The National Olympic Committee of Thailand fielded a team of 54 athletes, 26 men and 28 women, to compete in fifteen sports at the Games. It was the nation's joint-largest ever delegation sent to the Olympics, alongside the team sent to the Tokyo Games in 1964.[2][3] Thailand made its Olympic debut in women's boxing, BMX cycling, golf, and men's table tennis. Moreover, it registered more female athletes than males for only the second time in history.
Fourteen athletes on the Thai roster competed at London 2012, including badminton star Boonsak Ponsana (men's singles) and table tennis player Nanthana Komwong, both of whom made their historic fifth Olympic appearance as the most experienced competitors on the team.[2] Apart from the veterans, four more Thai athletes made their third Olympic appearance, namely welterweight boxer Sailom Adi, freestyle swimmer Natthanan Junkrajang, pistol shooter Tanyaporn Prucksakorn, and world's top-ranked skeet shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit. Other notable Thai athletes included professional golfer Ariya Jutanugarn, who became the first Thai golfer capture the major championship title, and world's top four badminton player Ratchanok Intanon (women's singles), who was named as the country's first female flag bearer for the opening ceremony.[1]
Thailand left Rio de Janeiro with a total of six medals (two for each color), its most successful Olympics since 2004. Four of these medals were awarded to the team in weightlifting, including two golds won by Sopita Tanasan (women's 48 kg) and Sukanya Srisurat (women's 58 kg), and two others in taekwondo.[4] For the first time in four decades, Thailand failed to pick up a single medal in boxing, as neither of its fighters progressed beyond the quarterfinal round.[5]
One Thai archer qualified for the men's individual recurve at the Olympics by virtue of a top five national finish at the 2016 Archery World Cup meet in Antalya, Turkey.[6]
Thailand has qualified a total of seven badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament based on the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016: two entries in the women's singles, one in the men's singles, and a pair each in the women's and mixed doubles.[9]
Thailand received an invitation from the UCI to send a women's BMX rider to the Olympics, as the next highest-ranked eligible nation, not yet qualified, in the UCI Olympic Ranking List of May 31, 2016. BMX rider and Asian Games champion Amanda Carr was named to the Thai team on June 1, 2016.[16]
Thailand has entered four golfers (two per gender) into the Olympic tournament. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (world no. 53), Thongchai Jaidee (world no. 38), Ariya Jutanugarn (world no. 7) and Pornanong Phatlum (world no. 34) qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for their respective individual events based on the IGF World Rankings as of 11 July 2016.[17][18]
Thailand has qualified one judoka for the men's heavyweight category (+100 kg) at the Games. Kunathip Yea-on earned a continental quota spot from the Asian region, as the highest-ranked Thai judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.[19][20]
Thailand has qualified one boat each in the men's and women's single sculls at the 2016 Asia & Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Thai sailors have qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the individual fleet World Championships, and the Asian Sailing Championships.[21]
Thai shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and Asian Championships, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) as of March 31, 2016.[22][23]
Thailand has entered three athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games. Suthasini Sawettabut and incoming five-time Olympian Nanthana Komwong scored a second-stage victory each to book two out of six remaining Olympic spots in the women's singles at the Asian Qualification Tournament in Hong Kong.[27] Meanwhile, Padasak Tanviriyavechakul received an unused Olympic spot in the men's singles as the next highest-ranked player, after Hong Kong made its decision to decline a berth in the same tournament.
Panipak Wongpattanakit qualified automatically for the women's flyweight category (49 kg) by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings.[28] Meanwhile, Tawin Hanprab and Phannapa Harnsujin secured the remaining spots on the Thai team by virtue of their top two finish in the men's flyweight (58 kg) and women's lightweight category (57 kg), respectively, at the 2016 Asian Qualification Tournament in Manila, Philippines.[29]
Thailand has entered two tennis players into the Olympic tournament, signifying the nation's return to the sport after an eight-year hiatus. Due to the withdrawal of several tennis players from the Games, twin brothers Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana received a spare ITF Olympic place to compete in the men's doubles.[30]
Thai weightlifters have qualified five men's and four women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships. The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by June 20, 2016.
The full weightlifting team, headlined by London 2012 silver medalist Pimsiri Sirikaew, was named to the Thai roster on July 18, 2016.[31][32]
^"เงือกอุ้มเจ็บไหล่คาดหายทันลุยอลป.แน่นอน" [The "mermaid" made a comeback for years to the pool after a shoulder injury] (in Latvian). Siamsport. 17 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
