Thai world No 10 Boonsak Ponsana, who last year lost to reigning champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia in the third round, should have a comfortable first round against the inexperienced Craig Goddard of Scotland.

A win will give the Thai a chance to play the winner of the match between Japan's Sato Shoji and Lang Ville of Finland.

However, if he beats the Japanese or Finn, he faces a Herculean task in the third round against former world No 1 Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark.

In the men's doubles, Thai world No 21 Sudket Prapakamol and Patapol Ngernsrisuk will face Kumasaka and Pardo Guilherme of Brazil in their first round. Their toughest rivals appear to be Malaysian world No 3 Choong Tan-fook and Lee Wan-wah, who the Thai duo may face in the third round.

In the women's singles, Boonsak's younger sister and Thai No 2 Salakjit should get through the first round, but will then take on Macao Open runner-up Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong.

If she gets past Yip, she will have an even tougher third round match against title holder Xie Xingfang of China, who also won this year's Hong Kong Open and All-England crowns.

In the women's doubles, world No 7 Saralee Thungthongkam and Sathinee Chankrachangwong have received a first round bye and will take on Nigerians Grace Danial and Susan Ideh, who also received bye, in the second round.

In the mixed doubles, Sudket and Saralee, bronze medallists at last year's world championships, have a better chance than their team-mates this year.

They received first round byes and will take on lower ranking opponents, either France's Stoyanov Svetoslav and Eymara Elodie or Paixo Alexandre and Lamy Filipa of Poland.

Sudket and Saralee still face strong challenges from China's Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen, who were quarter-finalists in the All-England and China Masters. They also have to get past South Korean world No 2 Lee Jae jin and Lee Hyuo jung, who beat the Thai pair in the final of the SCG World Grand Prix Thailand Open in July.