The muaythai industry has been mired in several scandals in the past two weeks, ranging from the arrest of Thongchai Tor Silachai for illegal drugs dealing to the confession of frauds of three different fighters at Channel Seven Stadium, causing some fans to demand better enforcement of boxing laws.

Thongchai Tor Silachai, whose real name is Thongchai Pakthai, was arrested on July 3 in a sting operation by the police in Nakorn Ratchasima for dealing illegal amphetamine drugs. The arrest was shocking to many fans as the fighter was widely admired as a role model boxer with good behavior.

The fraud scandals, on the other hand, are not uncommon in the muaythai industry. The lucrative live broadcasted matches of Channel Three and Channel Seven, in particular, are widely believed to have often been staged.

Sometimes the referee would notice that the boxer was faking the fight. This would result in the boxer dismissed from the match and informally banned in the main stadiums for a short period. The cases were never tried in the court, with the case of Samsom Lukmahesak or Fahsatan Sitmeknoi as the sole exception.

The match of Yodchalam Rongreain Keela Krungthep and Kingstar Petpayathai on June 29 at the Channel Seven shows a typical stadium handling of bribery. Although most spectators believed it was obvious Yodchalam was pretending to lose, referee Tawat Rangseeyarom did not halt the fight and allowed the match to end with a knockout of Yodchalam in the fourth round.

The following criticism pressured the stadium to launch an investigation. Yodchalam confessed he staged the fight and referee Tawat was suspended for 60 days. The stadium has not decided on the punishment of Yodchalam.

The Channel Seven match of Nilmongkon Kaennorasing and to Sitthisak Petphayatai, on the day to Yodchalam’s match, was also found to have been staged by Nilmongkon.

One week forwards, fighter Kengkla Sor Kamsing was dismissed from his match by the referee. His manager, who happened to be the same person as Nilmongkon’s, interrogated him and discovered the bribery in which an unnamed police sergeant major was involved.

Somluck Kamsing, boxing training camp owner of the two fighters, was furious and announced he would pursue the legal battles to the end. He said he knew who the mysterious police officer was.

Somluck will get to test the efficiency of the Thai justice system and the boxing laws.

But the chance is that the two boxers will be able to get away with just some informal banning from the major stadiums. They will continue to fight in matches far away from Bangkok until the people have forgotten the scandals. Then they will return to fight in the capital.

The practices of the stadiums probably contribute to the situation, as most stadiums would only dismiss the fighter from the match and do nothing else other than issuing an informal banning. Omnoi Stadium is an exception, as it would set up an interrogation committee before sending the fighter to the police. But even Omnoi does not follow up on the legal process on the fighter.

The boxing laws should be enforced and applied to all the fraud cases equally. Otherwise, the laws will be meaningless and the muaythai industry will continue to be tarnished with such scandals.       

News: Muaysiam number1812