Nualphan Lamsam has promised to make an all-out effort to rid Thai football of its problems as soon as possible after claiming a historic victory to become the first woman ever to take over the helm of a national football governing body in Asia.
The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) presidential election concluded on Thursday with Nualphan grabbing 68 of the total 73 votes to take another slice of history by polling 93 percent of the votes -- the highest ever in the 108-year history of the association.
The election also brought to an end the eight-year reign of Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang as the FAT president.
A beaming Nualphan, nicknamed "Madam Pang" by the Thai media, said after her election: "Of course, I am happy. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep last night.
"First of all, a big thank you to all the FAT members who voted for me today.
"There are a number of problems facing the association, and I and my team will start tackling them soon."
Nualphan, whose appointment as the 18th president of the FAT has to be officially ratified by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), added she was always very keen to step in and help Thai football.
"I am not new to football. I have been the manager of the national women's team and helped them qualify for the World Cup finals twice in a row.
"I have also served as the men's football team manager and we recently made it to the last-16 stage of the AFC Asian Cup in Qatar."
Speaking on the subject of financial problems being faced by different Thai league teams, Nualphan said: "In the first 100 days, I must say that Thai League 3 -- or may be every league -- teams could face a lot of financial problems.
"We would need time to settle in the job and then there is the matter of receiving the remaining budget for the year from the outgoing administration.
"But rest assured that I have a capable team of council members to take care of the matter.
"As for the sponsors, we will be approaching people who love Thai football."
Nualphan said that she was also keen to streamline the Thai League 1 programme.
"We need to get all parties involved, especially the clubs, so that we can ensure that there are no disruptions in the Thai League 1 programme. We must ensure that top players are available for national team duty when needed."
The four other candidates in the election were Warong Thiuthas, Payurin 'Pauline' Ngarmpring, Thanasak Suraprasert and Komkrit Napalai.