Fighting for Redemption

PATTAYA, Thailand — It was a peaceful moment for Chalermpol Sawadsuk, who has had very few peaceful moments during his life of violence and crime. His girlfriend, Saranya Meesuk, leaned on his tattooed chest after his long day of training in Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, and Chalermpol turned reflective.

“Could you ever imagine that such a bad person as me would have a chance to have a nice family one day,” Chalermpol, 30, asked in his native Thai. “I think love is rehabilitation. I get up and find breakfast waiting for me each morning. But I wonder even more what kind of woman would fall in love with a man like me.”

In his previous life, he hurt people for a living.

When he was 18, Chalermpol says he became an enforcer for an organized crime group in Bangkok, where he collected debts, ran drugs and even killed those he was ordered to kill.

At 23, Chalermpol was arrested and sentenced to 10 years for drug trafficking. While in Wainoomklang Prison, Chalermpol had time to think about his crimes and the trouble he caused others. After a year, he learned of a government program that rewarded inmates who trained and fought in organized Muay Thai bouts against other prisons.

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“When I was 8 years old my uncle taught me Muay Thai,” Chalermpol said. “I had some experience fighting inside the ring. I quit when I was about 15. I started to be unruly. I liked the feeling of being important to my friends, so I helped my friends to fight when they were in trouble.”

Focused once again, Chalermpol thrived in the ring, winning 19 times with 14 knockouts. Under the government-sanctioned program, he had seven years cut from his sentence for winning, and was featured in a recent Showtime documentary about the success of the program.

In his new life, Chalermpol Sawadsuk still hurts people for a living.

Given his early release, Chalermpol saw fighting as a viable way to leave his former life of crime behind. He claims a mutual love of Muay Thai is how he met Saranya, who has helped him move on from his dark past. The two moved to Pattaya, on the Gulf of Thailand, to get away from Bangkok. Once there, Chalermpol joined a new gym that specializes in a more international style of Muay Thai.

Before his latest bout, Chalermpol and Saranya went to a Buddhist temple to write a note to the recently deceased King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“I wrote to king Rama 9 to thank him,” he said. “Without his pardon I would not be here.”

Chalermpol sees Buddhism as a way to stay on a straight path. He says he can remember the faces of those he killed and how they pleaded for life, so he prays to Buddha every night.

“ You ask for your present life not to be harassed by your past karma,” he said.

Chalermpol knows he’s facing an uphill battle in learning a new fighting style. His younger teammates helped him recover from a workout with a contrast shower — alternating between very hot and very cold water.

“The training is getting tougher and harder after each practice,” he said.

Chalermpol traveled north to nearby Ayutthaya Park for his first fight since moving away from Bangkok. After a tentative first round, Chalermpol’s opponent, a taller Chinese fighter named Pui Yu Lim, took control of the fight and eventually knocked him down. Chalermpol lost by technical knockout, but his problems didn’t end there.

After the fight, Chalermpol was taken to an ambulance, where it became clear that he had broken his hand and one of his fingers. His friend Jae, a former Muay Thai fighter who Chalermpol met in prison, accompanied him to the hospital.

Back home with Saranya, Chalermpol was upbeat despite the loss. He’s been through worse.

“I didn’t expect the fight to end that way,” he said. “Sometimes I think about going back to being a hit man, but I choose to stop it because I don’t want to commit more sins. I already have too many.”