Bangkok: The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) is promoting “Muay Thai and eSports” to create economic value, planning to promote and develop both sports and preparing to establish a National Muay Thai Sports Institute. Regarding eSports, the SAT is considering establishing training centers nationwide to support the eSports industry.
According to Thai News Agency, Dr. Kongsak Yodmanee, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), revealed that the SAT is preparing to continue promoting sports that create economic value for Thailand, such as Muay Thai, which was previously a soft power policy, and esports. This is because Muay Thai is an increasingly popular sport, generating economic value, helping athletes achieve financial well-being, and preserving Thai traditions.
The Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) continued, “What we will do is attempt to establish a National Muay Thai Institute. This will be a separate organization from the SAT. It will operate similarly to the Kikuwon Institute, or National Taekwondo Institute, in South Korea. The National Muay Thai Institute will be responsible for organizing competitions to international standards, taking responsibility for organizing world championships, Asian championships, and various international tournaments. The National Muay Thai Institute will be responsible for setting Muay Thai standards, issuing Muay Thai lessons, developing referee standards, and coaching standards. All Muay Thai curricula will be consolidated within the National Muay Thai Institute.”
“The establishment of the National Muay Thai Institute aims to maintain the standards of Muay Thai and ensure they are consistent throughout the world. In the past, we’ve seen that when masterclass programs were launched abroad, boxing camps and gyms used foreign Muay Thai instructors who studied Muay Thai for only one month and then returned to teach. This is undeniably substandard. Therefore, establishing Muay Thai standards is extremely important.”
Dr. Kongsak added that esports has immense potential for economic value creation, and many Thai athletes are world-class. Importantly, esports is also gaining increasing international recognition, particularly from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Therefore, in the future, we aim to build our athlete base, increase knowledge and understanding, and explore the idea of establishing esports training centers, both central and regional, to develop Thai youth for competitive competition at the Olympic Games and international competitions, as well as various aspects of the esports industry.