Takraw: “Volleyball” For The Feet

Some of you are probably familiar with sepak takraw, a very popular sport in Asia but also played in many other countries. For those who aren’t, it’s somewhat like volleyball – played in Asia with a woven rattan ball like the ones pictured above that you send back and forth over the net using your feet, head, chest or knees… but not your hands or arms, as in volleyball. It’s acrobatic, to say the least.

For me the most amazing thing is their sense of balance: kicking their feet over their heads - completely airborne - and not landing on the ground. Well… not often, anyway.

Although sepak takraw (known simply as takraw in Thailand) is a formal sport with competition courts and regulations it’s played far more informally in rural areas, much as soccer/football is. I think the more casual the game is, the more fun it is to watch – but the acrobatic moves of professional players can indeed be incredible. It’s worth searching out on YouTube or on an official site online.

My good friend David had suggested Benjasiri Park in Bangkok as a fine place to watch people play takraw in the late afternoons, and indeed it is. The park is right next to the Emporium mall complex on Sukhumvit Road, by the Phrom Pong BTS station. There isn’t much going on there in the heat of mid-day, but late afternoon until the park closes at 8pm are fine spectator times for takraw and basketball both.

I can’t seem to locate photos taken of the casual games there, but I’ll post them when I do. For now, here’s a clip of a practice session taken near Udonthani, in far Northern Isaan. I liked the mis-matched shoes on the guy in red. Now that’s stretching a baht!