Welfare Provision for Thai Olympians

Abstract

                 This research aims to examine the current status of Thai Olympians and provide welfare management guidelines for their benefit. The sample population consisted of 20 policy-level executives from sport associations under the Sports Authority of Thailand which had sent Thai sportsmen to the Olympics and executives from sports organizations involved in sending athletes to the Olympic Games. Include of 77 Olympians. The samples were selected using the purposive sampling technique. The research tools used were interview and questionnaire with 4-point Likert Scales. The index of Item-Objective Congruence was the procedure used in evaluating the questionnaire’s content validity, while the Cronbach’s alpha correlation coefficient was the measure used to assess the reliability. The quantitative data were evaluated using frequency, mean, standard deviation, and percentage. From the research results, it was found that Thai Olympians still do not have the stability in their lives that they should, and there is still a need for welfare promotion to support the athletes’ morale and to build life stability for them. Both the executives and the Olympians had similar levels of requirements in all aspects, including profession and career, education, security, safety, health, and consultation. These were the aspects that indicated “strongly required.” Among all the aspects, “profession career” was the most strongly required, while “consultation” was the least. To effectively provide guidelines for practical benefits in all five aspects, the government should establish a working unit to be responsible for policy planning as well as guidelines for the provision of Olympians’ allowances. In addition, the government should closely coordinate with both governmental and private organizations to provide professions/careers with lasting futures for the Olympians. Ultimately, the government should care for the Olympians’ after-retirement lives in aspects including health insurance, security, and safety in order that they can have good quality of life, not being burdensome to the family and society or the overall nation.