The renewed attempt of the Ministry of Education to ban youth from fighting in professional muaythai matches has met resistance from the Senate and the influential figures in the sport.

The ministry wants to ban professional fighters younger than 15 from muaythai matches as well as prohibiting the training facilities to organize events for underage fighters.

Senator Worawut Rojanapanich brought the issue to the Senate and rallied supports from several members of the upper house. The Senate decided to request the ministry to “reconsider” its plan.

The banning attempt was a revival of a similar plan by a previous government that emerged when a child fighter was assaulted by his manager when he lost his bout at Samui. The proposal was debated but was never realized.

The sport columnist who goes be the alias “Jeng Thaprachan” suggested the government to focus on the wrongdoings in individual cases rather than implementing a broad banning of the youth fighters in muaythai.

He pointed out that when the Boxing Act of 1999 was being drafted, a large number of muaythai figures including many veteran fighters gathered near the Government House in protests of the attempt to include a banning on child fighting in the bill.

The veterans, start of whom started in the ring as early as 10 years old, said the two main reasons the children would fight in muaythai were their own admiration of the sport and the “hero” fighters and the economic necessity, both of which should not be suppressed by the government.

The writer said the recent study by Rajabhat Institute of Maha Sarakham that found serious injuries in child fighters and suggested the banning did not include a large enough sample when compared to the “tens or hundreds of thousands” of fighters.

He said many other sports, such as soccer, have a higher rate of injuries, even during the training sessions.

The writer also said muaythai, as the national sport, would lose its reputation and economic gains if the banning were to come into effects.

“Muaythai is considered the exclusive right of the Thai people. Anyone who attempts to ban the youth from practicing muaythai should be considered committing a wrongdoing,” said the columnist.