Beijing Games flyweight boxing champion Somjit Jongjohor says the 20 million Baht prize money will not change him.

Somjit will receive a total of about 20 million Baht from the Thai government and various corporate sponsors. On the evening of September 4, he and some other Thai Olympic athletes attended a party hosted by Thai Beverage Plc., an important sponsor of the Thai teams.

“I congratulate all who represented Thailand and performed duties for the country. No matter if they won a medal or not, they have won the hearts of the Thai people,” said Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, President of Thai Beverage.

The company awarded Somjit and the other gold medalist, weightlifter Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon, one million Baht each. Light welterweight boxer Manus Boonjumnong and taekwondo fighter Buttree Puedpong each received 500,000 Baht for their silver medals, while the rest of the athletes received 10,000 Baht per person.

Eight Thai Olympic boxers competed at the 2008 Olympic Games at Beijing on August 9-23, but only two medals were won, a gold by flyweight Somjit Jongjohor and a silver by light welterweight Manus Boonjumnong, who has become the first Thai to ever win two Olympic medals.

After 12 years of amateur boxing, the 33-year-old Somjit was able to claim all the five wins without much difficulty before becoming the Beijing flyweight champion. Somjit’s five opponents, in time order, were Abdelillah Nhaila of Morocco (6-1), Samir Mammadov of Azerbaijan (10-2), Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan (8-1), Vincenzo Picardi of Italy (7-1), and Andry Laffita Hernandez of Cuba (8-2).

Athens Games gold medalist Manus returned to the Olympics for the second time and became the first Thai athlete to win two medals. He received a silver medal after being defeated by Manuel Félix Díaz of the Dominican Republic (12:4) in the light welterweight final. He earlier defeated Masatsugu Kawachi of Japan (8:1), Serik Sapiyev of Kazakhstan (7:5), and Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo of Cuba (10:5).

Boxing association chief General Taweep Jantararoj and national boxing squad manager Sakchai Wongmalasit say they will continue to work for the team for the upcoming London Games in 2012, while the Beijing Games boxers will have some time to rest before returning to the training camp on October 1.

Sakchai “Peter” Wongmalasit, manager of the Thai Olympic boxing squad, said he wants to continue to work for the national squad for the London Games in 2012 unless the team would be able to find “a more appropriate” manager.

Sakchai is responsible for the Thai boxers’ successes in Athens Games in 2004 and the Beijing Games in 2008. Thailand received from the Athens Games three medals, a gold, a silver, and a bronze, and two more, a gold and a silver, from the Beijing Games. However, Sakchai considers the Beijing result a “grand” performance as Manus’s win was the first time a Thai athlete ever received a second Olympic medal.

After twelve years, Somjit Jongjohor’s waiting for an Olympic gold medal is over.

On August 23, Somjit won a gold medal as he defeated Cuba’s Andris Laffita Hernandez with 8-2 points in the Beijing Games flyweight final, while his fellow boxer Manus Boonjumnong of the light welterweight class won a silver medal.

Bangkok’s legendary traffic was much alleviated on that day as the residents stayed in to watch the final bouts of the two boxers.

Somjit has beaten the odds and expectations as most people did not believe a 33-year-old Buriram native would be able to defeat the Cuban. But he did, with his meticulously planned tactics and experiences accumulated over the years.