NEW!! Ice Cold In Bangkok: 2006

Ice Cold in Bangkok
by Dale Farrington
One of the highlights of Thai football back in the day, was the post match raffle. In fact, I’m pretty sure that this would often attract bigger crowds than the game itself, with many sneaking in just as the final whistle blew so they could participate. The prizes were plentiful and not to be sniffed at so it was always worth buying tickets and, as attendances were fairly low in those days, you usually stood a good chance of winning something. On one particular trip to Bangkok, the host club’s star prize was a fridge freezer, a real top of the range model that had generated quite a bit of excitement amongst the couple of hundred who had gathered for the draw.

As all the minor prizes were snapped up, we reached fever pitch with the announcement that the next ticket out of the hat would claim the big one. The number was read out and was followed by a loud shriek, which came from directly behind me. The winner was a Chonburi fan. As she made her way down onto the pitch, we all cheered - louder than we had been doing during the previous ninety minutes - and burst into applause as she handed over the proof of her glorious victory.

Of course, once the initial euphoria had died down, the next problem was what to do with the fridge. About six of us managed to get it aboard the fan club coach, where it took pride of place front and centre just behind the driver. Within a couple of minutes some wag had filled it with beer cans and we were off, back on the road south, with a bit of unexpected extra weight on board.

Usually, there was only one pick up and drop off point for the bus on these trips - unless you were lucky enough to live somewhere en route - but following today’s events, the driver had to make a detour in order to deliver the good lady and her booty directly to her front door. We carefully negotiated all the side streets and back alleys of Chonburi and eventually arrived safely at our destination.

Again, a group of us lifted the fridge - after checking all the cans had been removed - and carried it into its new home. After plugging it in to check that it worked (would we have taken it back if it had been broken?) we rejoined the remaining supporters on the coach and completed our journey. I genuinely can’t remember the score that day - or even who the opponents were (Bangkok University?) - but I’ll never forget that fridge.