Unclear if NS defaulter Ben Davis will join Thai team for Asean Cup in Singapore
National service (NS) defaulter Ben Davis has been called up by Thailand for the Asian Mitsubishi Electric Cup, setting up a potential showdown with the Lions and the Singapore authorities.
On Nov 27, defending champions Thailand announced their 26-man squad for the Dec 8-Jan 5 tournament, and the selection is eye-catching as far as Singapore are concerned. The teams meet at the National Stadium for their Group A encounter on Dec 17.
When contacted, a Ministry of Defence (Mindef) spokesperson referred The Straits Times to its statement in February 2019, which said that Davis did not report for NS as required and had thus defaulted on his NS commitments. It added that he was staying overseas without a valid exit permit.
Offenders convicted of offences under the Enlistment Act can be jailed for up to three years and fined up to $10,000.
It remains to be seen if Davis will travel to Singapore for the clash. Teams can register 26 players for the tournament but can name 23 players for their match-day squad.
The Football Association of Thailand declined to comment when contacted by ST while Davis did not respond to a request for comment.
Born in Phuket to a Thai mother and an English father, Davis moved to Singapore with his family when he was five before becoming a citizen four years later.
The midfielder played for Singapore up to Under-19 level and was called up for the senior Lions squad in 2018 but did not earn a cap. Then 17, he became the first Singaporean to sign professional terms with an English Premier League club, Fulham. However, his request to defer NS was denied.
In Parliament, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen gave three reasons why Mindef rejected his application. The first was that he was playing as an English national, as listed on Fulham’s website.
The second was that his father Harvey Davis had “consistently refused to indicate” when his son would return to do NS if deferred, and said this was because there “are a lot of variables all dependent on his development and progression”.
Third, Mindef said Harvey had indicated that his son would still sign the contract with Fulham if deferment was not granted and would consider the option for his son to renounce his Singapore citizenship to pursue his career.
Six months after Mindef’s statement on Davis, he came on as an 89th-minute substitute in Fulham’s 1-0 League Cup defeat by Southampton in August 2019. He was called up a month later to Thailand’s provisional squad for the 2019 SEA Games, as he switched his international football allegiance to his country of birth.
In an interview with Thai television channel True4U then, he said: “This is the best choice for me. Thai football has a bright future and a chance to succeed. My parents also support my decision to the fullest.
“At first, my dad wanted me to play for Singapore but, for some reason, it did not happen. My mother is also very pleased that I have been given this opportunity.”
At the international age-group level, he eventually played for Thailand in the 2020 Asian Football Confederation U-23 Championship, 2022 U-23 Asian Cup, and the SEA Games in 2022 when he scored in their 5-0 win over Singapore.
He received his first senior call-up for the King’s Cup as a replacement for Chanathip Songkrasin in September 2023, then collected his first senior cap in an 8-0 drubbing by Georgia a month later.
At club level, the attacking midfielder made five more appearances in the EFL trophy and recorded an assist for Fulham before he moved to Oxford United in 2021. Without a league appearance in England, he was loaned to Port FC in 2022 and stayed on in the Thai League 1 with Chonburi in 2023.
He was then released to join Uthai Thani in 2024 and has had a breakthrough season with two goals and two assists in 14 games in the ongoing season. His team are 10th in the 16-team league.
Davis, now 24, has also been busy off the pitch, endorsing products for cosmetic brand Garnier and using his 97,000-follower reach on Instagram to auction his U-23 Asian Cup jersey to raise 13,000 Thai baht (S$507) for flood victims in Chiang Rai in September.
David Lee
Additional reporting by Deepanraj Ganesan
The Straits Times
Asia News Network
