Before leaving the national team, "Yameen" makes two requests after the Thai men's volleyball team won the SEA Games title for the first time in 8 years.
On 20 December 2025, behind the success of the Thai men's national volleyball team winning the 2025 SEA Games gold medal by defeating Indonesia—who had won 12 titles and ended Thailand’s 8-year wait for the championship and secured their 9th gold medal—few realize that the story behind the scenes is not as sweet as it appears.
Yameen Krisada Nilsawai, the star fast attacker of the Thai men's volleyball team who won his 5th SEA Games gold medal, revealed the life of a national athlete in an interview with the media. He saw this as a good opportunity to be a voice pushing for the growth of men’s volleyball in Thailand and its development into a "career" that genuinely provides income to support oneself and family without constant struggle.
Yameen explained that without the national team schedule, "I want everyone to also follow professional volleyball or other tournaments, so they attract sponsors and help volleyball become a real profession that allows athletes to retire by playing the sport."
"But right now, it hasn’t reached that level yet. If you interview professional volleyball players, their salaries are very low. You could put a microphone to them and ask them to be honest."
"It’s so low that some play volleyball for three months, then have to work at 7-Eleven for about seven months before returning to volleyball again. That’s how it is."
"This is true for many sports. I want the government or private sector to seriously support it so more people will play volleyball. Now that I’m retiring, I don’t know how the team will be. Finding someone like me—someone mischievous and tall like me—is rare."
"Therefore, I want the kids to have hope in playing sports so their families can have a good living and they can retire by truly playing volleyball."
Although they received 300,000 baht each as a cash reward for the SEA Games gold medal, if they do not succeed or win medals playing for the national team, their athlete allowances barely cover their monthly expenses.
Yameen openly shared this and left a message to those involved before announcing his retirement from the national team: "I will stop playing for the national team and only play in the league (Nakhon Ratchasima QminC VC). If asked to return, I will have to consider it first."
"To be frank, I want the athlete allowances increased because it’s been many years. We get 900 baht but 300 baht is deducted for accommodation or other fees, so we only get 600 baht per day, and this has been the case for decades."
"Just for me, having played in 8 SEA Games means 16 years, not counting seniors like Kae (Kittikun Sriutthawong) and other generations. In the past, playing volleyball earned 18,000 baht. A special noodle dish cost 35 baht. Now it’s gone up to 70 baht, which is still tough to manage."
All of this is hoped to help stimulate the development of men’s volleyball into a true profession with better income, so the Thai national team will have new athletes to continue the success beyond just the 2025 SEA Games championship.
