Thailand looks to Australia for sport management expertise

Thailand has looked to Australia to achieve its ambitions of becoming a regional sports hub in ASEAN by following a two-week sports administration and management executive training program organised by the University of Queensland’s Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education.

The program participants from the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) gained an Australian perspective into the management of sports and hands-on experience in understanding the pivotal role of sports in bringing together community, businesses and government.

Participants engaged with key Australian sporting institutions with strong expertise in sports administration and management. The Thai delegates expanded their knowledge of best practice in sports administration and discovered ways of upgrading their provincial sports activities to international standards.

There were workshops held by UQ’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences and visits to sporting facilities such as Sydney Olympic Park, Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games venue Metricon (Carrara) Stadium.

Driven mainly by sport and recreation activity, business, and sporting goods manufacturing, the Thai sports industry is expected to grow at least 5% annually and by 2021, the industry’s market value is forecast to reach $4 billion.

The program was held in July 2018 and supported by Austrade Bangkok.

Image: Program attendees at Metricon Stadium.