"King Kornbai" criticizes "Tae Mongkolkitti" for promoting a 2026 election policy to spend 2 billion baht annually to push "Thai football to the World Cup."
On 21 Jan 2026 GMT+7, Mr. Napat Chumchittree, known as “King Kornbai,” candidate number 11 on the Rakchat Party list, commented on the idea of Mr. Mongkolkitti Suksintharanon, New Alternative Party prime ministerial candidate, who proposed injecting 2 billion baht annually for 2–4 years to support Thai football and propel the national team to the World Cup finals.
Napat said the goal of taking Thai football to the World Cup is achievable but not within just a year or two as Mongkolkitti suggests. Before pushing Thai football to the global stage, Mongkolkitti should understand the real state of Thai football. With a 2 billion baht annual budget, in a short time it might only be enough to buy tickets for players to watch the World Cup matches.
To seriously promote the Thai national team to the World Cup, funds must be invested in youth development and the grassroots football system, not just spent heavily over a short period. He noted that such a budget would be most beneficial if used to build strong structures and solid foundations.
Napat also proposed a long-term plan, suggesting that a systematic approach over about 20 years could produce clear results, including having standard football fields for children and youth to train widely, developing players and competition structures able to compete internationally, as well as the idea of one sports school per subdistrict to continuously build a new generation of players.
Additionally, Napat pointed out that before talking about the World Cup, the Thai national team should have its own football stadium and training center. Currently, none of the national teams have systematic training facilities, which hinders efforts to raise competitiveness internationally. He suggested that the annual budget of over 2 billion baht should be used to build football stadiums and supporting infrastructure for all national teams to enable sustainable development.
“I believe Thai football has a real chance to reach the World Cup. This is something that can be said and done, not just selling a dream,” he said.