The Thai women putting Thailand on the global stage

At 23, Jeeno is already a former world No.1 and one of golf’s biggest names. She has won three LPGA titles in 2026, including the Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya, taking her career total to 10. She also made  TIME's inaugural TIME100 Sports list. In September, the Thailand Foundation named her its 2026 Public Diplomacy Award laureate – recognition for the attention her career has brought to Thailand.

Thailand’s captain and veteran setter helped deliver the Olympic breakthrough fans had waited decades to see. Down 2-1 against China in the Asian Championship final in Tianjin on August 30, Thailand came back to win 3-2 and claim its first women’s volleyball berth at LA 2028. Pornpun was named the tournament’s MVP and best setter.

Pornpun directed the play; Sasipapron supplied much of the firepower. The outside hitter scored a match-high 28 points against China – 25 attacks and three aces, including two at a crucial point in the fifth set. She also made the championship’s Dream Team. That Olympic ticket belongs to a whole squad, and Sasipapron made her contribution impossible to miss.

Mixed martial arts made its Asian Games medal debut in Nagoya, and Kanjutha made the most of it. She beat Bahrain’s Diana Pogosian 3-0 in the women’s modern MMA under-54kg final on September 22, winning Thailand’s first Asian Games gold in the sport.

Milli has been taking Thai rap beyond Thailand since Coachella. This year, she became the first Thai artist to reach the final of Korea’s Show Me the Money 12, finishing fourth and topping the programme’s Global Vote. She sounded entirely at home on one of Korean hip-hop television’s biggest stages.

Lisa hardly needs an introduction, but her reach remains extraordinary. The Thai superstar works across music, fashion and screen, and September brought another widely reported milestone: the video for ‘SaWaDiKa’, with Thai culture and Bangkok in its sights, drew more than 70 million YouTube views in its first 24 hours.

At 16, Phuket-born singer and guitarist Nene Royal became the first Thai winner of America’s Got Talent, taking the Season 21 title and its US$1 million prize on September 24, Thailand time. Her run took her from a ‘Zombie’ audition and Mel B’s Golden Buzzer for ‘Black Hole Sun’ to ‘Seven Nation Army’ in the final. She also performed ‘The Emptiness Machine’ with Linkin Park on results night.

Nene had played guitar since she was seven and busked at markets in Phuket. That makes the leap to a major American television stage especially lovely – and the win even better.

Thailand's first Miss World has used her platform to talk about something personal. After her experience with benign breast lumps, Opal developed Opal for Her to promote breast-cancer awareness and early detection. The initiative has raised more than THB 1 million and supported screening and education in Thailand.

Chef Pam’s Potong brings her family’s Thai-Chinese heritage into a five-storey Chinatown building that housed their herbal medicine business from 1910. Her cooking has carried that story far beyond Bangkok: she was named Asia’s Best Female Chef in 2024 and became the first Asian recipient of The World’s Best Female Chef award in 2025.

A fighter since childhood, Phetjeeja has built an extraordinary record across Muay Thai and kickboxing. ONE Championship ranked her No. 1 in women’s atomweight Muay Thai as of September 22. She also holds its atomweight kickboxing world title, though a recent injury forced her to withdraw from a scheduled defence.

Pornpawee won her first women’s singles World Championship medal in New Delhi in 2026, taking bronze after reaching the semi-finals. She became only the second Thai woman to medal in singles at the tournament, following Ratchanok Intanon.

And then there's Ratchanok. She became the youngest women’s singles world champion at 18 in 2013 and reached world No. 1 in 2016. More than a decade after that first title, she remains a reference point for Thai badminton – a story of longevity as well as early brilliance.