A 12-year-old girl who has battled it out in the muay Thai ring for almost a year to earn a meagre income to support herself and her grandmother has become the youngest fighter to win the National Women's Muay Thai Championship title.

Following a string of earlier wins, Phannipha Chaithes won the title for the 34-kg class on January 14 in a bout in Uttaradit province and won her latest victory on Sunday in Ayutthaya.

Her twin sister, Sawinee, has fought in seven bouts but is yet to win a title.

Both Phannipha and Sawinee, better known by their ring names of Taphao Kaew and Taphao Thong, said they were brought into boxing by the desire to feed their grandmother and two young cousins after their parents separated and moved to Bangkok to look for work.

"Boxing gives us bruises and pains but we need the money to feed the family and we will need even more for our higher education. I like boxing and I'll keep fighting," said Phannipha.

In order to maintain their grades at school, the girls start their two-hour practice at 5am in Sit Ban Khroo camp, Phitsanulok province. They spend another four hours training at 5pm every evening when they get back from school.

The camp in Nern Maprang district, near the girls' old home, opened almost a year ago and has 19 children, including four boys, receiving boxing training.

Coach Phornthip Somnate said the sisters were natural boxers and had a bright future ahead of them if they could get sufficient support. "Both of them are talented and equipped with a good boxing instinct. We all believe that they have very bright future if they get the backing they need in the long run," she said.

Pathum Phimsuk, acting director of Ban Nong Khon Prachasan, where both girls study, said the twins were good students, and that their boxing had not harmed their studies or their grades.

"They know how to properly manage their time between their study and training with minimal suggestion from either their teachers or their boxing coach," he added. He said the school regularly provided them with equipment whenever they needed it.

Mongkolchawaraj

Tungmungmee

The Nation