The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Thailand

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This page contains a list of the greatest Thai Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 44 of which were born in Thailand. This makes Thailand the birth place of the 58th most number of Athletes behind Georgia, and Slovenia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Thai Athletes of all time. This list of famous Thai Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Thai Athletes.

Photo of Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon

1. Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 44.36, Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon is the most famous Thai Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages on wikipedia.

Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (Thai: ประภาวดี เจริญรัตนธารากูล; RTGS: Praphawadi Charoenrattanatharakun) (born Junpim Kuntatean, Thai: จันทร์พิมพ์ กันทะเตียน; RTGS: Chanphim Kanthatian, also transliterated Chanpim Kantatian May 29, 1984) is a weightlifter from Thailand. At the 2005 World Weightlifting Championships she won the silver medal in the 53 kg category, lifting a total of 223 kg (491.6 lbs). At the 2006 University World Championships she won the gold medal in the 53 kg category. During the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships she suffered an elbow injury, and had to rest for three months. She won the women's 53 kg class at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. She changed her name in 2007 on the advice of a fortune teller who said it would improve her chances of winning the Olympics. Her name was so long that it was listed as "J" on the digital scoreboard during the Beijing Games.

Photo of Wiradech Kothny

2. Wiradech Kothny (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 42.68, Wiradech Kothny is the 2nd most famous Thai Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Wiradech Kothny (Thai: วีระเดช โค๊ธนี, born 10 May 1979) is a Thai former fencer. He won bronze medals in the individual and team sabre events at the 2000 Summer Olympics, competing for Germany. He then competed for Thailand at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Sopita Tanasan

3. Sopita Tanasan (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 40.61, Sopita Tanasan is the 3rd most famous Thai Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Sanikun Tanasan (Thai: ศนิกุล ธนสาร; RTGS: Sanikun Thanasan; born 23 December 1994) (born Sopita Tanasan, Thai: โสภิตา ธนสาร; RTGS: Sophita Thanasan) is a Thai weightlifter. She competed at the 2013 World Championships in the Women's 53 kg, winning the bronze medal. In 2016 Olympics, she competed at the 48 kg weight class and won gold. In January 2019 she was issued a two-year doping ban until January 2021 after testing positive for 5a-androstane-3a, 17-bdiol (5aAdiol) and 5b-androstane-3a, 17 b-diol (5bAdiol).

Photo of Panipak Wongpattanakit

4. Panipak Wongpattanakit (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 39.75, Panipak Wongpattanakit is the 4th most famous Thai Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Panipak Wongpattanakit (Thai: พาณิภัค วงศ์พัฒนกิจ; RTGS: Phaniphak Wongphatthanakit, nickname Tennis; born 8 August 1997) is a retired Thai taekwondo athlete. A two-time Olympic champion, she is currently the top-ranked athlete in the women's 49 kg.

Photo of Kaeo Pongprayoon

5. Kaeo Pongprayoon (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 39.12, Kaeo Pongprayoon is the 5th most famous Thai Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Kaeo Pongprayoon (Thai: แก้ว พงษ์ประยูร, RTGS: Kaeo Phongprayun, pronounced [kɛ̂ːw pʰōŋ.prā.jūːn]; born 28 March 1980 in Kamphaeng Phet) is a Thai amateur boxer who won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Pongprayoon won the 2009 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships and the 2009 Southeast Asian Games and 2011 at light flyweight. At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships he lost his third fight to José Kelvin de la Nieve. At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships he beat two opponents, then lost 8:14 to Zou Shiming. At the 2012 Summer Olympics (results) he won his first fight against Algerian Mohamed Flissi 19:11, then defeated Ecuador's Carlos Quipo and Bulgarian Aleksandar Aleksandrov. He reached the final by edging out Russian David Ayrapetyan 13:12. He controversially lost the final to Zou Shiming 10:13.

