jread

Well, I've been on the search for a school that teaches Muay Thai here, but most of them (even the certified MT instructors) focus a lot more on the boxing side of it than the kicking side. Their reasoning is that good boxing skills are much more effective in standup fighting, and that kicks above the waist are a waste of time unless you're going for one of those "Peter Aerts" knockout-kicks.

Does anyone agree with this? Is MT normally weaker than boxing when it comes to the punching side of it all?

All the MMA schools here do teach some form or MT or kickboxing, but like I said, they focus on the leg kicks more than the head kicks, and put much more emphasis into boxing skills than most MT schools would.

All the other focus is on grappling, jiu-jitsu skills for when the fight goes to the ground (as they always do).

Tom Yum

Boxers spend 100% of their time working on punches, so they are better punchers than most muy thai fighters. Boxing will help your overall muay thai game by improving your footwork, general defense, hand speed and punching ability all of which are important in muay thai.

However, there's alot more to it than that. Clinch work is important too, but doesn't seem to get alot of emphasis IMO. One of the ways to tell the difference between someone whos trained in Thailand and who hasn't is the sophistication of clinch work. Those Thai trained guys will trip you up, keep you off balance and knock the crap out of you in the clinch.