SYDNEY Thailand's national boxing hero Somluck Kamsing is right at home at the Sydney Games. His fans make so much noise when he steps into the ring, he feels as if he is in Bangkok.
Kamsing achieved instant cult status when he won Thailand's first gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He was given more than $1 million by the government and corporate admirers after his featherweight triumph that was even watched ringside by Muhammad Ali.
In Sydney, the Thai community turns out en masse to hail the conquering hero.
Women in Thai dress scream with delight and hurtle up and down the aisles when he has appeared.
"When I fight, I think half of the crowd must be Thai. I feel as if I am boxing back in Bangkok," said the featherweight who is instantly surrounded by a posse of Thai journalists who hang on his every word after each fight.
When he first appeared in Sydney, the Thai sports minister delivered a good luck message from Queen Sirikit and handed him a bouquet of flowers.
After Atlanta, he gave his gold medal to King Bhumibol Adulyadej who was celebrating his 50th anniversary as Thailand's monarch.
"I will do the same again if I win in Sydney," he said after sailing through to the quarterfinals with some really stylish boxing.
"I feel I have much more experience," he said, speaking with the quiet confidence of a man who firmly believes he may have a second date with destiny. "I am putting that to good use." (Reuter)