Philippine Polo mourns death of Asian pillar

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Mikee Romero (1 Pacman Party-list) lost a big brother following the tragic death of Thai duty-free billionaire Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.

“I lost a great brother, sobrang close ko dun,” said Romero in a text message following the confirmed report that Vichai died after his helicopter crashed outside Leicester’s stadium on Saturday.

While the enigmatic Thai billionaire was into football and Romero is into basketball, both share one passion – the love for polo.

Romero recalled that he played several times with Vichai (who owns VR Polo Club) and sons –Aiyawatt and Apichet – in Bangkok (King Power), and was touched how they treated him.

“Grabe , I felt like I was also a royalty during the times I played there,” said Romero. “Polo and football players all over the world are mourning the death of one of their  sport’s pillars.”

Vichai became a global celebrity following the fairytale success of Leicester City in the Premier League in 2016.

Despite the five million to one odds, Leicester City persevered to win the world’s richest football league by tallying 81 points – beating traditional powers like Arsenal (71), Manchester United (66), Manchester City (66) and Chelsea (50).

“We in the polo community were ecstatic following his success of Vichai in the Premier League. That was huge.”

Romero remains confident that the death of Vichai won’t derail the growth of polo in the South East Asian region, saying his sons are going to carry the torch.

Thousands of Leicester City fans mourned the death of Vichai outside the stadium’s gate.