Muay Thai is part of the cultural heritage of the Thai people.  Their histories are intertwined.  But their historical development is difficult to discern clearly.  When the Burmese sacked the Thai capital of Ayutthaya, the archives of Thai history were, for the most part, lost.  Along with them were lost the historical accounts of the development of Muay Thai.  What little we do know comes primarily from the writings of Burmese, Cambodian, and early European visitors to Thailand, as well as chronicles from the Lanna Kingdom in Chiang Mai.  All these sources agree that Muay Thai originated to be used on the battlefield in person-to-person combat.  As to the specific origins, however, these sources are unclear and often contradict each other. 

  There are, however, two main theories.  The first suggests that the art of Muay Thai developed as the Thai people migrated from China to what is now Thailand.  It would have been an essential tool in the migrants’ struggle for land.  The second theory contends that the Thai people were already settled in Thailand and developed Muay Thai as a means of self defense against invasion.  Whichever account is correct, what is indisputable is that Muay Thai was an essential part of Thai culture from its very beginnings.