The news was another blow to Thai football. Only last month coach Chanvit Pholchivin decided to leave the Thai national team to join Dong Thap, a Vietnam V-League club.

Withaya's decision came as a surprise. He had been hesitant. Chon Buri Football Club tried to keep him by improving its offer, including a new house and a salary hike.

"But on second thoughts, I felt there was no certainty around here," he said, implying mismanagement of Thai football.

"The new season's match-up of games has yet to come out, and the Thai players have no discipline," he said. "I felt I was wasting my time."

You may think that Withaya was simply making an excuse to leave, as he will receive Bt40 million under a three-year contract to coach Tottori, which currently plays in the third-tier league in Japan.

But Withaya has been there before, coaching for a Japanese team. Apparently the money is not the only factor, though it's naturally an important one, in his decision.

"The main thing is that I haven't had an opportunity to help the Thai football-club association develop Thai football," he said.

Let Withaya's last words before his departure for Japan on Sunday serve as a warning to the Football Association of Thailand. Otherwise we will keep losing good people.

Dinner talk with PM

If you want to listen to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont talk up close and personal, go along to a dinner talk hosted by the Thai Journalists' Association (TJA).

The fund-raising event will hear a talk called "Think for Thailand" and feature Teerayuth Boonmee, social critic and lecturer at the Faculty of Sociology and Humanity at Thammasat University, and Prasong Lertrattanavisut, deputy editor of the Matichon Group.

Proceeds from the event, which will also announce annual print and photography awards, will go towards supporting the activities of the TJA.

The TJA is the biggest grouping of professional print media in the country. One project that the proceeds will support is its Issara News Centre in Pattani, set up to report on the deep South.

The dinner will be held on March 5 from 5pm to 9pm in the Napalai Ballroom of the Dusit Thani hotel in Bangkok. For more information and reservations, contact the TJA at (02) 668 9422. Tickets are Bt30,000 for 10 seats. Reservations are essential as seating is limited.

Jeerawat@nationgroup.com