A long time ago, many battles was held in Thailand. Fighting for the land was the cause; With these wars a system of self defense arrived "Krabi Krabong".

The Ayutthaya period was one of the more violent periods in the history of Thailand. Training in Krabi-Krabong was one of the requisites for the Thai army as well as for civilians. Around 1767 A.D., the Burmese army burned and destroyed the whole city, they took a lot of prisoners, but a few soldiers escaped. Among them was the General Phraya Taksin. He relocated the camp to the West side of the Chao Phraya river(Thonburi). A few months later the General trained more soldiers and pushed back the Burmese troops in a very ferocious battle. The General won the battle against the Burmese and pushed them back. He decided to stay at the new location.. Where you can find now the Buddhai Swan temple.

Right now in Thailand when somebody talks about Krabi-Krabong, this comes to their minds "Buddhai Swan Sword Fighting Institute". Literally meaning "The sky of the Brave and free Buddha". The BuddhaiSwan Institute is located about 1 hour from Bangkok.

In the Institute you can study from the beginning to the end the whole system of Krabi-Krabong, weapon by weapon and also you can study old Muay Thai that was used in battle a long time ago.

The classes are very hard, also with the heat and the mosquito's it gets worse, but that is the price that you need to pay to learn the genuine and authentic art of Siam.

The Buddhai Swan Institute offers courses in Krabi-Krabong to Thai people as well as to foreigners. The army and the police of Thailand also study and train there.

The founder of the Buddhai Swan was the Grand Master Samai Mesaman of Ayutthaya. In 1998 he passed away, leaving two of his sons in charge of the school; Ajarn Virayut and Ajarn Sila.
Ajarn Virayut is doing seminars in Europe.
Ajarn Sila is doing seminars in Asia and he will come to the USA in August, he will be teaching seminars all around the country, and he will stay in America for one full year.
Ajarn Sila has over 35 students and seven instructors just in the USA that have been studying with him back in Thailand.

I agree that there are a few more institutions at the moment of Krabi-Krabong in Thailand, but in my whole year that I spend in Thailand this was the one that people knew more.