ONE Championship ended its year with ONE Lumpinee 46 on Friday, and Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin was there to express his appreciation for all the promotion has done to promote Muay Thai both inside and outside of the country.
Halfway through the event in Bangkok, he entered the ring and addressed the sold-out Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
“Good evening to millions of you wherever you are in the world tuning in to this historic event. I’m glad to be here at Lumpinee Stadium to witness [ONE] Lumpinee 46 live,” Mr Srettha said.
“I would like to thank Khun Chatri Sityodtong for bringing ONE Championship to the world and preserve the most treasured Thai combat sport, Muay Thai.”
Recently, the Thai government made it their mission to make Muay Thai one of the country’s soft powers. This means that it will use Muay Thai to help promote Thai culture to the rest of the world while attracting tourists interested in the sport.
So far, ONE has played a significant role in promoting Thailand’s national sport. Before its ONE Lumpinee series kicked off at the beginning of the year, the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium was struggling to remain open. There were even talks of turning the arena into a museum. ONE, however, revived the stadium by packing the venue each Friday night and giving fighters and trainers greater opportunities.
ONE’s efforts were not lost on the Prime Minister.
“As a Thai, I am very proud that Muay Thai is one of the most-watched premier sports in the world. It has lately become probably the biggest and the best-known soft power export to the world,” he said.
“It is my wish to see Thai boxers and trainers to go around the world to teach, to fight, to train and extend this cultural heritage to the world.”