He revealed that he and a group of friends were raising cash to support her training and so far had collected more than Bt500,000, a figure that could increase to Bt700,000 by the time they meet for the friendly match.
Insisting that the match had been arranged before she won the world women's title in Guangzhou on Sunday, he commented that Ratchanok, who is now 18, could compete until the age of 30 provided that she is disciplined, practised hard and did not allow herself to be carried away by fame and fortune.