Privy Councilor to HM the King, Honorary President WMC, IFMA and FAMA July 7, 2007, Windsor Hotel
Dear IFMA Executive Board and Muaythai friends from around the world,
I would like to thank you, as the Privy Councilor to His Majesty the King, and Honorary President of IFMA, for traveling to Bangkok for this very important IFMA Executive Board Meeting.
I’ve seen your agenda and I’m pleased that so many important issues have been discussed.
IFMA and Muaythai, as a member of GAISF, has become part of the Olympic family and with the help and hard work of all the dignitaries here, we now have a realistic chance of taking our sport towards our Olympic dream.
This is something we must keep working hard on, and the strength of the IFMA has always been the family-like atmosphere which has taken us to where we are today.
I’m even more proud that the world sporting community has accepted the word Muaythai, the pride of our country, as the name for the sport, and this would have been impossible without you carrying on and practicing the art throughout the world.
Muaythai has deep cultural roots, and with our sport, our history and our beliefs, it has come to every country of the globe.
This year is His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 80th birthday, and the fact that IFMA has decided to stage the World Championships, with approximately 100 countries, and that the GAISF Martial Art Meeting will be held during that event, is another historical point for our Kingdom.
I’m looking forward to welcoming all your teams, officials and friends to our Kingdom from the 27th of November to the 5th of December, to celebrate together with our whole Kingdom His Majesty’s birthday.
For everyone staying on in our Kingdom after the meeting, I wish you a pleasant stay, and all of you traveling back to your home countries, I wish you safe travels.
Once again, we’ll all be seeing each other very soon for the biggest Muaythai Championship ever staged anywhere in the world.
