The Unforgiving Kicks Part VI

Story of the Phantom Tiger - a murder case unsolved

The Phantom Tiger in his prime, 1953.

The story on muaythai's great kickers cannot be deemed complete without a portrayal of Sakchai Nakpayak...

The most fascinating kicker in the first decade of RDN was without question Sakchai Nakpayak. He was lightning-fast and fierce with his variety foot combinations, with many high-kick knockouts to his credit.

A young boy (born of a Chinese father) from a humble background from Cholburi, he started campaigning in Bangkok in 1947, never lost a bout until he dropped a points decision to Pathom Yodjaipetch, student to the great guru Tanki Yontarakit.

Pathom was a kicker, and his training daily, on the command of Tanki, was 700 kicks at the bag!

Sakchai's career profile.

The rematch in 1949 had Sakchai showing top form to kayo his old rival in round Three with a high kick. Then came the rubber match, on 23 June, 1950, in the final of the 10-Phantom Tiger(143-pound) tournament.

A fearless Sakchai landed a high kick in the opening round to end the debate. There came of age of one great legend of our time ! Yet the design of destiny often has the most intriguing or mystical stories installed…to thrill us all.

The world saw Sakchai rise to the top of the boxing circuit, beating the kingdom’s best proponents in ring combat. That included Surachai, Plian, Prasit, the perennial Sukh and Somsri, the much favoured top contender in the 160-pound title quest.  

A page on the great ring achievement of Sakchai, a hero died young.

Weighing only 153 pounds, he outkicked Somsri (158) in heroic style to become RDN’s first ever middleweight champion, 2 August, 1953.

Exactly three months and twelve days later, the aspiring young champion (26) was killed, by a knife-stab in the back, when ambushed in front of a pleasure joint at Bangkapi, allegedly due to a dispute between the house (House of Khanita) and a customer over a demand for the service of the escort-lover of Sakchai who worked there. 

 

News report in the Thai Chinese media reporting Sakchai's death on 14 November, 1953.

None of the three assailants, one being a policeman, got the justice deserved, and the one, who had been convicted after trial, was soon discharged on insufficient evidence.

The case, which smacked of a complicated plot involving illicit gambling in boxing (Sakchai had refused to be coerced to lose his last match on 1 November, and ended up losing 1/3 of his purse for some lame reason), his tacit charge against the RDN system, clandestine police backing, colored by his open romance with the ignoble hostess (Sunee), the Venus Urania of Bangkapi, does fuel suspicions of a conspiracy somewhere…

Story on the legendary kicker in Thai.

Further convolution of the truth was caused by wild rumors, circulating after his death, of a red-hot affair with the daughter of a high police official that backfired on the boxer. The love story with the escort was said to be a decoy, devised to obscure the true love of the high-society girl that lay behind…

The episode of the murder of Sakchai has remained the biggest mystery and most intriguing love story in Thailand’s boxing history.