Gold medal-winning Thai team 'pickpocketed' by officials

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a member of the SEA Games squad told Kom Chad Luek that they got less than half the money they had been promised. “Before we left for the tournament in Myanmar, the team’s secretary told me that we would get Bt1 million each for winning the gold medal. The words fired us up. But, when we got back home with the title, they said we would get close to a million. That was fine for us at the time. 

“The problem occurred when we received Bt200,000 each from the National Sports Development fund. The secretary told us to collect the cash from 20 players for a combined total of Bt4 million and then divide the money with the staff. It’s unacceptable for us because it’s our money, with the player’s name on the cheque. 

“We got no more payment a month after that. We thought the association [the Football Association of Thailand] did not pay yet. But, we learned later that the team officials have already got the cheques. We then asked the secretary and he said the money needed to be shared among 38 people: 20 players and 18 staff members. The total amount of the incentive stood at Bt9 million, one million of which came from ThaiBev.

“If we divide the amount among 38 people, we would get only Bt250,000 each. Combine the figure with the Bt200,000 from the Sports Development fund, and each of us would only receive Bt450,000. That’s even less than half of the amount they promised us. They have clearly broken the promise,” the player complained.