Why Thai Eventing Has Never Looked Stronger
Thailand's two highest-rated eventing performances on record both came this spring. Led by Korntawat Samran's historic 94 HPR, the results are the clearest sign yet that a decade-long investment in the country's elite programme is paying off ahead of Aachen 2026.
The best eventing performance Thailand has ever produced came three weeks ago. Korntawat Samran and Feliz Am'or posted a 94 HPR to finish second in the CCI4*-S at the Royal Jump in Chaumont en Vexin. No Thai rider has hit a higher number at four or five-star in the EquiRatings era, which runs back to 2008.
He backed it up two weeks later. On a different horse, Carouzo Bois Marotin, Korntawat Samran recorded an 87 HPR and a top-ten finish in the CCI4*-S at Luhmuhlen. That is the second-best Thai result on record.
The two best Thai performances in eighteen years arrived inside a fortnight, from the same rider.
High Performance Rating measures the true quality of a single performance. It weighs the strength of the field, the winning margin, and the difficulty of the day, so a strong run in deep opposition outranks an easier one on the same score. The higher the HPR, the better the performance.
Here are the ten best Thai four and five-star performances on record.
Korntawat Samran owns the six best Thai performances on this list outright. The first result from another rider sits at seventh, where Nina Ligon and FRH Butts Leon come in with an 85 from 2012. Samran takes ninth too, seven of the ten in all. The other three slots go to Nina Ligon twice and Weerapat Pitakanonda once.
The pool he is rewriting is small. Five Thai riders have ever started a four or five-star: Korntawat Samran, Nina Ligon, Weerapat Pitakanonda, Arinadtha Chavatanont and Terri Impson, whose single run came in 2008. Across eighteen years, that is the entire roster. So a list of the best Thai performances on record is a small group breaking new ground, and one rider doing most of the breaking.
It is a two-rider era now. Only Korntawat Samran and Weerapat Pitakanonda have run at the level since the start of 2025. Between them they hold eight of the ten best Thai performances on record, and the top six belong to Samran alone. The form is current and it is concentrated.
HPR rewards the quality of a run, not where it finished. A high-rated result can come from a deep field and a strong performance without a win attached. That distinction is reflected in Thailand's top riders. Korntawat Samran leads on HPR strength while Nina Ligon has the wins. Nina Ligon still holds the most Thai top-level wins, with three (versus Korntawat's 2), all from 2011 and 2012.
Two riders, one programme, and the numbers that put them at the top of the Thai list.
The 94 HPR at the Royal Jump is the best number any Thai rider has produced. Korntawat Samran is 28 and this is the peak of his career to date. The 11-year-old was previously produced by Maxime Livio, and this marked just the pair's fourth start together. It was also their first completion at CCI4* level, having withdrawn before cross-country at Strzegom last year.
Korntawat is a multiple Asian Championship medallist and was Thailand's first rider at an Eventing World Championships, at Pratoni in 2022 where he finished 24th. At the 2025 Asian Championships held on home soil in Pattaya, he finished individually third and lead the team to gold. The HPRs are the flagship rider of a national programme hitting his best form.
The other Thai name collecting major results this spring is Weerapat Pitakanonda. At 42, on Chateau De Versailles M2S, he posted an 85 HPR at the same Royal Jump fixture. It is one of the best results by a Thai rider other than Korntawat Samran in the modern era, and it puts another result from this spring inside the all-time top ten.
Chateau De Versailles M2S has been his partner for years and was the horse he made his four-star debut on back in 2019. A career-best performance at 42, alongside the younger man's rise, is its own story.
None of this is an accident. Thailand's elite eventers have been based in France since 2013/2014, training with Maxime Livio at his yard in Saumur. The European base was the plan of Thailand Equestrian Federation president Dr Harald Link, who set the targets when he took the role in 2012. The HPR surge is the long-term return on a decade-long, federation-funded bet finally coming through.
Thailand celebrated its first-ever rider at a World Championship in 2022. Now, as the team builds towards Aachen 2026, there is growing reason for optimism. The nation's two highest-rated performances on record have both come this spring, suggesting Thailand could arrive at the championship with its strongest opportunity yet to deliver a standout result on the international stage.
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