Kirill has a few things wrong.
There are no head butts in Muay Thai. As well, kickboxing wasn't invented by the French. There are a few different types of kickboxing, and French Savate, also known as Le Boxe Francaise, allows both kicks and punches, and might be considered "kickboxing", though it's existed in its current form for about a century. It was created for self defense, not for "big crowd entertainment".
There are other forms of kickboxing that have their origins in karate. American Kickboxing/Full Contact Kickboxing originated from the American karate scene that was going on in the 1960's and 1970's. Point fighters like Joe Lewis and Bill Wallace donned boxing gloves. Kicks and punches were allowed, though one couldn't hit with the shin, and no kicks were allowed below the waist, although some foot sweeps were permitted.
Another form of kickboxing came from Japan. It was originally called "karate boxing" and was loosely based off of full-contact karate styles like Kyokushin, Enshin, and Ashihara. Unlike American Kickboxing, it allowed for kicks to the legs. It was influenced by Muay Thai. Originally, it allowed for throws and headbutts, though it doesn't anymore.
Fighters from Europe, mostly those with a Kyokushin karate background, started training in the Japanese style, but ended up developing their own style that places a greater emphasis on punches. They also incorporated some basic clinching techniques from Muay Thai.
There's also a bareknuckle form of fighting called Lethwei, from Cambodia, which neighbors Thailand. Unlike Muay Thai, they DO allow head butts, as well as strikes with the fists, feet/shins, knees, and elbows.
Muay Thai allows for strikes with the fists, feet/shins, knees, and elbows. There's a heavy emphasis on clinch fighting, and you can sweep your opponent from the clinch, although some throws, like hip throws, aren't allowed. "Muay Thai" is actually a generic term; before its sportification in the early 1900's, there were many different old styles, and even today, certain gyms have certain "styles" unique to them.
Muay Thai is kicks, punches, knees, elbows-basically a combination of everything. Kickboxing is just kicking.
Let me make it simple for you. Muay Thai throws elbows and clinching is allowed. In kickboxing there is no elbow techniques and clinching. The elbow techniques depend on what the rules are.
main difference is that in Muay Thai you can use head, elbows and knees to strike down your opponent. That's not counting Rich history or Thai Boxing, going as deep as prayers and etc.
Kick Boxing is Westernized version of Muay Thai, made specifically for big crowd entertainment by French. It's been simplified, making it also less dangerous for the opponents. On the Other Hand Muay Thai has been made for the Army to use to defend the Thai land back in the days.
What are the differences and what one is better?
