Thais master Scrabble without English

participants playing a game of Scrabble during the King's Cup tournament - the globe's biggest Scrabble competition - in Bangkok.

Bangkok (AFP) - Komol Panyasophonlert struggles to string an English sentence together, but the 31-year-old Thai computer programmer is still hoping to be crowned champion of the wordsmith's favourite boardgame, Scrabble, this week.

Komol, the world Number Three, is one of several top-ranked Thais hoping to showcase their talents in the King's Cup tournament, which kicked off in Bangkok on Thursday.