The Congress, attended by International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev, saw the Thai beat Uzbekistan’s Saken Polatov by 18 votes to 11 in an election held on the rest day of the ASBC Asian Youth and Junior Boxing Championships.

He replaces the United Arab Emirates Anas Al Otaiba, who did not seek another term having been elected in 2018.

Asia is the second boxing Confederation to elect a new President in less than a month.

In February, the Oceania Boxing Federation chose French Polynesia’s Tauhiti Nena to replace Australia's Ted Tanner, who had led the Continental Federation since 2014, but decided not to stand for a third term.

Al Otaiba had stood against Kremlev for IBA President in December 2020 but was eliminated in the second round of voting.

Chunhavajira is the chairman of Thai energy company Bangchak Corporation and last December was elected for a fourth term as President of the Thailand Boxing Association.

Chunhavajira had reportedly promised to step down after Tokyo 2020 to open the way for the governing body's technical chief Somchai Poonsawat.

But, in the end, stood against him in the election and beat him by 69 votes to 34.

Chunhavajira had been elected to the Executive Committee of the International Boxing Association - which at the time was known by the acronym AIBA - at its Congress in Moscow in November 2018.

Chunhavajira resigned less than two years later after not attending any meetings, which he blamed at the time on his busy work schedule.

He later claimed that the real reason he resigned was that, following the suspension of AIBA by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he feared his presence on the Executive Committee could jeopardise the participation of Thailand's boxers at Tokyo 2020.

The IBA - as the organisation is now known following a rebrand at the end of last year - is still suspended by the IOC and its place at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles remains in doubt after it was left off the preliminary programme.

Boxing is safe for Paris 2024, but it remains in doubt whether or not the IOC will allow the IBA to organise the tournament.

Chunhavajira had claimed during his campaign for ASBC President that he has "good" IOC connections.

A further complication for the IBA, however, is the fact that Kremlev, who is seeking re-election as IBA President at an Electoral Congress in Istanbul on May 13 and 14, is Russian.

The IOC last month urged International Federations to prevent Russians competing in major international events following the invasion of Ukraine.

It has so far not extended the suspension to officials but there will inevitably be doubts over whether the IOC will reinstate the IBA in time for Paris 2024 if it continues to be led by a Russian.