Muay Thai VS Kickboxing ...what is the difference?

Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand, and is derived from traditional Thai martial arts stretching back centuries. Kickboxing was originally conceived in Japan, and was developed in the 1950's by boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi, who wanted to develop a sport that combined full contact karate with western boxing (karate hand strikes are generally less effective with boxing gloves). In essence, kickboxing combines western boxing punches (jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts etc) with karate-derived kicks. The rules and scoring of the two sports are different also, in muay thai, stikes which are less forceful, or which are blocked still score; this is not the case in kickboxing. Kickboxing rules vary, but generally elbows are not allowed.