Oley Kiatoneway

Prasit Thaikaew (Thai: ประสิทธิ์ ไทยแก้ว; born April 13, 1973) who goes by the ring name of Oley Kiatoneway (Thai: โอเล่ห์ เกียรติวันเวย์) is a retired Thai Muay Thai fighter and boxer. He was a Lumpinee Stadium champion during the golden era of Muay Thai and is currently a Muay Thai trainer at the Parunchai camp in his hometown of Thung Song. His students include Saen Parunchai and Chalam Parunchai, both of whom have beaten elite fighters.

Early life

Prasit Thaikaew was born on April 13, 1973 into a poor family living in tambon Pak Phraek in Thung Song district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Initially, Oley's family was disinterested in Muay Thai, so he secretly began training under Kru Wichai Plaikwuang in a small, ill-equipped gym near his home. Plaikwuang then gave him the ring name of Oley (โอเล่ห์). He would have his first fight at the age of 12 and won 100 baht.

Oley later joined the Thung Song branch of the elite Kiatbanchong Muay Thai gyms where he would become teammates with yodmuay (top fighters) such as Jaroensap, Jaroenthong, and Samranthong. The Kiatbanchong gyms were a brand of respected Muay Thai gyms owned by Chuchok Chukaewruang AKA Mai Muangkhon. Another Kiatbanchong branch named "International Muay Thai School" opened in Bangkok where Oley and his teammates would move to.

Oley began fighting near Bangkok at the age 15 in the Omnoi and Rangsit stadiums. After knocking out Chanoi Petchnaka and defeating Rao Rajanarit on points, he was scouted and hired by the #1 promoter of the time, Onesongchai, and began fighting primarily in the prestigious Lumpinee Stadium. In the late 1980s, he began to be matched up against elite competition such as "The Ring Genius" Namkabuan Nongkeepahuyuth and "The Powerful Rhino" Nuathoranee Thongraja. His dominant victory in his first fight against Namkabuan resulted in the Thai media nicknaming him "Payaknoi" (Little Tiger).

Fighting style

Oley was nicknamed "The Black Pearl of Andaman," a Thai colloquialism for extremely rare gems in reference to the fact that there were few fighters in the Thai circuit who had a similar style as his. Oley was not a physically powerful fighter like some of his opponents and thus he relied on his technique. He was a Muay Femur or rope-a-dope fighter who was skilled in evasion, punching, and head kicks. He had quick movements, agility, and exceptional ability to read opponents. The level of Oley's talent and his ability to mix Western boxing techniques with his Muay Thai skillset resulted in him being compared to Samart Payakaroon as well as Poot Lorlek.

He was praised by the Thai public for his evasive style as he would employ the use of head movement to dodge punches, redirection of his opponents as they attacked, and, to avoid kicks, he would lean back to the point that his torso would be parallel to the floor as can be seen in his fights against Boonlai Sor.Thanikul or Namkabuan Nongkeepahuyuth.

Elite career

Oley took advantage of his dynamic and evasive style to become a popular and successful fighter during the golden era of Muay Thai. He was able to win against other yodmuay (elite fighters) such as Langsuan Panyuthaphum, Superlek Sorn E-Sarn, and Dokmaipah Por.Pongsawang. He won the Lumpinee junior bantamweight title (115 lbs) in his rematch against Boonlai Sor.Thanikul and successfully defended it against "The Top Master" Karuhat Sor.Supawan in a Onesongchai show in New Zealand. Both Oley and Namkabuan Nongkeepahuyuth were known for their 6-fight rivalry with both Muay Femur fighters securing 3 victories against each other.

His level of fame during his prime would result in the area around the ring becoming crowded by a stream of spectators when he entered it. 1993 was the most significant year of Oley's career as he had a 6-fight winning streak against the best fighters of the featherweight division (126 lbs) including but not limited to Wangchannoi Sor.Palangchai and Chamuekpet Hapalang. During this period, Oley was the first person to land a knockout finish against "The King of Lumpinee" Therdkiat Sittepitak and was awarded his highest purse of 250,000 baht for doing so (worth around 584,000 baht adjusted for inflation in 2024). This purse made him one of the highest paid fighters of the golden era of Muay Thai. For comparison, the usual purse given to yodmuay during the golden era was 100,000 baht and it was rare for one's purse to reach 200,000 baht or higher. After his successful run from 1987 to 1993, Oley began to take fewer fights in 1994 and onwards as his physical condition began to worsen.

In professional boxing, Oley had former WBC world Flyweight champion Venice Borkhorsor as his trainer. He fought a total of 4 boxing bouts with 2 losses. In his 4th and final boxing fight, he was set to compete for the PABA Super Bantamweight title (122 lbs) against Russia's Alexander Pak in his native province of Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1995. Oley lost by knockout in the first round.

Later years

Citing growing disinterest with Muay Thai, Oley retired and did not involve himself with combat sports for a long period of time as he was running small family restaurants in his hometown of Thung Song. He would later become a Muay Thai trainer at the Parunchai gym where he would become the coach of Lumpinee champions Saen Parunchai and Chalam Parunchai. His goal as a Muay Thai trainer is to give children a way to earn money so that they may go to school. Oley has cited fellow Muay Femur fighter and former teammate Jaroenthong Kiatbanchong as his favorite Muay Thai fighter.

• 1990 Lumpinee Stadium Junior Bantamweight (115 lbs) Champion

• 1989 Muay Siam Journalist Rising Star Award