[
THE SCOOP
worldlacrosse2014.com] lifestyles The Talk of
Thailand A
How Payu Nerngchamnong brought lacrosse to the heart of Bangkok
By Justin Feil
s the CEO of a global recruiting agency, real estate developer, part-time politician and president of the Thailand
Lacrosse Association, 30-year-old Prantarit “Payu” Nerngchamnong does not rest.
“I don’t sleep a lot,” said Nerngchamnong, who also started lacrosse programs in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. “You get plenty of sleep when you’re dead.” In 2010, Nerngchamnong founded TLA. Three years later, Thailand placed third at the Asian Pacific (ASPAC) Lacrosse Tournament in June behind far more established teams Japan and Australia. Next up: the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Men’s World Championship, hosted by US Lacrosse in Denver. After the ASPAC games, Nerngchamnong tweeted, “It’s been a long road for me, and Thailand lacrosse…But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
That road began when
Nerngchamnong, who grew up 60 miles east of Bangkok in the city of Chonburi, came to Eaglebrook School, a junior boarding school in Deerfield, Mass. His mentor, the lacrosse team captain, introduced him to the sport. After getting permission from his parents to play lacrosse instead of golf, Nerngchamnong fell in love with it. “At that time, I was the only Thai that played lacrosse,” he said.
26 LACROSSE MAGAZINE September 2013>>
Nerngchamnong envisioned playing for a Thai national team, which at the time did not exist in his soccer-first country. After playing lacrosse through high school at Suffield Academy in Connecticut, he continued to play with a club team he founded while attending NYU. He returned to Thailand six years ago and two years later began working to start TLA.
“We’re the quickest confirmation team in the FIL,” Nerngchamnong said. “It took us five months. It was with the help of Tom Hayes.” Hayes, the FIL’s director of development, was blown away by Nerngchamnong’s commitment and organization.
“The thing in Thailand was unbelievable,” he said. “When we got the information from them [seeking membership in the FIL], they were as well outfitted as any Division I team. Most times, they don’t have anything. The first time we dealt with Argentina, kids were making their sticks out of bamboo.”
Nerngchamnong’s first dream was the selfish, boyhood sort — he wanted to play for the Thai national team — but his mother urged him to create something bigger and longer lasting. Sunattee Nerngchamnong, a prominent Thai businesswoman, was murdered in November 2009. “She’s the one who convinced me, if you’re going to have 25 buddies put on uniforms, if there’s no structure for it to grow, then it’s a waste of time,” Nerngchamnong said. “She helped me structure the association, the way for it to run like a business. The way we present ourselves is very professional compared to more established programs.” Nerngchamnong’s company, Enigma Global, has a couple of divisions that help TLA, from making the hip national teams apparel to producing lacrosse balls. Other Thai companies help defray operational costs. “We have over 100 players here in Thailand,” Nerngchamnong said. “About a quarter are ex- pats living in Thailand. What I’m proud of the most is at least one-third of the guys on the ASPAC
A Publication of US Lacrosse
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