Pardon sought for trophy gaffe

Chaisit admits to falsely announcing royal prize

The organisers of a boxing event held in Macau last week have sought a royal pardon for falsely announcing that the tournament's winning team would receive a trophy sponsored by His Majesty the King.

Rivals meet at friendly sports day
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva meets Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra during a sports day to boost relationships between reporters covering the Government House, parliament, Interior Ministry and military beats at a stadium in the Kiakkai area. CHANAT KATANYU

The Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary asked the organiser of Sunday's Muay Thai Warriors event to submit a letter applying for a royal pardon.
Krit Garnjana-Goonchorn, His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary, sent a letter on Wednesday asking former army chief Chaisit Shinawatra, president of the World Professional Muay Thai Federation which organised the event, to submit a request for a pardon.
The letter reached Gen Chaisit the same day and Pol Lt Col Kulthon Prachuabmoh, who bought airtime from Channel 11 to broadcast the event, travelled to the office to submit Gen Chaisit's letter seeking the pardon.
Pol Lt Col Kulthon said he met Sanong Burana, His Majesty's Deputy Principal Private Secretary, to submit the letter.
According to the letter sent by Mr Krit, Pol Lt Col Kulthon announced at the opening of the tournament that the winning team would receive a trophy given by the King.
This was not appropriate as permission had not been granted for the trophy to receive royal endorsement, Mr Krit said.
Therefore, Gen Chaisit, as chairman of the committee organising the tournament, was asked to seek a royal pardon.
The tournament, presided over by Gen Chaisit's cousin, deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was organised to commemorate His Majesty the King's 85th birthday on Dec 5.
Thaksin took the opportunity during the event to make a televised speech lashing out at the 2006 coup-makers and defending himself against allegations against him.
This followed a ceremony in which Thaksin led the audience to light candles and sing in honour of the King.
Thaksin's critics, particularly members of the opposition Democrats, blasted Thaksin's appearance, saying a state-run television channel should not grant airtime to a convicted fugitive.
Gen Chaisit yesterday admitted that it was wrong to claim that the trophy had been endorsed by His Majesty the King, but he claimed it was an unfortunate oversight rather than an attempt to deliberately mislead the audience or the boxers.
He said the announcement was made because the script had not been revised to take into account that the trophy had not received royal sponsorship.
He said that on the night of the tournament, the trophy that was handed to the winning team was not a royally endorsed one.
A source said Gen Chaisit sent a letter requesting the royal sponsorship trophy early last month, but it did not specify the tournament venue.
The Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary then sought clarification about the venue from Gen Chaisit.
The office was informed that the venue was in the compound of a casino and thus it was improper for a royally sponsored trophy to be used in the tournament.
Gen Chaisit submitted additional information late last month, but time was tight by then as the tournament was approaching so the office said the tournament could be organised to commemorate His Majesty the King's 85th birthday, but a royally sponsored trophy could not be used.
Pol Lt Col Kulthon said he returned to Thailand from an overseas trip on Dec 11 and received a fax from the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary informing him that royal sponsorship would not be granted to the trophy.
He admitted that the mistake was caused by the use of a rote script which was usually read in tournaments awarding royally sponsored trophies.
The televised broadcast featuring the tournament's opening ceremony showed Pol Lt Col Kulthon explaining the objective of organising the boxing event to Thaksin.
"In this tournament, there are eight matches between a team of Thai boxers and international boxers," Pol Lt Col Kulthon said in the clip.
"The team which scores the most points will receive the trophy given by His Majesty the King and they will be the holders of the trophy for one year."
Thailand's team won the boxing tournament by a margin of seven matches to one.

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