Several tournaments at home and abroad are awaiting Thai athletes and fans this year, including the Fifa World Cup, Asian Games and Suzuki Cup.
Here we look at five interesting events:
Asian Games
Vietnam was originally chosen to host the 2018 Asian Games but it pulled out of organising the quadrennial event due to financial problems.
In came Indonesia, which, unfortunately, has its own political and economic problems.
However, its government and sporting authorities have promised that the country will be ready for the Aug 18-Sept 2 tournament.
A total of 39 sports will be contested at the 18th Asiad with 426 gold medals up for grabs.
The disciplines include jet skiing, paragliding, contract bridge and 3-on-3 basketball with eSports as a demonstration event.
Thailand won 12 gold medals to finish sixth overall at the previous Games in South Korea in 2014 behind China, South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan and Iran.
Judging from Thailand's performance at the 2017 SEA Games, it will be difficult for the Kingdom to bring home 12 gold medals from the Asiad.
But Thai officials are upbeat about their athletes' chances in Indonesia.
"It will be difficult for Thailand to finish fifth overall at the 2018 Asian Games but we have to win no less than 12 gold medals," said Nattawut Ruangwes, deputy governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand.
Among Thailand's gold medal contenders are sepak takraw stars, taekwondo exponents, weightlifters and boxers.
The weightlifting team will be led by Olympic and world champions Sopita Tanasarn and Sukanya Srisurat.
Taekwondo star Panipak Wongpattanakit, who won five titles last year, is seen as a gold medal favourite at the Asian Games.
World Cup
Thai football fans have enjoyed watching all World Cup matches live since 1990.
However, nobody in Thailand has bought the 2018 World Cup broadcast rights.
This is because potential investors have been scared away by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission's (NBTC) regulation which stipulates that live major sporting events such as the World Cup and Olympics must be aired on free TV as well.
Sports Authority of Thailand governor Sakol Wannapong is trying to make sure that Thai fans would not miss football's showpiece event.
He said the broadcast rights for the World Cup cost about 1.3 billion baht and the SAT plans to use about 500 million baht of public funds with the private sector investing about 800 million baht in a joint-venture.
"The SAT wants the Thai people to enjoy the World Cup. If we do not show World Cup matches live, it would be a shame," said Sakol.
Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat, however, said it may be improper to use taxpayers' money to acquire the World Cup broadcast rights as not everybody is interested in watching the tournament.
Rajevac's future
Serbia's Milovan Rajevac began his reign as coach of the Thai national football team last year, replacing Kiatisak Senamuang who quit following a string of heavy defeats.
The War Elephants have since had creditable results.
In three World Cup qualifiers under the 63-year-old Serb, Thailand drew 1-1 with the United Arab Emirates and lost 2-1 to Iraq at home and were narrowly defeated 2-1 by Australia in Melbourne.
The Thais also won the King's Cup on home soil.
The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) only signed a one-year contract with the coach, who arrived in the country in May.
The FAT is keen to hand him another one-year contract but according to FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang, the Serb wants a longer deal and a higher salary.
The Thais will defend their Suzuki Cup title later this year.
They will also take part in the four-team King's Cup tournament in March along with the UAE, Slovakia and Gabon.
According to the FAT, the three visiting teams have promised to send their A sides to the tournament.
If that is true, then Thai fans will see for themselves some of the world's and Asia's top players including Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Slovakia's Marek Hamsik and the UAE's Omar Abdulrahman.
New LPGA champion
Ariya Jutanugarn has won seven titles on the LPGA Tour so far and is still the only Thai champion on the elite women's circuit.
Her older sister Moriya has come close to winning a breakthrough title in several tournaments, including the Evian Championship last year.
The 23-year-old led after two rounds at the major event, which was reduced to three rounds due to bad weather.
She held a three-shot lead after 12 holes in the final round only to fade in the home stretch to finish joint third.
"I hope to keep improving. I will keep pursuing my first LPGA title next year," Moriya said in a recent interview.
"I want to win my first title. But I do not want to put too much pressure on myself."
Porananong Phatlum has also been in contention to win her first LPGA crown on a couple of occasions and could finally become successful this year.
First MotoGP
The Thai government has secured a deal with Dorna Sports to host MotoGP for three years at Chang International Circuit with the first to be held in October.
PTT Plc has become the main sponsor of the Oct 5-7 MotoGP in Buri Ram which is now officially called the PTT Thailand Grand Prix.
The one-year sponsorship contract is worth 80 million baht.
While Thai officials believe that parties concerned are capable of staging a good event, they have to prove it as at least one rider -- who happens to be one of the greatest of all time -- is not happy with the circuit.
"I was in Thailand for Yamaha two years ago and the track is not interesting," Valentino Rossi was quoted as saying.
"It's very boring, does not have a lot of corners, just long straights. I think it's not the best place to go.
"So I'm not very happy to go to Thailand, essentially, on that track. But if we have to go, we'll go."
