In Pattaya, where neon signs cast gaudy shadows and tourists frolic by day, another side of the city awakens with the dawn. As most visitors sleep off the previous night’s revelry, a solitary figure jogs along the beachfront, his trained eyes taking in more than just the morning surf.
Nakrob Fairtex, whose fists have written painful sonnets on opponents’ faces, has discovered that compassion packs a mightier wallop than any right cross. The fourth-ranked fighter in ONE Championship’s Muay Thai flyweight division has been delivering knockout blows of kindness to Pattaya’s forgotten souls.
Last week Nakrob’s Facebook page blossomed with images not of victory poses or training regimens, but of the fighter hunched over steaming pots, preparing meal boxes with the same precise hands that tape his own wrists before battle. Then came photos of the boxer kneeling beside sidewalk sleepers, offering sustenance instead of suffering.
The story behind these acts is as straightforward as the man himself. During his morning conditioning runs, when the city’s glamour temporarily recedes, Nakrob regularly encountered the human flotsam washed aside by Thailand’s economic tide.
“I decided to make meal boxes because I feel great sympathy for them,” Nakrob said. “When I go running and see homeless people, I wonder if they have anything to eat. Since I enjoy cooking, it seemed natural.”
There’s a certain poetry to a fighter — whose profession is inflicting controlled damage — finding balance through acts of unexpected kindness. Like a boxer who knows the value of patience, Nakrob isn’t treating this as a one-time exhibition match.
“I’ve been doing this for about a week now,” he said, “and I intend to continue distributing food at least once a week. It’s a small gesture of encouragement to help them keep fighting.”
Fighting. There’s that word again, though in this context it carries none of the violence associated with Nakrob’s day job. The fighter recognizes that the homeless are engaged in their own daily bout with circumstances far more merciless than any opponent inside a regulated ring.
Meanwhile, Nakrob himself prepares for a considerably more traditional contest. He’s in training to defend his ranking against Jaosuayai Mor Krungthepthonburi at ONE Fight Night 32 at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. The event begins at 8:00 AM Saturday, June 7, in Bangkok.
It would be easy to dismiss Nakrob’s charitable efforts as manufactured publicity before a big fight. But that would misunderstand the peculiar code that governs many Thai fighters, for whom discipline and respect are not just training principles but a philosophy extending beyond the canvas.
As Nakrob serves meals to the dispossessed with the same commitment he brings to his training, one is reminded that in the sweet science of compassion, there are no losers — only those who step into the ring and those who choose to watch from outside.