Paper short abstract:

The lecture will highlight the commercial, legal and moral aspects of the Thai "Prison Fight" project.

Paper long abstract:

The director of the infamous Klong Pai prison near Bangkok, Aree Chaleaysuk, negotiated with the state that he could organise Muay Thai tournaments in his prison, where prisoners could fight against foreign professional athletes to reduce their sentence. Piling up victories, several inmates have managed to leave the prison as free men. Of course, there is martial arts training in prisons in other countries as well, but actual reduction in prison sentences by winning a martial arts tournament is something that you would expect from a Stallone film from the 80s rather than in reality.

Despite the increasing professionalisation under the brand name "Prison Fight", information on this topic is scarce to this day, especially since 2017.

"Prison Fight" is not only a legal specialty, but also a moral one. Although only prisoners who generally show good behaviour are allowed to compete, the felonies which have led to their imprisonment are irrelevant, according to "Prison Fight" officials.

Since the inmates never fight against each other in order not to fuel clashes between the inmates themselves, foreign volunteers are recruited as opponents.

However, despite the undoubtedly unique challenge to be pitted against brutal criminals in an exotic prison, the foreign fighters are also facing a huge moral dilemma: Will their defeat enable a murderer or rapist to return to society and commit crimes again? Or do the foreigners feel sorry for the prisoners, who share prison cells less than five square metres in size with four other inmates, maybe for decades?