Midfielder Chanathip Songkrasin has been named the men's player of the year by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT).
The Consadole Sapporo star received the accolade at the Thailand FA Award 2018 ceremony yesterday, one day after he was selected as one of the best 11 players of the season in the Japanese league.
The playmaker, known to the Thai fans as "Messi Jay", is the first player from Southeast Asia to win a J-League Best 11 Award.
The 25-year-old Thailand international previously played for BEC Tero Sasana (now Police Tero) and SCG Muang Thong United.
He will play for the War Elephants in the AFC Asian Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates from Jan 5-Feb 1.
Meanwhile, Pitsamai Sornsai won the women's player of the year award at yesterday's ceremony presided over by FAT president Somyot Poompunmuang.
The 29-year-old defender from Chonburi FC was a key member in the Thai team that sealed a ticket to the 2019 Women's World Cup in France.
Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who was killed when his helicopter crashed near the club's King Power Stadium in October, was honoured with the president's special recognition award.
Bozidar Bandovic received the coach of the year award for steering Buriram United to the Thai League 1 title.
Buriram striker Diogo Luis Santo of Brazil was named the best foreign player, while True Bangkok United star Sumanya Purisai got the Thai League 1 MVP award.
Stars report for training
Thailand's Asian Cup probables, including former Vissel Kobe left wing back Theerathon Bunmathan, reported to the national training camp yesterday.
Thailand coach Milovan Rajevac has called up 27 players for training and will later trim the squad down to the final 23 before heading for the Asian championship in the United Arab Emirates on Dec 30.
Players who reported to the training camp yesterday included former national team skipper Theerathon, playmaker Sanrawat Detchmitr and midfielders Tanaboon Ketsarat and Thitiphan Puangjan.
Thailand's first-choice goalkeeper, Kawin Thamsatchanan, who is playing for OH Leuven in Belgium, will return to the Kingdom tomorrow.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper will immediately report to the team's training camp.
Kawin is however having some injury concerns and is undergoing treatment. He will be discussing the future course of action with the Thai staff coaches and team doctor. He will be subjected to a fitness check to ascertain his readiness for the Asian Cup.
Theerathon yesterday expressed his delight at joining the national team again but also spoke of his concerns about the weather in the UAE which is expected to be very cold.
"I am ready and looking forward for the tournament," said Theerathon, who spent the year with J-League side Vissel Kobe.
"I will try to help the team go as far as we can.
"We have only two weeks left before the tournament, so our biggest task would be to help every player regain full fitness as soon as possible. Our fitness levels must be at the peak level for us to be able to perform well at this [Asian] level.
"We know that the weather in the UAE now is quite cold and will have some affect on the team. We'll have to look after ourselves well in adapting to the climate there."
The Thai national team did not have any training session yesterday.
Thailand are in Group A along with India and Bahrain and the host country.
The War Elephants will kick off their their campaign on Jan 6 against India. Their next match will be against Bahrain on Jan 10 and the last match of the group stage will be against the UAE on Jan 14.
Thailand are scheduled to play a warm-up game with Oman behind closed doors in the UAE.
