Thai-ing up the wins: Olympic success set to spike sports sales

The Thailand Sporting Trade Association anticipates a surge in interest in sport among Thais following the successes of Team Thailand at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, offering a prime opportunity to boost sales of sports equipment.

Kitti Charoenpornpanichkul, president of the association, noted that medal-winning events featuring Thai athletes naturally attract significant public attention, fostering a desire among fans to actively engage in these sports and consequently driving up sales of sports equipment.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Thailand saw Panipak Wongpattanakit secure a gold medal in taekwondo and Sudaporn Seesondee earned a bronze in women’s lightweight boxing. Following this historic achievement in taekwondo, Kitti observed a noticeable increase in taekwondo enthusiasts, particularly among the youth.

Despite the ongoing nature of this year’s Olympic Games, which leaves uncertainty about which sports will capture the spotlight, Kitti mentioned that sports merchandise, especially apparel and footwear, are currently popular products.

“Popular products during this year’s competition are sports merchandise, especially apparel and footwear.”

As of today, it is confirmed that Thailand will not leave the Paris Olympics without medals. Kunlavut Vitidsarn made history by becoming the first Thai men’s singles player to reach the badminton final after defeating Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the semi-finals.

Additionally, Thai boxer Janjaem Suwannapheng secured at least a bronze medal by overcoming Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli. Suwannapheng is set to face Algeria’s Imane Khelif in the semi-final match scheduled for 3.30am (Thailand time) tomorrow.

Thailand has dispatched 51 athletes to participate in 17 sports at the Paris Olympics. These include boxing, weightlifting, taekwondo, athletics, shooting, and women’s volleyball, a discipline in which Thai athletes have shown considerable medal potential.

Kongsak Yodmanee, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), emphasised that the SAT does not solely focus on the medal count, viewing it instead as a by-product of participation in the games.

“Our main focus is that each athlete strives to set a better record.”

According to sports associations evaluating the performance of their athletes, the events where Thai participants are most likely to win medals are taekwondo, badminton, weightlifting, golf, and boxing.

Kitti highlighted that the sports equipment market is projected to reach a value of 33 billion baht this year, marking a 10% increase from 2023. This growth is attributed to both health-conscious consumers and the state’s digital handout scheme, reported Bangkok Post.