When I heard the event named “Thailand’s Strongest Man” I thought about big burly men with bulging muscles and big scary voices. When my editor asked me to go, I really didn’t know what to think. So, I read up the schedule of the event before I went to try to familiarise myself with each competition – but it didn’t help much, because what on earth is a Log Press or a Bus Pull? When I asked my editor, she just shrugged her shoulders and told me to go and have fun and an adventure!
So I found myself at 9 am on the event’s opening day and I saw many men wearing athletes T-shirts…but they did not look overly muscly or scary like my imagination. In fact, they were so cute and kind! They gave me a lot of information such as the rules and how to play each competition. They all come from different countries like Thailand, Australia and Hong Kong etc. Most of them said this event is their first competition. Some of them had practiced only 1-2 months, some of them would like to test their potential and some of them said that they didn’t think much of themselves, but were surprised that they could do it.
The atmosphere was very lively. It was full of cheer from the audiences and surprise from the athletes. Although the weather was pretty hot, there was a large audience — actually some audiences said it was ‘hot’ because the athletes…a few women, and men, were fanning themselves rather excitedly. Most of the audiences were tourists, because this event was held at Tha Pae Gate, and some of them were the athlete’s friends or family.
The most surprising thing in this event was that there were so many women who joined in this event! I watched women pulling a pick up truck within 13 seconds and was amazed!
Most people think this event is suitable for the sports fanatics only, but as a young intern at Citylife, studying at Mae Jo University, I never thought it would captivate me this much. In fact, I was rather inspired. Come to Tha Pae Gate tomorrow (24/11/18) and cheer the athletes on as they compete in: Rice Sack Hold, Car Deadlift and Atlas Stones (whatever they are!). If you would like further information, you can visit the Facebook fan page: Moobaa Strongman Gym.
