Upon arriving in Bangkok with a bagful of money donated by the village, Ting meets his cousin Humlae, who has dyed his hair blond and begun calling himself "George."

Ting tracks down Humlae and gets his money back after stunning the crowd by knocking out the champion, where his extraordinary skill grabs the attention of Komtuan, a grey-haired crime lord who uses a wheelchair and needs an electrolarynx to speak.

The next day, Humlae and Muay Lek are chased all over town by drug dealer Peng and his gang after a botched baccarat game scam at an illegal street gambling booth.

The chase ends at a port in the Chao Phraya River, where Ting discovers Komtuan's cache of stolen Buddha statues submerged underwater.

After the fight, Komtuan reneges on his promise to release Muay Lek and return the head, where he orders his henchmen to kill the trio.

After Ong-Bak became a hit in Thailand, sales rights for outside Asia were purchased by Luc Besson's EuropaCorp, which in turn re-edited the film.

For the United Kingdom release, the soundtrack was rescored with an orchestral score by Richard Wells, but the film was left uncut with the subplot of Ngek.

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior was released in the U.S. on DVD by Magnolia Pictures on August 30, 2005[3] and on Blu-ray Disc by 20th Century Fox on February 2, 2010.

Ong-bak was praised for its action sequences, especially its onrush of chase scenes, hand-to-hand combat and acrobatics, which are emphasized over its plot or characters.

[5][9] The film holds an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 109 reviews, with the consensus being: "While Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior may be no great shakes as a movie, critics are hailing the emergence of a new star in Tony Jaa, whose athletic performance is drawing comparisons with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li".

[11] Combat sports and striking analyst Jack Slack stated that Ong-Bak "is perhaps the finest martial arts movie of this generation".

He went on to act in a small role in the Petchtai Wongkamlao vehicle, The Bodyguard (co-directed by Panna Rittikrai), and then starred in the much-anticipated Tom-Yum-Goong in 2005.