Nine-year-old water sports wizard becomes the youngest to windsurf across the Gulf of Thailand

A schoolboy was branded a water sports wizard for being the youngest person to windsurf across the Gulf of Thailand.

Thanawat Promwaen, or Shane, 9, covered a 66-mile stretch of sea in a remarkable achievement completed in time for his birthday.

The epic crossing from Hua Hin to Pattaya took four hours and 10 minutes, and was his third attempt after the first two were foiled by poor weather.

Shane's proud mum, Pawinee Deenok, said her son's love for windsurfing began when he was only three years old.

She said: 'When he turned three and a half, after seeing his father practice, he walked up to me and said ‘mum, I want to try kite surfing.'

'I was shocked, but since he asked me, I looked for a smaller one for him.

'A practice kite is around a metre in size. At the time, he was only three years old and weighed less than 10 kilogrammes so it was difficult for him. But he has strong muscles and he managed to go against the wind.'

Pawinee said that Thanawat had a daredevil streak and enjoyed high-octane sports and activities like cycling, skateboarding, skimboarding, and wakeboarding.

Meanwhile, Shane has set his eyes on becoming the youngest World Champion in Wing Foiling and said he also aims to represent Thailand at the Olympics.

SUBTITLES

1.18 Hello, I'm the mother of Shane. My nickname is Wun, and my real name is Pawinee Deenok

1.23 It started with his dad doing water sports. His dad would practice in the water, and Shane saw all of it

1.36 Shane was only a year and a half then. He saw his dad doing it every day, so he absorbed everything from the sea

1.45 He likes it. When he turned three and a half, after seeing his father practice, he walked up to me and said ‘Mum I want to try kite surfing'

2.02 I was shocked, but since he asked me so I looked for a smaller one for him

2.11 A practice kite is sized around a meter. And he was only three years old and weighed less than 10 kilograms. So it was difficult for him. But he has strong muscles

2.31 He was strong so he managed to go against the wind. He's a happy boy. He is very active, and he likes extreme sports a lot

2.44 Anything that involves speed, he loves it. He rode his bicycle and tried to go fast when he was very small

2.54 He uses the skateboard, skimboard and also wakeboard. Now he has a special interest in motocross

3.06 I don't want him to lose focus. So I asked him to wait. I will let him do what he wants in a bit

3.24 Hello, my name is Shane. I am eight years old. I like wind and kite surfing. I like swimming

3.33 Do you like soft or strong wind?

3.35 I like strong wind

3.36 You like it when the wind is very strong, right. You like it when you can jump high

3.40 It's not hard for Shane. These are extreme sports. You need to be trained and learn the safety measures

3.51 You must know what to do when the kite falls, how to get the kite up and how to get back up safely. There are many things to learn

4.01 In his eyes, it's easy. He likes it, and it's fun for him. So it was easy for him to try

4.10 Yes, I was in the national team. Now I am focused on pushing my son. I used to spend a lot of time in the water

4.21 5-6 hours a day. I can see it in my son instantly that he likes this sport. He has liked the water since he was small

4.32 He started swimming when he was just eight months old. He likes it, and it's his passion. What's important is that he has fun doing it

4.48 I see his excitement with the water, the waves and nature.

4.53 If you ask me whether I have expectations, if I say no, that would be untrue. People live by hope every day

5.04 I don't expect too much, so I don't get disappointed. I only want to tell him to try his best

5.12 That's all I can say. Even if he's not the world winner or not number one, it's fine by me. As long as he does his best

5.25 He likes it when he's competing, he has inner power. He is excited when he's racing