WIBA International flyweight champion Hongfah Tor Buamad will appear in a Thai soap opera on Channel 3 network.

Hongfah, who recently retained her title after beating Japanese challenger Tamami Morimoto in Bangkok, has been casted in the soap series “Fad Na Ya” or “Twin”, said her manager Narongwat Buamad. Her first scene was already filmed in a market in the city of Pattaya with Thailand’s leading actress and singer Katreeya English.

He said Hongfah, along with Samson Tor Buamad and other female boxers in his camp, has been approached by a number of producers, but he has turned down their offers.

Sakchai Tapsuwan, chief of one of the two rival muaythai associations in Thailand, says Thai muaythai athletes will participate in the SportAccord Combat Games this year despite the ongoing legal battle between the two associations.

Sakchai’s Amateur Muaythai Association of Thailand (AMAT) and its rival Muaythai Association of Thailand (MAT), helmed by Santipab Intarapat, have had a long history of rivalry and fighting, including an ongoing court case to determine which one of the two will become the official muaythai association representing the country.

Their lobbying attempts against each other in both Thailand and overseas nearly caused muaythai to be excluded from the Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok last year. The muaythai events in the games only received official endorsement at the last minute.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman says the judges in the much-anticipated WBC flyweight match of champion Koki Kameda of Japan and interim title holder Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand will be from the U.S. and Europe.

Sulaiman, currently staying in Thailand to receive an honorary degree from a Thai university, promised fairness of officials in the upcoming WBC flyweight match that will be held in Japan on March 27, despite earlier incidents involving members of the Kameda family. The judges, in particular, will be recruited from the US and Europe, and not from Asian countries, according to him.

The 79-year-old WBC chief also expressed that he wished to perform the match supervisor role but would have to assign a representative instead due to his age and health issues.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman has arrived in Thailand where he will be awarded an honorary doctorate degree from a local university.  

The 79-year-old WBC chief, who travelled to Bangkok with his son Fernando Sulaiman, was warmly received at Suvarnabhumi airport on February 25 by WBC governor Edward Thangarajah, Thai promoter Wirat Wachiraratanawong and his two WBC champions flyweight “interim” title holder Thai Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and stawweight Oleydong Sithsamerchai. 

Sulaiman will attend a degree awarding ceremony in Bangkok on March 1 for a doctoral degree in physical education and leisure from Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University.

PABA minimumweight champion Kwanthai Sitmorseng of Thailand will defend his title in the Laotian capital Vientiane on April 27, says his promoter Niwat Laosuwannawat.

Niwat said the negotiation on Kwanthai’s PABA title defense on April 27 has been finalized and the Vientiane match will be sponsored by a number of Laotian businesses. It will be live broadcasted in both Laos and Thailand, according to the Thai promoter.

Niwat said the Laotian sport authorities asked him to continue arranging more boxing matches there, but he had not decided on the details. He is planning to hold a press conference in Vientiane on the subject soon.

March will be packed with muaythai events around the world with many Thai fighters who are still much sought-after commodity by the international muaythai sport, says sportswriter Pong Lampang.

On Sunday March 7, the Muaythai Open 11 will be held in Tokyo, pitting Thailand’s Chaiyapornnoi Lukprabaht against Japan’s Kunitaka Fujiwara.

Saturday March 13 will see the Muaythai Mayhem 2 event in Edmonton, Canada, featuring matches of Thai Nonsai Sor Sanyakorn vs. Slovakian Egon “Piranha” Racz as well as Thai Oley Or Piriyapinyo vs. Canadian Mukai Maromo.

The effort of muaythai promoter Wirat Prai-anan, better known as “Shane Muangchon”, to revive the troubled cross-stadium event comes as a great boost to the sport in the time when promoters are mostly incompetent and the stadiums pay attention only on short-term benefits rather than development, says Banmuang newspaper sportswriter Thep Thammarat.

Thep said the stadiums tend to protect “sickened” promoters who are able to tender good bids for the stadiums but fail to offer the muaythai audience quality events.

“It is true that the sport today has tons of promoters but lacks magnet fighters like in the past. This is a shameful loss of both time and opportunity, not to mention the chance to promote or develop muaythai business,” he said.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman is planning an eight-day visit to Bangkok in early March, during which he will be awarded an honorary doctorate degree from a Thai university.

Sulaiman, who has been to Thailand several times, will attend the degree awarding ceremony at Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University on March 1 for his physical education degree as well as paying a visit to Siriraj Hospital where His Majesty the King resides.

He will be accompanied by a number of former and current Thai WBC champions such as former bantamweight champion Veeraphol Sahaprom, flyweight “interim” title holder Thai Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and stawweight champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai in his hospital visit.

Prominent Thai boxing and muaythai promoters such as Niwat Laosuwannawat and Kokiet Panichayarom are looking to tap talented fighters in Laos.

Niwat, who is planning a title defense bout of PABA minimumweight champion Kwanthai Sitmorseng in the Laotian capital Vientiane on April 27, said he had discuss with the boxing federation of Laos, offering to help its amateur boxing athletes to turn professional.

He is also looking to arrange bouts of Thai vs. Laotian boxers in the April 27 event, while negotiating on the broadcasting rights with the Laotian government.

Kameda, a Japanese word meaning “turtle”, is best known in boxing as name of a notorious Japanese boxing family, helmed by manager and trainer Shiro Kameda, his oldest son Koki Kameda who is holding the WBC flyweight title, his second son Daiki Kameda who has recently claimed WBA flyweight belt from Thailand’s Denkaosan Kaovichit, and his youngest son Tomoki Kameda who won a regional title from a fight in Mexico. 

Khao Sod sportswriter who goes by alias “Sodsroi Saosangwian” has summarized the relationship of the Kamedas and the Thai people and how they are perceived by the Thai media.

According to the writer, Shiro has been remembered for telling Daiki to use elbows and other prohibited moves against fellow Japanese pugilist Daisuke Naito when the two fought on October 11, 2007.