Inside the Thai prison where murderers can fight for their freedom. Gangster who stabbed teenager in the head is released six years early after winning Muay Thai match against a converted Buddhist from Kansas
- Noy Khaopan was freed early from Thailand’s Khao Prik Prison for winning match
- He beat US citizen Cody Moberly in a bloody five round fight for his freedom
- Khaopan was jailed for 11 years for stabbing a teenager in the head in 2010
- The gangster, who is in his twenties, said he was drunk and ‘lost control’
- He took part in Prison Fight, a prison scheme to fight in Muay Thai matches for early release
–Jailed murderers can fight for their freedom in bloody Muay Thai matches as part of a prison scheme in Thailand.
Gangster Noy Khaopan was released six years early from Khao Prik Prison in northern Thailand after winning his fight against a Buddhist convert from Kansas who now lives in the country as a professional fighter.
Khaopan, a heavily tattooed father-of-one, was serving an 11-year sentence for stabbing a teenage boy in the head in 2010 when the prison introduced Prison Fight.
It allows inmates to compete in Muay Thai matches against competitive fighters to win their freedom. If they lose, they return to jail and the pro-fighter goes home with prize money.
Khaopan won his match against Cody Moberly, who moved to Thailand from Kansas after falling in love with the sport by watching it in videos, and is now back on the streets.
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Gangster Noy Khaopan was released six years early from Khao Prik Prison in northern Thailand after winning a Muay Thai match. Exhilarating trailer for Showtime documentary Prison Fighter
Now a Buddhist convert, he said he’d gone in to their match with the murderer’s victim ‘on his shoulders’.
A similar fight-for-freedom scheme spawned the careers of two prolific Thai fighters, one of whom competed for the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Another, who was jailed for drug possession, is considered Thailand’s most famous fighter.
A Showtime documentary about Khaopan and Moberly’s fight lays bare the dilemma at its heart – whether murderers, or inmates with violent convictions, should be able to take part.
Khaopan was serving an 11 year sentence for murder at the prison when it introduced the scheme, allowing him to train behind bars and travel outside for fights
He described the brutality inside the prison where others had succumb to beatings from guards
The New York Post, which was shown a preview of the documentary which will air on Friday, reports how the parents of Khaopan’s victim reacted to the prospect he may be freed through violence.
‘They did not [initially] know that Noy was part of the fight-to-get-out program.
‘When we told them, the father wanted to kill Noy. The mother was inconsolably in pain. They don’t think it’s fair for [the program to apply to] a crime like this one,’ filmmaker Micah Brown said.
They said the scheme, though ‘complicated’ in its ethics, was quintessentially Thai.
Khaopan defeated US citizen Cody Moberly who moved to Thailand in pursuit of a Muay Thai career after falling in love with the sport
The pair squared off in five round match at a stadium in Bangkok. Khaopan was declared the winner
‘Forgiveness is part of the culture. It’s quite prominent here,’ Muay Thai commentator Rob Cox said.
After being freed from prison, Khaopan returned to work with his parents on a modest chicken farm.
‘I don’t need forgiveness from everyone in this world. If my parents forgive me I am satisfied,’ he said.
Earlier in the film he admitted to killing Anirut Vanichyaron, a high school student who was celebrating the end of the term, in 2010.
His parents believe he as attacked because he was with a pretty girl.
‘I lost control. I was drunk. I killed him. I have to accept the truth,’ Khaopan said of murdering him.
