Thailand's world No.6 female badminton player skips SEA Games 33 out of discontent

Pornpawee Chochuwong competes at the 2020 All England Open Badminton Championships. Photo by BWF

Pornpawee said she feels unsupported and frustrated that BAT has been treating her unfairly and without empathy.

She decided to withdraw from the SEA Games 33, to be hosted by Thailand next December, as a way to protest and to help her successors avoid the same situation.

The 27-year-old player said she had put a lot of effort into SEA Games 33, including withdrawal from the Australian Open and a tournament in China. She also paid for most of her training and travel expenses due to the lack of support from BAT, Nation Thailand reported.

Chochuwong waited for a response and explanation from the association, but many issues have not been resolved as expected. In addition, some words and actions of BAT officials made her feel disappointed.

Thai badminton has experienced a wave of backlash due to the athletes having their allowances of 6,000 baht deducted by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) for not participating in the health check for the SEA Games 33. In addition to Chochuwong, Thailand's number one male badminton player Kunlavut Vitidsarn, or veteran player Ratchanok Intanon, are also on the SAT's deduction list.

However, Chochuwong said her decision to skip the SEA Games was not related to the allowance cut.

"If I had been told [about the test], I would have complied with the rules," she said, as quoted by Bangkok Post.

Some other athletes who did not attend the test said they had conflicting schedules with tournaments. The deduction of allowances is not illegal, but is considered "lack of empathy", while BAT lacks support for competition costs and training equipment for athletes.

BAT secretary general Udomsak Chuenkrut said the federation will quickly come up with a solution in the next two days. A meeting with the BAT president, SAT representatives and the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT) will be held to convince Chochuwong to change her mind.

Chochuwong rose to prominence in 2015 when she won silver at the 2015 Badminton Asia Junior Championships and the 2016 World Junior Championships. She was part of the Thailand team that won the world championship gold in 2017, 2019 and 2021, and gold in the women's singles in 2021.

Pornpawee Chochuwong competes in the Korea Open in Suncheon, South Korea on April 9, 2022. Photo by AFP

Badminton is considered one of Thailand's strengths at the SEA Games, competing with Indonesia and Malaysia. However, recent controversies have affected the athletes ahead of the event on home soil. In addition to Chochuwong, the women's team also has Ratchanok Intanon, who is ninth in the world and Kunlavut, the world's number two male player.

Previously, Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Nattamon Laisuan accused BAT of unfair treatment when they were removed from the Thailand badminton team. The pair won the mixed doubles gold medal at the national championship in December 2024. Under the old rules, this was the number one priority criterion for an official spot at the SEA Games. The second priority was being in the top 20 in the world.

However, in April 2025, the federation changed the order of priority. Athletes in the top 32 in the world automatically get a spot, followed by the national championship. This resulted in Makkasasithorn and Laisuan being excluded from SEA Games 33.

Thailand's shooting and petanque events also caused controversy. Flying discus shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit accused the federation of a lack of transparency and poor management. Therefore, the shooter who won a gold medal at the World Cup and Asian Games decided not to participate in the SEA Games selection event.

On Sept. 23, the World Petanque and Bowls Federation (WPBC) made an unprecedented decision to ban Thailand from organizing petanque events at SEA Games 33. The reason was that the Petanque Association of Thailand was stripped of its membership for allowing banned individuals to operate. However, the ban was revoked after NOCT successfully negotiated with WPBC in France on Sept. 29.