Olympic Boxer, Who Won Thailand’s First Gold Medal, Sentenced to Prison for Sexually Assaulting a Minor

Somluck Kamsing continued to deny the allegations and said he will appeal the conviction

A former Olympic boxer, who was the first athlete from Thailand ever to win a gold medal, was charged and sentenced this week to more than three years in prison for kidnapping and attempting to rape an underage girl, according to several reports.

The Associated Press, The Nation and The Bangkok Post reported Thursday that former Thai boxer Somluck Kamsing was sentenced to three years, one month and 10 days in jail. Kamsing, 52, was found guilty by the provincial court in Khon Kaen of attempted rape, abducting a minor aged over 15 but under 18, taking a minor for indecent purposes and committing an indecent act against a minor via force, according to the AP.

The embattled boxer was also ordered to pay $3,525 in compensation to the victim, as well as $1,470 to her guardians, the outlet reported.

After his sentencing, the retired Olympian was released on a bond of 300,000 baht (roughly $9,000 USD) and said he would appeal the conviction, according to The Bangkok Post. The outlet reported that the conviction stems from a December 2023 incident in which a then-17-year-old girl from Kalasin, Thailand had accused him of violently assaulting her in a hotel room after meeting earlier that same night at a club.

The Bangkok Post reported that local police said the teenager had bruising on her breast and near her vagina, and that Kamsing had attempted to rape her in the hotel room but could not get an erection so he aggressively rubbed himself against her. Kamsing denied the claims and said he had the girl’s consent, claiming also that he allegedly stopped after learning the girl’s real age.

Kamsing had turned himself in to police a week after the assault occurred and “admitted to making a mistake and promised to correct himself,” police said, according to The Bangkok Post, though the boxer denied the criminal charges. 

A man who drove Kamsing and the teenage girl from the club to the hotel on his motorcycle that night was also originally charged with abducting a minor and transporting a minor for molestation, The Bangkok Post reported in December 2023, though police did not identify the man at the time. This week, the news outlet reported that one of Kamsing’s associates was acquitted on charges related to the attempted rape, although it is unclear if the man acquitted this week was the same man charged alongside the boxer in 2023.

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Kamsing rose to prominence in Thailand in the late 1980s, winning a bronze medal in the country’s 1989 King’s Cup before later winning the gold in 1995.

The next year, Kamsing went on to become a national hero, winning a gold medal in the featherweight boxing competition at the 1996 Olympic Games. Kamsing had beaten out stars like U.S. boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Bulgarian boxer Serafim Todorov, who defeated Mayweather in the quarterfinals and ultimately lost to Kamsing in the finals.

His post-boxing life and career has made headlines for several controversies, however, including a divorce and a failed gas station business, according to the AP.

In 2018, Kamsing was declared bankrupt before Thailand’s boxing association helped bail him out of his debts, according to The Bangkok Post. Since he retired from boxing, Kamsing has reportedly appeared in a number of television shows and movies in an attempt to transition into an acting career, the news outlet reported.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.