There is also a mistaken belief that the disciplines of billiards and snooker were introduced to the Kingdom of Thailand only recently. Believe it or not, the two sports have been played in Thailand for more than a hundred years.
However, it is sad that the two disciplines fell a prey to unscrupulous gamblers and the government of Thailand in 1935 decreed to recognise billiards and snooker as second-degree gambling sports and banned the participation of youth aged under 18 years. The law remains in force to this date.

This restriction, however, failed to impede the growing popularity of snooker in Thailand and the year of 1957 saw the organisation of the first national snooker championship. The Thai Merchant Association continued to stage the championship until 1970 when Vichian Saengthong won the national title.

Then came a lapse of 12 years during which no national snooker or billiards championships were held.

An Englishman living in Thailand named Maurice Kerr, a former managing director of the prestigious Royal Bangkok Sports Club, revived the national snooker and billiards scene and organised the first proper snooker national championship using 15 red balls and international rules and regulations in 1982. It turned out to be a tough going as the 20 participating Thai cueists were made to don waistcoats and full-sleeve shirts for the first time. Moreover, most of them were unfamiliar with the international rules and regulations. Vichian Saengthong won the national title again.

It was in the same year that Maurice Kerr, who passed away in 1988 leaving a big void in the Thai snooker setup, founded the Thailand Billiards and Snooker Association with Sindhu Pulsirivong, the current president of the national association, late Opas Lertpruek, Sutichart Jirathiwat, Sakda Rattanasuban, Police Maj. Gen. Narong Rienthong and Takerng Sawasdiphan being its founding members.

Maurice Kerr then brought together the Southeast Asian nations of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei to stage the first regional snooker championship in 1983 in Singapore. Thailand's Vichian Saengthong won the top honours after beating compatriot Ta Tonyuthitham and also recording a break of 143 points.

Because of the need to represent Asia with one voice, a few countries then gathered together in early 1984 at Calgary, Canada, spearheaded by the late Maurice Kerr, and decided to form an Asian Billiards & Snooker Federation (ABSF, which is now known as Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports or ACBS), which eventually came into being in the same year.

The eight Founder Country members were Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand, who jointly, organised the inaugural Asian Snooker Championship in 1984 held in Bangkok under the ABSF. Sakchai Sim-ngam of Thailand emerged the first Asian snooker champion for that year.

Following the death of Maurice Kerr in 1988, the year young Wattana Pu-Ob-Orm won the first world title for Thailand in Australia, Sindhu Pulsirivong took over the helm of the national association, which changed its named to the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand (BSAT).

Thailand has made rapid progress in snooker since Wattana's triumph in Australia. Noppadon Noppachorn (1991), Chuchart Trairatanapradit (1993) and Sakchai Sim-ngam (1995) later added their names engraved to the world amateur trophy.