Mauy Thai fighters at a press conference at Khlong Phai Prison for 'Prison Fight', an event promoting a series of bouts between prisoners and Western fighters. Mauy Thai has a long association with prisons and prisoners. Even its origin myths involve the incarcerated. It is said that in 1774 the Burmese king Hsinbyushin organised a series of fights between Thai prisoners, taken during the conquest of the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya seven years earlier, and Burmese champions. More recently the Thai prison system has embraced Mauy Thai as a form of rehabilitation. In 2012 an Estonian entrepreneur arranged bouts between Thai prisoners and Western Mauy Thai fighters under the banner 'Prison Fight'. For the prisoners a victory held the potential of time off their sentence. While the western fighters fought for a small purse and personal ambition.