Murphy beat Matthew Stevens in last year's final

Matthew Stevens, beaten by Murphy in last year's final, opens his campaign against Northern Ireland's Joe Swail while John Higgins meets Mark Selby.

Ronnie O'Sullivan meets compatriot Dave Harold while crowd favourites Steve Davis and Jimmy White face Andy Hicks and David Gray respectively.

The tournament gets under way at the Crucible in Sheffield on 15 April.

Full draw World Snooker 2006

Wattana, 36, was regarded as a prodigy when he turned professional in 1989, but has won only three ranking titles, the last of which was the Thailand Open in 1995.

In the final qualifying round for last year's World Championship, he suffered the ignominy of a 10-0 whitewash at the hands of Ali Carter, but this year he saw off Dave Gilbert 10-7 to book his place at Sheffield.

If I didn't want anyone it would have been Neil Robertson Shaun Murphy

White's legions of fans will hope he can defy the odds and return to the form that saw him reach and lose six world finals.

Gray will provide an testing first hurdle for the Whirlwind, as demonstrated by his gruelling 10-9 victory over Mark Davis in the final qualifying round at Prestatyn.

Murphy admitted he was pleased with the draw, saying: "If I didn't want anyone it would have been Neil Robertson. I don't have a great track record against him."

The world champion recently reached the final of the Welsh Open, having previously not gone past the last eight of a domestic ranking event this season.

But coach Steve Prest believes his pupil is running into form with perfect timing.

"Shaun played really well at the Welsh Open, which is great with the World Championship so close," said Prest.

"It doesn't matter who you get in the first round, everyone at the Crucible is capable of winning the World Championship.

"We will be really prepared for this year's tournament and will be treating every player with the utmost respect."

Full draw:

Shaun Murphy (Eng) v James Wattana (Tha)
Steve Davis (Eng) v Andy Hicks (Eng)
Jimmy White (Eng) v David Gray (Eng)
Peter Ebdon (Eng) v Michael Holt (Eng)
Matthew Stevens (Wal) v Joe Swail (NI)
Ken Doherty (Ire) v Barry Hawkins (Eng))
Alan McManus (Sco) v Marco Fu (HK)
Stephen Maguire (Sco) v Mark King (Eng)
Stephen Hendry (Sco) v Nigel Bond (Eng)
Graeme Dott (Sco) v John Parrott (Eng)
Stephen Lee (Eng) v Allister Carter (Eng)
Paul Hunter (Eng) v Neil Robertson (Aus)
John Higgins (Sco) v Mark Selby (Eng)
Mark Williams (Wal) v Anthony Hamilton (Eng)
Joe Perry (Eng) v Ryan Day (Wal)
Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) v Dave Harold (Eng)