Female Muay Thai boxer Piamwilai Laopium has earned an honorary rank in the Royal Thai Navy for her work for Thailand both in and out of the ring.
Vice. Adm. Noppadol Supakorn, commander of the Sattahip Naval Base, bestowed the sub-lieutenant rank on 2015 Asian Women’s Championship gold medalist Piamwilai Laopiem May 30 at the Navy Commission Club before ranking officers, her coach and supporters.
Piamwilai, 33, was Thailand’s first woman boxer to compete in the Olympics and won four medals in various SEA Games bouts and two at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games. Her last major win was the 54-kilogram AWC belt in China in September 2015.
But she failed to medal at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games that year and 2016 Rio Olympics, and only made the quarter-finals at last year’s Women Boxing Championship in Kazakhstan.
As her career wound down, she signed up as a paramilitary volunteer in the navy’s “thahan phran” force. Noppadol said the rank was given to her both to recognize the honor she brought Thailand in international boxing contests, as well as her civic work.
Piamwilai thanked the navy and other benefactors for supporting her throughout her boxing career. She said that while she’s now a commissioned officer, she’s still the same person as before.
She also reminded younger athletes that their futures are not preordained and they must never stop working hard for success.
