Muay Thai Premier League? Thaksin unveils Thai soft power vision
Muay Thai Premier League? Ex-PM Thaksin says his daughter’s govt will transform Thai soft powers into powerful weapon to boost Thailand’s economy
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Thursday that the government led by his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, will turn soft power into a cornerstone of the Thai economy with initiatives like a “Premier League” of Muay Thai.
“This government will get serious on soft power,” he said at the “Vision For Thailand” event organised by Nation Group at Bangkok’s Siam Paragon on Thursday.
Paetongtarn’s government will promote Thai soft powers in food, sports, festivals, music, books, films, games, arts, design and fashion, he added.
Thai boxing ‘Premier League’
Thaksin said an ecosystem should be built for Muay Thai, modelled on the English Premier League (EPL) and featuring a league system, trophies and professional wages for athletes.
He suggested a federation should be established to supervise Muay Thai competitions, similar to FIFA.
“I have asked former FIFA Council member Worawi Makudi to work on Muay Thai, setting up rules for competition, wages and a league system similar to the EPL,” he said.
The ecosystem should be easy to create since there are Muay Thai gyms worldwide, he added.
Building gaming ecosystem
Thaksin highlighted gaming as another soft power in the government’s arsenal, said Thaksin, emphasising Thailand’s expanding esports production industry.
The key was to support players in order to boost demand in the e-gaming market. But Paetongtarn's government would also implement incentives for Thai game producers, including a digital token scheme. He said game players could win tokens, which the game producers could redeem for cash from the government.
From digital wallet to fashion exhibitions
Thaksin said he wanted to see exhibitions where designers could showcase their creations domestically and internationally, using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain.
“This could happen once the digital wallet scheme achieves success,” he said, referring to the ruling Pheu Thai Party’s spending stimulus policy for 10,000-baht payments.
He said the NFT exhibitions should focus not just on Thai fashion design and tailoring but also on promoting Thai supermodels.
He cited Brazil as an example where the economy had been boosted by football and supermodels. He also mentioned the Bangkok Fashion City project, which was initiated by his government to promote designers.
Thaksin said suggested power could also tap Thailand’s rich ethnic diversity while combating regional poverty.
“We might see Northeasteners with dark skin and flat noses as our models, but we are ready to promote them because Thais cannot remain in the low-income trap,” he said, adding that Thai people should work to enhance their potential.
Thailand as world’s kitchen
The former PM emphasised food as a strong soft power for Thailand. He said the “Thai Kitchen to the World” project should be revived with celebrity chefs and a wide range of foods and dishes to penetrate the global market. This would have the benefit of driving Thai agricultural exports, he said.
He also praised the previous government’s loan scheme for Thai restaurant operators abroad as a way of enhancing the global popularity of Thailand’s food, adding that Thai entrepreneurs often have difficulties sourcing funds overseas.
