Charoen Wattanasin

Charoen Wattanasin (Thai: เจริญ วรรธนะสิน) (born 1937) is a Thai badminton player who won international championships in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Career

Between 1958 and 1962 Wattanasin captured the open men's singles titles of Malaya, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, and France. He also shared the open men's doubles titles of Malaya, Scotland, the Netherlands, and the USA. Wattanasin was a men's singles runner-up to Denmark's formidable Erland Kops at the All-England Championships in 1960 and 1962. He represented Thailand in the Thomas Cup (men's international team) campaigns of 1957-1958 and 1963-1964.

Corruption scandal

In 2000, Wattanasin was inducted into the World Badminton Hall of Fame. However, there were scandals and corruption issues when he was the president of the Badminton Association of Thailand between 2009 and 2013. In 2010, 16 players and coaches quit Badminton Association of Thailand as they did not receive supporting fee from the association, while Wattanasin claimed that he already provided support.

Political perspective

In 2014, Wattanasin criticised the European Union's decision to impose political sanctions against Thailand for overthrowing an elected government by stating that Thai people should ban products from the EU, particularly cars, and stop travelling to the EU as well; however, his sons owned BMWs and his daughter was a communication general manager for Chanel Thailand.