LONDON - For boxer Kaew Pongprayoon, life will go on without an Olympic gold medal.
Following his 13-10 loss to China's Zou Shiming in the 49kg final on Saturday, he declared: "I was robbed."
He said yesterday: "I can now get over it. I know that Thais have sympathy for me and think I was robbed. I'd like to tell them that this is part of sports.
"I'd like to thank everyone who has given me support. I did my best. We can't change the result. We have to accept it.
"I have received several phone calls. The encouraging message I like most is 'you get a silver in London but you win a gold in Thailand. I think everybody knows who won and who lost."
The Kamphaeng Phet native said he wanted to hug his parents, wife and daughter who will be at Suvarnabhumi airport to greet him today.
"I will take my family to Koh Chang," said the 32-year-old.
He is expected to get more than 20 million baht in financial rewards from the government and private companies.
After the bout, the Thai boxing team's protest against the decision was rejected because they failed to lodge it within five minutes of the decision being declared, as stipulated.
Thai delegtion chief Thana Chaiprasit said yesterday each sport association should have a 'technical official' to look at the rules. He said that in boxing a protest must be filed no later than 30 minutes after a fight in the early rounds but it is five minutes in the final.
Meanwhile, Wu Ching-Kuo, president of the International Boxing Association (Aiba), said he had nothing to do with a decision in a boxing match.
Asked by a Thai journalist during a press conference on Sunday if there was anything wrong in Kaew's match, Wu said: "It was the judges who made the decision."
Aiba is sueing the BBC over repeated allegations of cash for medals.
Aiba has begun legal action after the broadcaster repeated on Friday night that boxing medals could be bought at London 2012.