The Dream Hotel was the venue for the official 2010 Queen’s Birthday held by OneSongchai Promotions, Elite Boxing and the WMC. The press conference was chaired by the WMC President General Chetta Thanajaro, who thanked so many international competitors for participating, and also expressed thanks to OneSongchai promotions for again staging this important Mother’s Day event held in honour of Her Majesty. The Secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry made an important speech on the significance of this event, mainly for Her Majesty’s birthday but also to showcase the beauty of Thailand to the world and promote the Kingdom. The Secretary of the National Culture Commission welcomed the initiative in promoting not simply the competitive side of muaythai, but also muaythai as a national heritage and thanked WMC and IFMA, and OneSongchai, for all their initiatives. The representative of the King’s Birthday Foundation stated that Her Majesty’s birthday celebrations should expect to have many people coming to Sanam Luang and thanked the organisers for putting on this world-class event. Miss Pariyakorn, daughter of OneSongchai and WMC Female board member stated that the development of female muaythai is important for the overall development of the sport. She will continue to promote muay ying and it will be a fantastic promotion for muaythai in general. She is delighted that it will be televised not just in Thailand but also on ESPN. Khun Songchai, Thailand’s foremost promoter, thanked General Chetta for his support and the sanctioning of the WMC, and he hopes that he can keep contributing to the national and international development and success of muaythai, both as an art and as a fighting sport. Mr Toli Makris, President of Elite Boxing, stated that it is an honour for him to be part of this year’s birthday celebrations for Her Majesty, and Thailand vs Challenger truly has become an international brand. Mr Makris thanked Khun Songchai and the WMC for all their support. This year’s fight card will be exciting and it will be interesting to see if Thailand can gain the upper hand on this important day! Stephan Fox, WMC Vice President, thanked the President for chairing this important press conference, and he praised Khun Songchai for all his hard work and contribution he has given and continues to give to the sport of muaythai. Muaythai in Thailand would not be the same without OneSongchai and his daughter Miss Pariyakorn. Mr Fox also talked about the Queen’s Birthday celebrations for Her Majesty being a fantastic opportunity to showcase Thailand as a peaceful country, and also to show that muaythai’s importance as a martial art built on keystones such as honour, fair play, tradition and respect. Mr Fox thanked all the competitors for being ambassadors for muaythai. The press conference was hosted by Thai superstar actress Sonia Couling who is one of the true supporters of muaythai. Source: http://www.ifmamuaythai.org/html/10_0810_QueenCupPress.php
|
