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26 year old Chalernpol Sawansuk trains before a Mauy Thai bout. Sawansuk is serving a ten year sentence for drugs related offences. He was offered the chance to to participate in 'Prison Fight' a Mauy Thai competition at Khlong Phai prison. 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.
Patrick Brown/Panos Pictures /Felix Features 27 Jul 2013