{"id":723,"date":"2026-10-11T09:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T09:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jikokaizenmuaythai.com\/?p=723"},"modified":"2026-10-11T09:35:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T09:35:25","slug":"2013-lanno-della-svolta-parte-2-ubon-ratchathani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jikokaizenmuaythai.com\/en\/2013-lanno-della-svolta-parte-2-ubon-ratchathani","title":{"rendered":"2013: The Turning Point \u2013 Part 2: Ubon Ratchathani"},"content":{"rendered":"

There wasn\u2019t much time to prepare for my departure. I had just over a month, and between working at school with primary school and kindergarten children and preparing the girls\u2019 end-of-year gymnastics performance, I barely had time to think. And yet, even those few moments were enough to hurt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the plan was to go to Thailand to train Muay Thai and practically train myself to death, the first thing I thought of doing was cutting my hair. And I mean really cutting it! Super short, almost like a boy\u2019s. Purely for practical reasons, nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know a lot of people change their hairstyle to symbolically mark a new beginning, but in my case, it had nothing to do with that. I was only thinking about the at least two showers a day waiting for me and how much time I would save by not having to comb and dry my hair every single time. Still, it ended up changing my appearance too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With my new haircut, I arrived in Bangkok. Alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bangkok, June 2013. Waiting for the bus to Ubon Ratchathani.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My brother Luca had taken me to Venice Airport. I think he understood better than many others what was going through my mind. A few tears fell during the flight. I kept thinking that this time I wouldn\u2019t be able to go and see my Beppe. Or rather, that my Beppe wasn\u2019t mine anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Bangkok Airport, I took the Airport Rail Link to Phaya Thai, then the BTS to Mo Chit. From there, I needed to take a taxi to the northern bus terminal, Mo Chit 2. There was no way I could walk there with my suitcase. That was where the bus to Ubon Ratchathani departed from, in northeastern Thailand, in the Isaan region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The terminal was very basic, chaotic, and almost everything was written in Thai. I had to ask for directions several times. Partly because the Thai people\u2019s English wasn\u2019t always great, and partly because mine still sucked back then!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, that bus terminal is much better organized and definitely more farang friendly<\/em>, but in 2013 it felt like another world to me. I remember all those Thai people stretched out across the seats at the station, sleeping while they waited for their buses. I was surrounded entirely by Thai people. Not another foreigner in sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It made me a little nervous, but at the same time, it reassured me. It was exactly what I was looking for. I was convinced I had made the right choice, and I couldn\u2019t wait for the adventure to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The road leading to K.R.S. Gym, Ubon Ratchathani, 2013.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I got on the bus, I was given a seat right at the front, just behind the windshield. I had plenty of legroom and a perfect view of the road. There weren\u2019t many passengers. I had eleven very comfortable hours on the bus ahead of me. Luckily, overnight!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One important thing to remember: back in 2013, I didn\u2019t have internet on my phone. No Google Maps, no translation apps, no way to look things up on the spot. All I had was a map and the address of the hotel I had booked for the first few nights, right next to the gym where I had decided to train: K.R.S. Gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gym was exactly what I wanted. Small, basic, no frills. A ring with uncovered ropes, a couple of heavy bags, although only one was actually usable: hard as concrete and half broken. No modern facilities, no classes packed with tourists. Just Muay Thai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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K.R.S. Gym, where I trained during my stay in Ubon Ratchathani.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The manager at the time was Sasaki, a very kind and friendly Japanese man. There was only one Thai trainer, whose name I unfortunately can\u2019t remember. And then there were the other students. Apart from me, they were all kids. A couple of teenagers and some younger children, both boys and girls. Three of them were from Laos, and their father brought them to the gym every day. One of the girls, the one with the shortest hair, was incredibly good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the young fighters at K.R.S. Gym.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We didn\u2019t talk much. At that time, I wasn\u2019t particularly in the mood for conversation anyway, and the language barrier made everything more complicated. But we trained together, and in the end, we didn\u2019t really need to talk much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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