Mongkhon Muay Thai Headgear
Protecting Brains and Futures
About
The traditional Mongkhon, Muay Thai’s sacred headband, represents respect for a fighter's teachers, protection, and spiritual connection. It is usually worn during the prefight ritual, Ram Muay, in blessing for a fighter’s safety and triumph in the ring.
This inspired the creation of the Mongkhon Headguard, designed to protect vulnerable developing brains of youth fighters with the same protective blessing embodied by the traditional Mongkhon. Improving on the technology of existing headguards, we aim to protect fighters and strengthen the Muay Thai culture that Thailand takes pride in.
This inspired the creation of the Mongkhon Headguard, designed to protect vulnerable developing brains of youth fighters with the same protective blessing embodied by the traditional Mongkhon. Improving on the technology of existing headguards, we aim to protect fighters and strengthen the Muay Thai culture that Thailand takes pride in.
Research
Our inventor, Poomkarn Taedullayasatit, has conducted research on concussion biomechanics and developed improved headgear at King Mongkut’s University of Technology, under the mentorship of Dr. Julaluk Carmai and Dr. Sitthichok Sitthiracha.
To date, this research has resulted in three publications (two Q2 journal papers and one conference paper):
- Discover Applied Science Journal Paper on “An Evaluation of Child Boxing Headguard Design on Impact Attenuating Performance Using a Child-Calibrated Punch Machine”: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-026-08678-y
- HardwareX Journal Paper on “An alternative linear impactor for impact research”: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2026.e00742
- ICIMH 2024 Conference Paper on “Evaluating Concussion Risk in Child Muay Thai Boxers”: https://doi.org/10.1145/3715931.3715956
IMPACT
Through our collaboration with Lumpinee Muay Thai Stadium, we collected performance feedback during development and have now distributed over 100 headguards to boxing camps across Thailand. We have also advocated to Thai boxing officials for mandatory headgear for under-15 fighters, contributing to a proposed Child Protection Act measure now under government review, as of Oct 2026.
