(photo Caroline Favier)
| The rugby field is
located at the center of the Royal Thai Naval Academy and surrounded by
barracks
1, 2, 3 and 4, near the Naval Cadet Corps, Royal Guards. The field is
67
x
132 meters, which is according to the standards of the International
Rugby
Board. There’s no record when it was built, but now it’s used as training field for the rugby team and other sports for the cadets. In January 2004 the RTNA received a budget of 250,000 baht for the improvement of the field. The RTNA is the host academy of the 42nd Traditional Military and Police Academy Sports Tournament [Cadet Games, Ed.] this year. This tradition started in 1961. The 4 military academies, which are the Chulajomklao Royal Military Academy, the Royal Thai Naval Academy, the Royal Thai Airforce Academy and the Royal Thai Police Academy, realized the essence of unity. Therefore an annual sports event was organized to build the relationship between the 4 institutions. It is also called the Cadet Games. It lasted until 1997. After the 37th Cadet Games, this sports tradition was cancelled, but 3 years later a committee from the 4 academies recommended the tournament should be re-instated. The Chulajomklao Royal Military Academy volunteered to be the host academy and selected 4 categories of sports: football, basketball, rugby and athletics at that time. Since then the tournament has been arranged annually. The rugby team of the Royal Thai Naval Academy joined when the Cadet Games were organized the first time and won. Totally, from the 41 times, the RTNA rugby team won the 1st place in the tournament 10 times... |
| References: Thai Rugby Union. International Rugby Rules. Bangkok, 1995. Chulajomklao Royal Military Academy. "Rugby Results". Program of the 41st Traditional Cadet Games. 2003: 36. Vongprakrong, Lt. Surat. Personal interview. 16 June 2004. Last update: Humanities Department, October 2004. |