Photo of Pawina Thongsuk

6. Pawina Thongsuk (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 38.63, Pawina Thongsuk is the 6th most famous Thai Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Pawina Thongsuk (born April 18, 1979 in Sikhoraphum, Surin) is a Thai weightlifter. She is a Captain in the Royal Thai Army. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, she won an Olympic gold medal with 122.5 kg snatching and 272.5 kg total in the 75 kg category. In 2005, she won the World Championship in the 63 kg category. In the 2006 Asian Games in Doha she won the gold, as well as set a new world record for the 63 kg women's weight class with a clean and jerk of 142 kg.

Photo of Eric Koston

7. Eric Koston (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 37.23, Eric Koston is the 7th most famous Thai Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Eric Koston (born April 29, 1975) is a Thai-born American professional skateboarder and company owner. He has been featured in the Tony Hawk's video game series and the Electronic Arts (EA) video games Skate 2 and Skate 3. Koston co-owns both Fourstar Clothing (with Guy Mariano) and the skatepark/website "The Berrics" (with professional skateboarder Steve Berra).

Photo of Worapoj Petchkoom

8. Worapoj Petchkoom (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 36.85, Worapoj Petchkoom is the 8th most famous Thai Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Worapoj Petchkoom (Thai: วรพจน์ เพชรขุ้ม; RTGS: Woraphot Phetkhum; born May 18, 1981) is a Thai boxer who competed in the bantamweight (54 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the silver medal, after losing in the final to Cuban superstar Guillermo Rigondeaux. He had qualified for the Athens Games by topping the 2nd AIBA Asian 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Karachi, Pakistan. In the final, he defeated India's Diwakar Prasad.

Photo of Sudaporn Seesondee

9. Sudaporn Seesondee (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 36.58, Sudaporn Seesondee is the 9th most famous Thai Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Sudaporn Seesondee (Thai: สุดาพร สีสอนดี, born 4 October 1991) is a Thai boxer. She won the silver medal in the women's 60 kg event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. She won the bronze medal in the women's lightweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She is the first Thai woman to win an Olympic boxing medal.

Photo of Yaowapa Boorapolchai

10. Yaowapa Boorapolchai (b. 1984)

With an HPI of 36.28, Yaowapa Boorapolchai is the 10th most famous Thai Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Yaowapa Boorapolchai (Thai: เยาวภา บุรพลชัย; RTGS: Yaowapha Buraphonchai; born September 6, 1984, at Bangkok) is a Thai taekwondo athlete who was the bronze medalist in the women's under 49 kg event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She graduated Bachelor of Arts historical major from Thammasat University. She started competing in 2002. In the first round of the Women's Under 49 kg event she defeated Brigitte Yague of Spain, and in the quarterfinal was defeated by Yanelis Yuliet Labrada Diaz of Cuba. She defeated Ivett Gonda of Canada and Gladys Alicia Mora Romero of Colombia in the repechage tournament to win the bronze and become the first Thai Olympic medalist outside of boxing and weightlifting. She won a bronze medal in the Universiade, World Taekwondo Championships, and World Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2003, and a gold in the South East Asian Games in the same year. Many Thais claim that Yaowapa, one of the most popular athletes among Thais, has frequently been victimized by wayward officiating. Besides her loss to Diaz in Athens, she also lost to Lim Su-Jeong, a Korean exponent, in a gold-medal match at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, and was defeated in the first round at the 2005 South East Asian Games in the Philippines by Loraine Lorelie Catalan, a Filipino exponent. Thai officials have claimed she was cheated by the judges in these matches, especially the matches involving exponents from the host nation. In 2011 Yaowa entered politics by applying to be a member of the Chart Pattana Puea Pandin Party and to be a candidate for the House of Representatives in the 2011 election in the Bangkok area. but was not elected Yaowapa ran for a member of the House of Representatives in the 2019 election in Bangkok, District 28 in the name of the Chart Pattana Party,Now she is party's spokesperson

People

Pantheon has 49 people classified as Thai athletes born between 1963 and 2004. Of these 49, 49 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Thai athletes include Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon, Wiradech Kothny, and Sopita Tanasan. As of April 2024, 4 new Thai athletes have been added to Pantheon including Pawina Thongsuk, Eric Koston, and Pimsiri Sirikaew.

Living Thai Athletes

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Newly Added Thai Athletes (2025)

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