Tap into the brains of the best of Thais rather than Fergie
It stumps me why Thailand, once again, seem to seek unnecessary help from foreigners to tackle some of the country's problems.
Last week, new Thai Premier League (TPL) chairman Ong-arj Kosinkha said the former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, will visit Thailand next month to conduct coaching courses for TPL teams.
However, Red Devil fans in Thailand would be disappointed after it was revealed that the legendary manager was likely to postpone his visit to the Kingdom due to the rallies and political turmoil.
The TPL chairman said earlier that Sir Alex will come to take part in several activities, such as sharing his coaching experience with Thai clubs, how to professionally manage clubs, how to handle football players’ transfers and how to motivate players.
The idea to bring Ferguson was a joint effort between the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and organiser Fresh Air Festival Co. In fact, Fresh Air Festival Co’s president Vinit Lertrattanachai had confirmed that his company had signed a contract with Ferguson to visit Thailand.
According to the original plan, Ferguson was to have a road show in Thailand for three to four days, Vinit said.
Since Ong-arj became the chairman late last year, he went about trying to develop the Thai league. He tried to put in place new regulations in the league that meet international standards. But the Fergie matter became talk of the town, in a negative way.
The most controversial thing was the fee that the Scot would be paid for his participation, which is as high as Bt15 million. Ong-arj said he would pay Ferguson from the fines collected by the league in TPL and Yamaha League One the previous season and also part of it from the sponsors.
He feels that the money spent would be well worth it when compared to the advantage the Thai clubs would get from training with Ferguson.
This story reminded me of the attempt by Yingluck Shinawatra’s caretaker government to bring about national reconciliation last year.
At that time, the government had invited several international figures such as former British prime minister Tony Blair and former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan to participate in peace and reconciliation forum hosted by the government.
The opposition party alleged that Bt20 million was paid to Blair. But he denied receiving the appearance fee. The Thai government said taxpayers were covering only Blair’s travel, accommodation and expenses.
Thai fans are deeply divided regarding Ferguson’s training courses. Some praised the decision, saying it would develop Thai football league. Others felt that it would be a waste of money and not a priority in the current situation.
“We can spend Bt15 million for a lot of useful things, including building a youth league or giving more money as rewards for clubs in the Thai league,” a post on Facebook said.
I think the critics have a point. People involved with FAT and TPL, therefore, should listen to the voice of reason and ponder whether it is right on their part to spend Bt15 million on a retired club manager. They should find alternate, cheaper and useful ways to improve the local standards.
A better way to find a solution to our problems is to look inside and have a series of brainstorming sessions of the best of local minds. That would be well worth it.
