Muay Thai Olympic status sought

PAETONGTARN SHInawatra, the deputy chairperson of the National Soft Power Strategy Committee, is pushing to have Muay Thai become an Olympic sport.

Ms Paetongtarn has outlined her goals in strengthening Muay Thai’s position as one of Thailand’s soft power tools through several strategies, including being included in the Olympic Games.

“We will get the opportunity to cheer on Muay Thai boxers representing Thailand in the Olympics one day,” she said on a Facebook live forum event on Jan 23.

Ms Paetongtarn said she and her team would seek to make Muay Thai more popular among foreigners through other initiatives, such as incorporating a ranking system similar to Taekwondo’s belt ranking system.

She also talked about ways to aid Muay Thai teachers in becoming more professional and approaches to fostering more Muay Thai competitions at all levels, locally, nationally and internationally.

Similarly, Ms Paetongtarn spoke of ways to boost the

The government has pledged to improve Thailand’s soft power by introducing sports, with Muay Thai one of its most powerful tools. number of overseas Muay Thai camps and ways to further promote the Muay Thai equipment industry, which would all add to the mix of maximising the national sport’s potential.

Meanwhile, the advisor to the prime minister and chairperson of the Sports SubCommittee in the National Soft Power Strategy Committee, Pimol Srivikorn, said the government had made significant progress in promoting Muay Thai as a ‘soft power’.

As part of that, Mr Pimol met with Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt two weeks ago to discuss a plan to send Muay Thai teachers to a number of schools in Bangkok and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) made with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has been signed, he said.

The MoU will allow the soft power committee to send Muay Thai teachers and equipment to up to 20 schools under the BMA to participate in a pilot programme starting next semester.

Mr Pimol said the committee was also looking to organise a Muay Thai masterclass in England, which would allow foreigners to learn the martial art from internationally recognised Muay Thai masters, such as Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Buakaw Banchamek and Superbon Singha Mawynn for one full day in April.

He said the masterclass would hopefully inspire the foreign students, prompting them to promote the sport to their friends, many of whom it is hoped would then wish to visit Thailand to learn more, which would, in turn, boost Thai tourism.

Mr Pimol’s comments came shortly after it was confirmed that the Thai government was looking grant a 90day special visa for foreigners who want to visit Thailand in order to practise Muay Thai.