Boxer Worapoj Petchkoom: Duped by a gay magazine

Worapoj, from his mag shoot

More from Worapoj's mag shoot

Former Olympics Thai boxing star Worapoj Petchkoom (วรพจน์ เพชรขุ้ม) agreed to pose in skimpy outfits for a men’s magazine – only to find out that it sells to the gay market.

The Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand is upset, and has set up a panel to investigate Worapoj’s conduct. It believes his cover shoot for this month’s Stage magazine may have brought the association into disrepute.

The 2004 Olympics silver medal winner (bantam class) did not seek the association’s consent before agreeing to the spread.

Worapoj, who has gone to the media with his complaints, says he agreed to the shoot after a dentist friend who knows people at the magazine invited him to do the cover, to mark the magazine’s third anniversary.

'I thought they were doing me an honour by asking me to pose for their birthday issue,’ he said, insisting he did not know at the time that the magazine was aimed at the gay market.

Worapoj denies he has squandered his B10m prize money and has ended up broke and desperate, like other Olympics Thai boxing champions before him.

'I still have enough to live on. In any event, the magazine paid a miserly amount – just B15,000 for two days’ work,' he told the Joh Jai show on Channel 5, in an interview taped yesterday for air on Aug 6.

‘I posed for the shoot last month. On the first day I started to have my doubts, when they brought out a pair of underwear for me to wear.

'I thought I would just be wearing a swimming costume. I refused, but they coaxed me into it, saying they wanted to see my six-pack.

‘That night I called my girlfriend, who told me it was probably a gay magazine, and the shoot would probably have repercussions for the boxing society if I carried on.

'The next day my girlfriend accompanied me to the shoot. She asked the organisers if I could pull out, but they said I had signed a contract. If I cancelled, I would have to pay compensation,’ he said.

Pressed on his finances, he added: ‘I still have the motorcycle and car I was given by sponsors. I am building a resort, the Worapoj Resort and Gym, on Khao Sok in Surat Thani.

'I do not have a problem with money,’ he insisted.

'I did not know the magazine would turn out this way...I thought it would be an ordinary fashion shoot. I am straight, with a girlfriend, but the news has upset my family.

‘Since the magazine appeared, another two gay titles have offered me work, but I turned them down. I meant to show my six pack – not my private parts.’

Worapoj says the boxing association’s rules stipulate that members get permission before accepting modelling or advertising work. He did not ask, as he thought it was just an ordinary fashion job.

He is waiting to hear from the association, and in the meantime keeping up his training regimen, at Bonanza Khao Yai in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Worapoj again hopes to compete for the country, at the 2012 Olympics in London, but if the association hands down a 12-month suspension to penalise him – one possibility he fears – he would have to hang up his gloves, as he is now getting too old for the game.

'I regret what happened and would like to apologise to boxing fans. It is one of those life lessons – next time I shall have to be more careful,’ he said.

PS: I haven’t seen the magazine. Although Thai media reports refer to him having posed in the nude, readers at the Pantip webboard, where these images appeared, disagree. 'It looks just like a spread in any other Thai gay magazine with a focus on fashion,’ say several posters who have seen it.