Phra Kru Ba Neua Chai on horseback at his monastery.

Phra Kru Ba Neua Chai

In our occasional series on Player Characters in Real Life: Phra Kru Ba Neua Chai. He is a former Muay Thai boxer and soldier that is now a cowboy Buddhist monk.

He was a famous Muay Thai boxer from the age of 14 to 29, winning all but 3 of his hundreds of fights. While preparing for the world champion fight, he chose to become a monk. He left his wife and children to go and meditate on a rock for 15 days, covered in bees who would sting him if he stopped meditating. Now a monk, he spent four days getting his body covered in tatoos to remind him of his duties.

Seeing the strife caused by the drug trade in the Golden Triangle region of Thailand, he founded the Golden Horse Monastery. He takes in orphans of the drug trade as novices and they train in Muay Thai boxing, horse care, and argriculture.

The drug lords hate him and have tried to kill him multiple times. Once, two assassins poked their guns through the gaps in his hut, but both weapons jammed. Another time, he was severely poisoned, but used meditation to purge the poison from his body.

Only two foreigners have trained with him. One quit after only 5 days. The other was an ex-Navy Seal who previously trained at the Shaoling Temple. He spent two months training with Kru Ba. Afterwards, he said “Studying with Kru Ba is the hardest thing I have ever done.”