Get To Know Dangkongfa Banchamek

Dangkongfa Banchamek vs. Allycia Hellen (current ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World champion)

Rising female Muay Thai fighter Dangkongfah Banchamek is a student of Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek, who dreams of becoming a world-famous female Muay Thai World Champion. She is making her first appearance at the event ONE On Prime Video 2 – an event which will be broadcast live in the US during prime time. Dangkongfa is facing “The Striking Queen” Anissa Meksen.

Before you get to know Dangkongfa for her fighting skills in the circle, FIGHT SPORTS takes a look at the life of the 20 year old Nak Muay (Thai boxer).

Dangkongfah’s real name is Piamsuk Permkhunthod and she is nicknamed “Ploy”. She’s born in the Dan Khun Thot district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, and has one brother and one sister. Raised in a middle-class family with father Thawee Permkhunthod, a professional fighter (Muay Thai) known as “Kongfah Lukthapfa”, who also has a small Muay Thai camp set up in the area of ​​the house called “Student Kongfah Camp” while her mother works as a farmer.

From an early age Dangkongfah saw her brother and sister kicking the bags in the camp, so she became accustomed to and connected with Muay Thai. From playing around with kicks and punches with her older siblings as a child, her father began to see a potential in his youngest daughter. Suffering from asthma, her father thought that Muay Thai training could help his daughter become stronger, so he got Dangkongfah to practice Muay Thai at the early age of six.

One day when her father was bring her siblings to fight at a local temple, there was a girl of the same size as Dangkongfah who asked for a fight. Her father asked her if she wanted to fight – she accepted.
Dangkongfa defeated her opponent beautifully and was awarded THB 250.

Dangkongfah was motivated by the victory and decided to follow in her father’s footsteps, and she took up training Muay Thai as a career. Even though her father had warned her that it isn’t easy to become a Muay Thai fighter and that she could get hurt, Dangkongfah wasn’t worried. She saw Muay Thai as her shot at earning money and build a reputation as a future female fighter. So Dangkongfah started to attend the local events at the temples in her neighborhood to gain experience, but also with the ambition to be able to secure a better life for her mum and dad.

At the time female Muay Thai fighting wasn’t very popular in Thailand, and Dangkongfah had difficulties getting fights. But she never gave up. Wherever there was a fight, be it in a small village, a big stage, at the village level, district level or the provincial level, Dangkongfah went and fought, gaining more and more experience.

When she was 18 she moved to a bigger city, and the press started to take notice. In 2020 she won the 115-pound (52,16 kg) Thailand Championship belt , and the WBC Muay Thai World Championship in 2021.

Dangkongfah then got the opportunity to join the Thai national team and go to the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam. She joined the Banchamek Gym to prepare for the event together with the rest of the team. Buakaw Banchamek was the team captain, and Dangkongfah kicked her way through to a bronze medal, returning to Thailand with her pride intact.

When she trained at Banchamek Gym during the preparations for the SEA Games, the camp owner noticed her and her tenacity, and eventually Dangkongfah was offered to stay.
She recently signed with ONE Championship, which is another dream of hers: to become an international female Muay Thai superstar.