Different paths, leading to the same calling.
Koh Yao Naga was born from two very different journeys that somehow led to the same dream.
For Baow, Muay Thai began as a way out of poverty. Fighting gave him discipline, opportunity, and purpose. Today, after years in the ring and over a decade of coaching around the world, his greatest passion is no longer fighting, it's teaching.
For Eva, Muay Thai began as something entirely different: a journey back to strength, self-trust, and personal empowerment. Working in a mentally demanding career, training and immersion in a yearly fight camp became a rare space of presence, where the noise quieted and the body took over.
Before opening Koh Yao Naga, Baow coached professional fighters on the world-famous "Fitness Street" Soi Ta-iad in Phuket. It was there that Baow and Eva researched and experienced some of the best training environments Thailand has to offer, both for fitness and Muay Thai. Both of them loved the intensity, the quality of coaching, and the inspiring sports culture, but felt something was missing... Amid the noise and constant movement, they found themselves longing for slower mornings, ocean air, and the grounded feeling of island community.
Koh Yao Naga was born from that longing, a place where elite training and island life could finally coexist.
Not a factory gym.
Not a macho performance arena.
Not a place where ego dominates.
Instead, they dreamed of a boutique training experience where fighters, beginners, families, digital nomads, and curious first-timers could all feel equally welcome. Today, that dream is becoming reality.
And they couldn't be more proud of what Koh Yao Naga is becoming.
About Eva
Eva Vonk is the co-founder of Koh Yao Naga, which she created together with Baow, and the CEO and founding member of TALES Kollektiv, an international nonprofit focused on cultural and environmental storytelling. While Koh Yao Naga has become an important part of her life, Eva still divides her time between Thailand, Berlin, and wherever her work takes her.
Her professional background has, in fact, very little to do with Muay Thai. Eva studied cinema in the Netherlands before moving to Berlin, where she lived and worked for 14 years and eventually helped create TALES. Somewhere along the way, however, she discovered Muay Thai. What started as a yearly ritual became a refuge from work and everyday life, a source of joy, and the beginning of many meaningful friendships.
Falling in love with Koh Yao Noi, and eventually finding the opportunity to build a gym there, was never part of some long-held master plan. It arrived more by chance, timing and a little bit of kismet. What emerged was Koh Yao Naga: a second home where people can train, connect, recharge and hopefully experience some of the same sense of belonging that brought Eva back to Muay Thai year after year.
Eva also proudly holds an undefeated record of zero losses, helped considerably by the fact that she has never actually had a fight.
About Baow
Thanawut “Baow” Paosupab is the co-founder and head trainer of Koh Yao Naga. A former Muay Thai world champion, Kru Yai, and graduate in Physical Education, Baow has spent most of his life immersed in the sport, first as a fighter, then as a coach and teacher. Over the years, he has lived and worked in several countries, training people from many different cultures, backgrounds, ages, and levels of experience.
What defines Baow most, though, is how much he genuinely loves teaching. He has an ability to meet people exactly where they are. That might mean helping a seasoned fighter sharpen their technique, or making sure the mother who has been reluctantly dragged into a family group session leaves feeling stronger, more confident, and happy she joined.
For Baow, Muay Thai is never just one thing. Sometimes the lesson is physical: balance, timing, strength, technique.
Sometimes it is mental: patience, discipline, courage, focus. His role is to understand what each person needs and to make sure they take something meaningful away from the training.
That care and attentiveness are at the heart of Koh Yao Naga. Together with Eva, Baow created a place where serious training and island life can exist side by side, and where everyone, from complete beginners to experienced fighters, is treated with the same generosity, respect, and commitment.
Want a shortcut to Baow’s heart? Talk football. (He'll forgive you if you call it soccer)
