Thai Pickleball Association Greetings from the President's desk:
As the elected President of Thai Pickleball Association (THPA), Mr Napajorn Yontarak, we called him Khun Pe, who helped set up the Thai Pickleball Association, an umbrella organization for pickleball across Thailand, in September 2020.
Khun Pe is a freelancer in website and digital art design by trade. He is also a member of the Santisuk Pickleball Club.
According to Khun Pe, his role in the Thai Pickleball Association (THPA) is not much different to that of his own business, he will conduct himself in all his dealings in a way that confers and earns respect and demonstrates integrity. “THPA will be transparent about what, how and why we operate the way we do. We strive to achieve the highest standards in the pickleball fraternity”
Reminiscing our humble beginning in 2015, it is Steve Cable, an American Converge global worker, introduced the game of Pickleball to Santisuk English School, Bangkok. (SES)
Pickleball is an easy game to learn, especially to those with a racquet sport background. It fits in well as a sport within SES, as it does not require a big space to set up a court. It was First Baptist Church in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, provided funding for SES to repair the cracked parking lot within the school grounds, making a quality playing surface for pickleball. From a club to an association due to the popularity of the sport, the rest, as they say, is history. We have never looked back since.....
Thai Pickleball Association (THPA) is recognised by the government of Thailand as the voice of pickleball in Thailand. We are also a member of the AFP ( Asia Federation of Pickleball) together with 11 other countries in Asia. The reason for joining AFP is that " we wanted to be something....bigger and better ".
Thai Pickleball Association' s vision is as follows:
1. To promote sport, health, and fitness throughout Thailand.
2. To expand and popularise this sport to the younger generation. To promote and provide playing opportunities to individuals at all abilities and ages and to enhance the sporting experience of association members.
3. To draw up a list of clubs, facilities and contacts, reaching out to the individual clubs and embracing them into a common " family " with the same goal.
4. To encourage local people to join clubs and take regular exercise for their own health and wellbeing.
5. To lobby for improved facilities for our sport.
6. To provide the opportunity through pickleball to meet new friends, encourage good sportsmanship, and through organised tournaments and training, create an outstanding experience that will live with players forever.
Picklers in Thailand have already established themselves to be a force to be reckoned with, by winning many medals within Thailand as well as overseas.
Thai players have won gold as hosts of the Bangkok Open in 2017 and 2018, the Siam Tournament in November 2020, the Indian Open in Mumbai in 2017 and other tournaments in Thailand and Singapore.
We are looking forward to the following upcoming tournaments:
Lanna Pickleball Tournament (Chiang Mai), Thailand Pickleball Tournament 2021 and AFP’s Asia Pickleball Championship.
The future is bright for pickleball in Thailand.
Author
JOHN NG- AFP Marketing
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