Leicester City soccer players and staff arrived in Thailand on Wednesday to pay their final respects to their boss, Mr. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, founder and former chairman of King Power International Group, at a Royal creation ceremony to be held this evening  at Wat Thepsirin.

The English Premier League team is led by its new manager Brendan Rodgers and captain Wes Morgan.  They are due to fly back to England on Saturday.

Vichai and four others, including the pilot, died in a helicopter crash outside the King Power stadium in the UK on October 27th last year after a home game against West Ham United. British aviation investigators later found that the accident had been caused by a malfunctioning tail rotor control mechanism.

Vichai bought Leicester City nine years ago and tirelessly developed the team to its peak in 2016 when they won the Premier League Championship – the first time in the club’s 132 year history.

The late duty-free shop mogul also sponsored young Thai footballers to train in England through the Fox Hunt program and promoted talented Thai players to play in overseas clubs.