Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has confirmed Thailand and Asean are ready to vie for the right to co-host the World Cup in 2034.
The confirmation made on the premier's X (formerly Twitter) account came after Mr Srettha met Fifa president Gianni Infantino in New York and discussed potential cooperation between Southeast Asian nations and the world's football governing body.
The discussion took place on the sidelines of Mr Srettha's participation in the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78) in New York.
The premier was invited by the Fifa president to the discussion, where Mr Srettha confirmed the readiness of Thailand and Asean to compete for the right to co-host the World Cup in 2034.
Fifa chose Thailand to organise the 74th Fifa Congress in November 2024 and more than 2,000 football organisers and players are expected to visit the country on the occasion, Mr Srettha wrote on his X account.
"I think that we can stimulate the economy and the commercial value is enormous. I will ensure Thailand is ready," the prime minister wrote.
Mr Srettha also wrote that football is his favourite sport and he hoped his meeting with the Fifa president would increase opportunities for the sport's development in Thailand.
He thanked Fifa for supporting Thai youths' learning about football and also for increasing the number of teams in the World Cup finals.
"Even more than that, this opportunity might influence more youth to play football in the future," said Mr Srettha.
In March 2021, the previous government approved the formation of a committee to consider a bid by Asean countries to host the 2034 World Cup.
According to the government, a technical working team would draw up proposals for how each member of the regional bloc could play their part in staging one of the biggest sporting events in the world.
The cabinet at the time had planned for Thailand to be in charge of preparing the bid proposal for submission to Fifa in 2026.
Other Asean countries -- notably, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore -- would be responsible for fulfilling various supporting roles, as would members of the Asean Football Federation.
Acting as the main coordinator of the bid would be the Ministry of Tourism and Sports which would work in sync with other agencies.