27th April, 2014
The chairman of our April 27th opponents, made the headlines by staging impromptu boxing bouts, as a form of punishment, at his club's Thai New Year celebrations (see story below). Therefore, as a tribute to this rather controversial idea, here is my Newin Chidchob Boxers XI. I wouldn't fancy three rounds with any of this lot!
NEWIN'S BRUTAL BOXING BOUT GETS FLAK
(Bangkok Post: 15/4/14)
The veteran politician decided to punish youths caught fighting at a Songkran fair by forcing them to face off against professional boxers in a Muay Thai ring during the celebration in Buri Ram.
Mr Newin, chairman of the Buriram United football club and an influential politician in the province, helped organise the fair held at the club’s stadium.
Addressing several thousand revellers at the event, he said he wanted a water festival free of fights. “This Songkran, I want to promise you that there will be no fights. But if anyone starts a fight, I have prepared a boxing ring and professional Muay Thai boxers for them. They will have to box three rounds and cannot say no,” Mr Newin said.
On Sunday night, Mr Newin’s guards caught five young men fighting at the fair. As promised, they were taken to the boxing ring to exchange blows with the professional boxers.
All of the teenagers were forced to fight until they fell to the floor. After each young man was beaten, Mr Newin got into the ring to check he was unable to fight on, then called for them to be carried out.
All were beaten by the professionals. The matches were filmed and went viral on social media.
Many netizens backed Mr Newin’s tactic of dealing with the teenagers, arguing that Songkran traditions were being tarnished by brawling, drunken youths.
But Wallop Tungkananurak, secretary-general of the Creation Foundation for Children, said the five boys should have been lectured on their actions and reported to the police.
“Otherwise, we’re saying influential people can do anything they want,” he said. “We should bear in mind that society has to obey the rule of law. We should not solve such problems based on personal whims.”
Ticha na Nakhon, director of Ban Kanchanaphisek youth training centre, warned that Mr Newin’s “punishment” risks creating a dangerous precedent.
“It is wrong to solve problems this way,” she said. “It risks fostering mental shame and hurt which could later explode. The future victims might not be Mr Newin and the boxers they fought with, but other people who are weaker than them.
''This is how violence is reproduced. The eye-for-an-eye method is not the way to solve problems with teenagers.”
But tourism industry figures were less worried about Mr Newin’s actions.
Wisut Buachum, director of the Chiang Mai office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said he thought Mr Newin merely wanted Songkran revellers to refrain from fighting, though he questioned the legality of forcing the youths into the ring.
Suraphon Kampalanonwat, president of the Tourist Business Federation of Songkhla, backed Mr Newin.
“Taking the five brawling teenage hooligans into the ring with real boxers is allowing them to show their strength in the right way.”
Mr Newin last year caught two youths fighting at a Songkran event and attempted to mete out the same punishment, but both refused to face-off with pro-boxers.
Newin Chidchob Boxers XI
Robert Dave Boy Green (Queens Park Rangers)
Smokin’ Joe Fraizer Campbell (Cardiff City)
Michael Sugar Ray Robinson (Liverpool)
Muhammad Ally Brown (West Bromwich Albion)
Gareth Barry McGuigan (Manchester City)
Cassius Clayton Blackmore (Manchester Utd)
Charlie George Foreman (Arsenal)
Frank Bruno Alves (Fenerbahce)
Nicky Henry Cooper (Oldham Athletic)
Thomas Rosicky Hatton (Arsenal)
Ajose Olusegunnar Solskjaer (Manchester Utd)
Subs
Theo Jersey Joe Walcott (Arsenal)
Franz Iron Mike Thijssen (Ipswich Town)
Luis Balboa Morte (Fulham)
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