Last weekend staff from the IFMA Headquarters joined a special celebration to commemorate the 82nd birthday of HE General Pichitr Kullavanijaya, privy councillor to HM the King and Honourary President of IFMA and WMC.HE General Pichitr is much beloved by the muaythai community, especially “his kids” that make up the Muaythai Against Drugs or MAD campaign.

The Muaythai Against Drugs (MAD) campaign began a decade and a half ago. In 1999, the special Muaythai Against Drugs  – Find the Right Path campaign was established under the direction of HE General Pichitr Kullavanijaya in cooperation with IFMA. As he would say, “Using Muaythai to help the young is our main goal.”

Thanks to this vision, for more than a decade, every Saturday in Bangkok, in 6 locations around the city, children gather to learn traditional forms of Muaythai, growing in community, staying fit, and being encouraged to continue their education.

This past Saturday, over 300 children from the MAD programme came together one of the main locations for the MAD campaign’s activities – Lan Muay Kru Sua. The kids from different schools and teams put on special performances of ” “Keeta Muaythai” or Muay Aerobics to compete for special prizes and awards. Many high profile officials from Thai government and army were part of the celebrations including the acting governor for the Sport Authority of Thailand, and IFMA & WMC represented by General Chettha Thanajaro and Dr Sakchye Tapsuwan together with the IFMA staff led by IFMA Sport Director Charissa Tynan.

IFMA General Secretary Stephan Fox whom had the honour to work closely with HE General Pichitr over the past decade on the campaign stated “His Excellency has been a true role model and the international muaythai community has the deepest respect for him and we thank him for all his contribution, guidance and support throughout over 20 years of his involvement with IFMA and WMC.”

IFMA President Dr. Sakchye Tapsuwan, IFMA Sport Director Charissa Tynan and the IFMA staff presented a special flower bouquet to Khun Pichet, son of HE General Pichitr who was there proudly representing his father at the celebrations.

Various vendors and supporters were set up to provide food for all kids and participants, so the IFMA office decided to do a chips and chicken nuggets stall that was proved to be a popular choice for the hungry kids after the competition!