Airsoft is pretty old in Thailand, but not many know about its history. As far as I know I found myself an airsoft pistol in 1995. Back then, airsoft was very expensive. Airsoft practical shooting began to take traction in Thailand in 2005 with the introduction of the Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa Gas Blowback Pistol, and airsoft skirmishing began even more accepted in Thailand with the flooding of ACM airsoft guns as they made airsoft more affordable to many 2 years later.

The Thailand Airsoft Shooting Association (THASA) is the first airsoft practical shooting club in Thailand. We trace our roots at the onset of the new millennia, in the year 2000, where 10 people from different backgrounds grouped together for the love of the game and called themselves "Air Master" which until 2007, with Anon Hongdalud as the founding Chairman, became part of THASA when it was formally founded and which shall serve as the umbrella organization for the Airsoft Practical Shooting community in Thailand.

We invited well-known Thai IPSC shooters to serve as part of the advisory board and with formal establishment THASA, they advised and guided us on how to organize airsoft practical shooting competitions and coached us on practical shooting basics and fundamentals. All of these knowledge later on became the education and training course for the local airsoft communities and the general Thai public. In 2008, under the guidance of Chalermchai Boonkhoomsawas, the chief advisory board, we held 3 Air Master Challenges and in 2009, we organized the 6 Thailand Airsoft IPSC Invitations which happened for 6 months in that year.

We were airsoft skirmishers before taking up airsoft practical shooting and since being hooked into airsoft practical shooting, we never got back to shooting another person and are now focused on improving our practical shooting skills. Recently we took up rifle practical shooting and have since joined the Mini-IPSC .22 LR Rifle.

THASA is the only club in Thailand which has its shooting range that is located in a very important military camp --- the 11th Infantry Regiment King's Guard. However in 2010, with the political crisis in Thailand, where the red shirts and yellow shirts vying for political power, and riots and gunfights in the streets of Bangkok, the camp was a strategic command center, putting THASA's activities on hold. After the political crisis had blown over, we again were ready to push forward more airsoft practical shooting activities in Thailand, and around Southeast Asia.

The airsoft trend in Thailand is now on a downward slope. We believe that airsoft will stay on among those who really love this sport. Whether it’s going to completely fade or not, it all depends on those airsoft lovers to get up and do something creative, inspiring the public interest, and gain more audiences. The same goes to airsoft practical shooting community as well...

That's why THASA is very clear that it is our lifestyle, our hobby. And not being tied down so much by rules that will stifle our creativity, we then have an audience that appreciates what we do. At the end of the day, Action Air or Airsoft Practical Shooting may be what makes THASA. But we have already grown beyond its limitations and moving towards the whole gamut of action shooting sports. Anything that is interesting about shooting, anything fun and exciting about action shooting, we'll be there!

It has been 5 consecutive years, THASA has been nothing but the inspiration to airsoft practical shooting community in Thailand and lately the international community with THASA videos viewed far and wide, both in Southeast Asia, some countries in Europe, and the U.S. through mainstream social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube. Against all odds, we stand strong to our core belief and relentlessly pursue new innovative ways to generate and inspire these newly born communities. As a Chinese proverb would say "It's time for the sleeping dragon to wake up and rise." That's why we cherish our past and begin our new chapter in this 5th Anniversary Celebration.

New contents, more inspiring performances from various action shooting sports, and lots of cool stuff that will fill your heart with joy, the real meaning to why we picked up with game in the first place.

To learn more about THASA, you can either join or subscribe to the following:

• THASA Facebook Group
• My THASA YouTube Channel
• Anon Hongdalud's THASA YouTube Channel