When you visit a Thai boxing (Muay Thai) match either in a respectable Bangkok's stadium or in a shady place full with smoking and drinking tourists (mostly consisting of newly married couples in their honey-moon, when I was there), gamblers and ladyboy-waiters, located in Chiang Mai in the middle of warehouses, you might feel very, very far from the place of ethics and moral knowledge. But it might be a mistaken and superficial amorality you are seeing on the blood-covered hands and faces.. If you would like to dig deeper, you would find that in every fight there are at least two sanctuaries where goodness and highly moral principles are cultivated, and these sanctuaries are the bodies of the boxers.
Wall picture "Scene from the court life" -- Prince Ransit palace (17th century),
shows a Muay Thai match, accompanied by the music orchestra
shows a Muay Thai match, accompanied by the music orchestra
If we read books, which not only identify the basic forms of Thai boxing but also cover the philosophy of this martial art, we can notice that there are 3 basic features of character each Thai boxer has to develop and cherish: modesty, patience, and, most important, respect.
Respect
This is one of the features, which are visible immediately, also during the fight. At first, both boxers often smile to each other. And I do not mean contemptuous or mocking smirking, as they really have sincere smiles. They also "shake hands" (I mean - all the gestures and friendly interactions they try to do with their boxing gloves on them) and are very friendly to the team and coach of the competitor.
As Jerry Heines and Amorndet Ranjanthuek in their book "Explosive Muay Thai" write:
Respect
This is one of the features, which are visible immediately, also during the fight. At first, both boxers often smile to each other. And I do not mean contemptuous or mocking smirking, as they really have sincere smiles. They also "shake hands" (I mean - all the gestures and friendly interactions they try to do with their boxing gloves on them) and are very friendly to the team and coach of the competitor.
As Jerry Heines and Amorndet Ranjanthuek in their book "Explosive Muay Thai" write:
... the real battle is within each of us; our opponent serves merely to help us conquer ourselves. For this reason, respect to our opponents and training partners is key to our success in Muay Thai, no matter the outcome of the match.
Respect is paid not only to one's opponent, but also to teachers, parents and things, which fighters hold sacred and pray for their safety and victory. This respect should not be only internal, but it is also expressed in the external aesthetic ritual, the so-called "Wai Khru Ram Muay". The ritual usually differs for each fighter, however, this video on YouTube can provide you the general idea how it looks like:
Modesty
Modesty is a very important feature in order to grow and to develop one's (fighting) skills. The idea is the following - only if you recognize that your technique and skills are not as good as other's, only then you can see the need to improve and also the aim in front of you, which you can reach (with patience and specific attitude only, of course). Modesty also means an ability to ask for help from more advanced fighters, for example.
Patience
Patience is the must skill to be cultivated if one wants to reach certain level of mastery. But this is only one of potential benefits of patience. Maybe even more important is to be patient in your reactions towards external stressors and "irritants".
As Thomas M. Steinfatt writes in his book "Working at the Bar: Sex Work and Health Communication in Thailand":
... violence is quite out of character in Thai society ... Smiling is equated with patience, and those who are patient are greatly admired in Thai culture. One Thai term for patience is jai yen (or cool heart). One may lose the respect of others through loss of temper and displays of frustration. Thais believe in hiding their negative feelings, and public displays of anger are un-Thai.
Irritability and loss of patience also leads to irrational actions during the fight. In the above mentioned book "Explosive Muay Thai" it is noted that
Being patient makes one less irritable. When irritated, one is prone to irrational actions - which we typically regret later.
Besides the respect, modesty and patience, there are also other qualities, which Thai boxers have to cultivate in them, for example, trustworthiness, politeness, on the one hand, and inward-directed elements, such as self-respect and confidence.
Important thing is to remember that one should not be a Thai boxer to develop and cultivate these features. Either one is a fighter or a peacemaker, or someone in-between, cultivation of these qualities internally and using them externally could make the life of people around so much better and nicer/safer-to-live place.