Thailand is now seeing a running boom, or shall we say, hobby jogging boom. It's part of the wider phenomenon of the rapidly growing running industry in Asia. Running is most popular among the burgeoning Thai middle class, but not so much among the working class.
10.5k races costing around $12-$15 are popping up all over the country, and they're affectionately called Mini-Marathons. It's become the latest craze in Thailand. 5k's or 3k's accompanying the 10.5k main runs are always called fun runs and don't have trophies, awards or times. They are usually dominated by beginning runners, women, and children.
Half marathons and full marathons are also popping up everywhere.
These road races can be found in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Songkhla, Phuket, Pattaya, and all the other major towns and cities of Thailand.
Thailand has a very unique running/jogging scene. Every 10.5k mini-marathon event is saturated with photographers who post photos of joggers smiling and posing. They post their photos on Facebook and will sell hi-res photos without watermarks if you pay several dollars. It's amazing how hardly anyone looks serious in the photos, even if the weather is brutally hot and humid. I guess it's part of their happy-go-lucky culture. It's also a cooperative, collective kind of culture where people don't really want to compete against each other very much or try really hard. Thus you can see how Thai culture is perfectly suited to having these hobby jogging mass participant runs.
Even in the brutally hot, humid weather with dew points that are regularly in the 73-77 F range, plenty of people still show up to run at those events. Start time is almost always at 6 am, although there are a few night runs too. It's also incredible how many of the joggers hardly even break a sweat in such conditions. Looks like smaller Southeast Asian bodies just deal with the heat and humidity a lot better.
Full marathons start at 3 am, sometimes even 2 am. Half marathons usually start at 4 am. This is because at 8 am, the sun starts heat up everything, and at 9 am it gets brutally hot. At 10 am, you are basically dead.
The climate is harsh year-round and is similar to that of Miami, or often even worse. Air pollution is a big problem, primarily due to open agricultural burning. Dangerous dogs roam the streets. It takes quite a lot of dedication to train in such conditions.
Online resources
Events are most commonly shared via Facebook. One such group is ChiangMai & Northern Runners.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/842948232392358/
There are some running companies too, such as Jog&Joy
and Teelakow
.
Results are usually posted on Sportstats
https://www.sportstats.asia/search-results.xhtml
, RaceResult
, or RunLah
Trophies, cash prizes, and the elite running scene
These races will give trophies to each age group, usually under-20, 20-29, 30-39. 40-49, and 50+, sorted by gender.
Bigger races have cash prizes and are frequented by Kenyans. There is a group of them living in Hat Yai, southern Thailand who make a hard living racing all over the country for cash prizes of usually $50-$300, and they make just enough to survive and send a little bit of cash back to Kenya. The top-tier Thai runners who are on the national team will often run at the local road races to earn cash prizes. Here is a documentary about Kenyan runners living and racing in Thailand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8l3PDIDEE
They sometimes even have to contend with the best elite runners in Thailand, who are on the national team and are now generally faster than the Kenyans.