was to open a Muay Thai gym in Chiang Mai.

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In 2000, he did exactly that. With Kru Nai as his head coach, Derry opened his first gym in San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai, under the name Fah Muang Neua.

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From the beginning, it was not just a business. It was built as a community project, working closely with a Buddhist temple and the prison service. The aim was to use Muay Thai as a positive force, helping to rehabilitate Thai teenagers who had become involved with motorcycle gangs, drugs, and trouble on the streets.

For Derry, the project was also the beginning of an important working relationship with Kru Nai. As head coach, Kru Nai quickly showed not only his ability as a Muay Thai trainer, but also his integrity as a person. His coaching was serious, disciplined, and effective, but it was his character that left the strongest impression.

 

The project itself was short-lived, but it taught everyone involved many valuable lessons. It showed how difficult community work can be, but also how powerful Muay Thai can be when it is used for more than fighting.

 

Most importantly, it confirmed something that would matter many years later: Derry had met and worked with a good man in Kru Nai.

 

For the next 20 years, Derry stayed closely involved in Muay Thai.

 

Although his serious fight career was over, his interest in the sport never faded. He spent long periods of time in Chiang Mai, Lampang, and across Northern Thailand, trying to learn as much as he could about coaching Muay Thai and understanding the sport beyond his own experience as a fighter.

 

He also took coaching jobs in the UK, including working as a Muay Thai coach with Nottingham Trent University. For a short time, he also held an advisory role with the UK Muay Thai Federation. But even while working in the UK, his connection to Northern Thailand remained strong.

 

Over time, Derry met and married Khun Nu.

 

At that time, Nu was the owner of a large sports complex in Lampang. The business included indoor football pitches and a large swimming pool, and it was an important local facility for sport and recreation.

 

Then Covid arrived, and like so many businesses across Thailand, Nu’s sports complex was hit hard. Sadly, the business was forced to close.

 

It was a difficult period, but it would also become part of the journey that eventually led Derry, Nu, and Kru Nai towards Muay Thai Fever.

 

The idea for Muay Thai Fever as a physical gym started to form when Derry was training at a small gym in Chiang Mai.

 

The gym was quiet and not very busy, and eventually it closed down. But the location had potential. It was already partly set up for Muay Thai, with a ring and some basic equipment, and it was based inside a sports complex with football pitches. To Derry, it looked like an opportunity.

 

By this time, Derry had already been running a Muay Thai information website and social media pages called Muay Thai Fever for many years. The platform was well known within the Muay Thai community and had grown to more than half a million followers on Facebook alone. It had become a serious online community of people interested in Muay Thai, Thailand, fighters, gyms, and the culture around the sport.

 

Derry believed that, with his Muay Thai knowledge, contacts, and active Muay Thai Fever online community, the gym had a real chance. Nu also brought valuable business experience from the sports and leisure sector, having previously owned and managed a large sports complex in Lampang. Together, they felt they had enough experience, energy, and belief to try.

 

The budget was limited, but the opportunity was there. Derry and Nu signed a lease and rented the premises.

 

The next step was to find the right coach. They advertised for a Muay Thai trainer, and then something unexpected happened. Kru Nai, who Derry had reconnected with on Facebook but had not seen in person for 20 years, applied for the job.

 

For Derry, there was no hesitation. He already knew Kru Nai’s character, his coaching ability, and his integrity from their time together at Fah Muang Neua. Kru Nai was instantly employed as head coach.

 

After more than two decades, the three main characters in the story — Derry, Nu, and Kru Nai — had come together. Muay Thai Fever was no longer only an online community. It was ready to become a real gym.

 

The first few months were the hardest.

 

When Muay Thai Fever first opened as a physical gym, there were hardly any customers. The start was simple and modest: four punch bags, one coach, a small weights bench, two sets of pads, and one boxing ring.

 

But slowly, the word began to spread. People started to hear that there was a new Muay Thai gym in Chiang Mai with a genuinely excellent coach. Kru Nai’s reputation grew quickly, and more students began to come through the door.

 

After about four months, Derry and Nu felt the gym was ready for another coach. Once again, good luck played its part. A contact in the UK, who had trained extensively at Sor Thanikul Gym, sent a message to say that one of the great legends of Muay Thai’s Golden Era was in Northern Thailand and looking for work.

 

The contact recommended Muay Thai Fever to him, and before long, the gym had another remarkable addition: Muay Thai hero and double Lumpinee Stadium champion Boonlai Sor Thanikul.

 

Ajarn Boonlai soon became part of the furniture at Muay Thai Fever. For Derry, Nu, and the students, it has been a real privilege to see such a respected former champion sharing his knowledge and coaching inside the gym.

 

From those humble beginnings, the gym grew rapidly. In less than three years, Muay Thai Fever expanded from four punch bags to 21 punch bags, from one coach to seven coaches, from one boxing ring to two boxing rings, and later added an MMA cage, a recovery room with an ice bath, and a fully equipped fitness suite with weight machines and free weights.

 

The online growth was just as dramatic. The gym’s Facebook page grew from around 3,000 followers to 85,000 followers in the first 18 months.

 

Since opening, Muay Thai Fever has achieved a great deal. The gym has won around 85% of its fights and produced two local stadium champions. Its fighters have won at Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok, Max Muay Thai in Pattaya, and all the local stadiums in Chiang Mai.

 

The gym has also welcomed students from more than 100 different countries and worked with local communities and organisations, including the Thai Army Special Forces and Agape Children’s Home.

 

Today, the coaching team includes champions of Northern Thailand, Lumpinee Stadium, Max Muay Thai, and a PABA Asian boxing champion.

 

What started with a limited budget, a few bags, and a belief in the right people has grown into one of Chiang Mai’s most active and recognisable Muay Thai gyms.

 

But the real story of Muay Thai Fever is not only about equipment, followers, fight records, or facilities. It is about three people whose paths crossed at different times and eventually came together at the right moment.

 

Derry brought the fighting experience, the Muay Thai knowledge, and the online community. Khun Nu brought the business experience, resilience, and understanding of the sports and leisure industry. Kru Nai brought the coaching quality, discipline, and integrity that gave the gym its foundation.

 

Together, they built Muay Thai Fever from very little — and turned it into a gym with history, character, and a genuine connection to the Muay Thai community in Chiang Mai.

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