Sepak takraw, or Sepaktakraw, also called buka ball, kick volleyball or foot volleyball, is a team sport. It is played with a ball made of rattan or synthetic plastic between two teams of two to four players on a court resembling a badminton court. It is similar to volleyball and footvolley in its use of a rattan ball and players using only their feet, knees, shoulders, chest and head to touch the ball. Sepak Takraw is often referred to as a mixture of volleyball, due to its use of a net, and association football, as players use their feet.
The Jaturamitr Samakkee is a traditional secondary school football competition played by the four oldest boys' schools in Thailand: Suankularb Wittayalai School, Debsirin School, Assumption College, and Bangkok Christian College. It is held biennially, usually in November, at Suphachalasai Stadium in Bangkok, with the schools rotating as hosts.
Sports in Thailand play a significant role in Thai culture, with both participants and spectators engaging in a wide variety of activities. Muay Thai, a traditional martial art, is deeply ingrained in Thai history and has evolved into national sport. Aside from muay Thai, association football is the most popular sport in Thailand, followed by volleyball and badminton. There is also a diverse range of sports that are also popular throughout the country, including tennis, golf, swimming, athletics, cycling, motorsports, snooker, and sepak takraw, which is one of Thailand's two national sports along with muay Thai. Water sports such as scuba diving, kiteboarding, jet skiing, surfboarding, rafting, sea kayaking, windsurfing, wakeboarding, long boat racing, and long-tail boat racing are also popular among sports tourists and locals alike.
The International Sepaktakraw Federation, commonly known as ISTAF, is the international governing body for the sport of Sepak takraw, which was formed in 1988 with five founding member countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar, officially based in Thailand and with its secretariat in Singapore. The current President is Major General Dr. Charouck Arirachakaran of Thailand. Its main goal currently is to spread Sepak takraw into 75 different countries and ultimately make it an Olympic sport by 2026. As of April 2020, the federation consists of about 50 member national associations, mostly in Asia-Oceania, 13 of which are on provisional status.
The 5th Thailand National Games were held in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand from 2 to 9 December 1971, with contests in 13 sports. These games were the qualifications of Thai athletes for the 1971 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games held in Kualalumpur, Malaysia.
The 6th Thailand National Games were held in Ratchaburi, Thailand from 2 to 8 December 1972, with contests in 12 sports. These games were the first competition of the new region, Bangkok, formerly part of region 1, and the new member of region 3, Yasothon, formerly part of Ubon Ratchathani.
The 7th Thailand National Games were held in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand from 23 to 29 February 1973, with contests in 14 sports and athletes from 10 regions.
The 8th Thailand National Games also known as the 1974 National Games and the 1974 Interprovincial Games) were held in Chonburi, Thailand from 3 to 9 December 1974, with 15 sports and representative from 10 regions.
The 9th Thailand National Games were held in Lopburi, Thailand from 28 November to 4 December 1975, with contests in 14 sports and athletes from 10 regions.
The 10th Thailand National Games were held in Udon Thani, Thailand from 4 to 10 December 1976, with matches in 14 sports and athletes from 10 regions.
The 2016 King's Cup is an international football competition, and will be the 44th edition of the tournament. It was organised by the Football Association of Thailand or the FAT. The tournament is set to be a in knockout tournament format with all matches being held at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on 3 and 5 June.
The 2017 King's Cup was an international football tournament held in Thailand from 14 to 16 July 2017. The 4 national teams involved in the tournament were required to register a squad of 23 players.
ISTAF World Cup, is an indoor international sepak takraw competition conducted by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF), contested by men's and women's national teams. The first championships started in 2011 in Malaysian Kuala Lumpur and 23 male and 13 female teams took part in it. In 2015, the next edition was scheduled, which was postponed due to the Southeast Asian Games. It was not until 2017 in Hyderabad (India) that the second edition took place. Most of the events have been won by Thailand.
Benyapa Aimsaard is a Thai badminton player.
The 2022 King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship was the 35th edition of the international sepak takraw tournament King's Cup World Championship, co-organized by the Takraw Association of Thailand and the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF), held on 24 - 31 July 2022 at Fashion Island Sports World in Bangkok, Thailand. Twenty-three ISTAF member countries, mostly from Asia-Oceania, participated in the tournament.
The 2019 King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship is the 34th edition of the sepak takraw's premier tournament King's Cup World Championship, organized by the Takraw Association of Thailand and the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF), during August 25 – September 1, 2019, at Fashion Island, Bangkok. Thirty-one ISTAF's member countries with a total of more than 500 players participated in the tournament, which featured both men and women categories. The tournament was live broadcast from August 27 to September 1 on Mono 29, Mono Max, and Mono Plus, the satellite television channels in Thailand.
The 2017 ISTAF World Cup is the second edition of the ISTAF World Cup, which was conducted by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF). The competition was originally scheduled to be held in 2015 in Goa, India. However, due to a possible clash of dates with the 2015 King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship and the 2015 Southeast Asian Games, the tournament was later rescheduled and moved the venue to Hyderabad with the support of the India Sports Council. The event was organised at G. M. C. Balayogi Indoor Stadium of Hyderabad, during 2–5 November 2017. Twenty-six national teams from 17 ISTAF membership countries participated, with only three countries outside Asia, named Brazil, France, and Germany. Brunei, Belgium, United Kingdom, South Korea, and the Philippines were early expected to join the competition but unfortunately absent for undisclosed reasons, while Indonesia and Pakistan national team withdrew on the first day of the event.
The Takraw Association of Thailand is the national governing body for sepaktakraw in Thailand, officially found on 17 April 1983. The roles of the TAT include organizing sepaktakraw competitions in Thailand, supporting and co-ordinating sepaktakraw clubs, and managing the Thai sepaktakraw teams, organizing the domestic tournaments, Takraw Thailand League as well as the most prestigious sepaktakraw international tournament, King's Cup Sepaktakraw World Championship, which was held every year. Furthermore, in cooperation with the sepaktakraw association of Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore, the TAT also created the standardize rules and regulations for sepaktakraw to promote and develop its growth at the international level.
The French Association of Sepak Takraw is the national governing body for sepaktakraw in France, founded in 2003 by Patrick Laemmel and Franck Michel in the city of Schiltigheim, and subsequently gained the membership status from the Federation of European Sepak Takraw Associations (FESTA) and the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) in 2008. The association is responsible for organized its annual tournaments, l'Open de France and the European Sepaktakraw Championship, which was established in 2003, co-ordinating the domestic sepaktakraw clubs, as well as a selection of players for the international competitions.
The 2022 ISTAF World Cup was the third edition of the ISTAF World Cup, held from November 25-29, 2022, at the Daejeon Hanbat Sports Complex in Daejeon, South Korea. The tournament was conducted by the International Sepaktakraw Federation (ISTAF) in collaboration with the South Korea Sepak Takraw Association and the Daejeon Metropolitan Sports Association. Originally, the event was scheduled to be held in October 2019 in Goa, India, but was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the venue was also relocated to Daejeon, South Korea.
