The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) has appointed former SEA Games team coach Choketawee Promrut as an assistant to national coach Milovan Rajevac.
The appointment was made just weeks before Thailand begin their campaign at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
Thailand have suffered two consecutive setbacks at the 2018 Asian Games and Suzuki Cup and the move is an apparent attempt by FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang to avoid another mishap at the Asian Cup.
The national U23 team were eliminated in the first round at the Asian Games while the senior side, who were two-time Suzuki Cup defending champions, crashed out in the semi-finals of the Southeast Asian championship earlier this month.
Somyot announced Choketawee's appointment after a meeting at the FAT office yesterday.
He said it was Choketawee who told the FAT that he wanted to help the team at the Asian Cup.
"He told us that he wanted to be part of the team. We decided to heed his call because several players in the current national team played under him at the SEA Games. So he is close to the players," Somyot said.
Former Thailand defender Choketawee, 43, steered the U23 team to the SEA Games title in 2015.
Choketawee said: "I hope I can use my experience to help the team during the Asian Cup. My main duty is to be a 'middleman' between the players and head coach to keep things run smoothly."
Somyot yesterday also appointed Chile's Julio Cesar Moreno, assistant coach of Serbia during the 2010 World Cup, as an analyst for the national team.
"He will analyse games and players. I think he will be useful to the national team. Julio is a person who had analysed many international games. So I think this will be useful for the national team, especially in analysing the games and players that will play with us," said Somyot.
"We at the FAT have worked hard to make the national team become stronger."
The Thai players will report to the training camp today.
The War Elephants are in the same group with the UAE, India and Bahrain at the Asian Cup to be held from Jan 5-Feb 1.
The top two teams in each of six groups and four best third-placed teams advance to the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, Warrix Sport yesterday unveiled its new jerseys for the national team under the theme 'Now or Never'.
There are three grades -- players' jersey which is priced at 1,999 baht each, replica jersey at 999 baht and cheer jersey at 399 baht.
