[3] Changpuek was born and raised in a small village some 30 km from the town of Prakhonchai, Buriram in northeastern Thailand, one of seven children.
A young Changpuek became attracted to Muay Thai from watching local fighters and started training at home alongside his brothers under the tutelage of their father.
Changpuek fought at the lower weights in his early years spent on the Bangkok circuit, weighing as little as 49 kg (108 lbs) on his Rajadamnern Stadium debut.
He was invited back by the organization to take part in a world title fight - defeating Taiei Kin over five rounds to claim the vacant U.K.F.
A victory in the semi-finals against Tasis Petridis meant a final match against future four-time K-1 world champion Ernesto Hoost.
Although Changpuek would never again quite hit the peak of his success of the early nineties, he fought a number more times with the K-1 organization, the highlight being a victory against Nobuaki Kakuda to claim the W.M.T.C.
cruiserweight world title and wins against the likes of Kakuda were tempered by defeats against Michael Thompson, Ivan Hippolyte and Manson Gibson.