Samut Songkhram: A First Hand Account
by Eddy McCarthy
"I think Samut Songkhram is the worst ground I ever been to. All the bars above the stand look like they will fall on your head at any time, especially with the vibration caused by the Chonburi fans enjoying themselves. However, the scariest aspect for me is the fact that there is only one single gate entrance/exit for away fans. There is also only a low level fence next to the exit segregating the opposing fans. This is where most of the Chonburi fans got injured, including me. The fence here is only two metres high while the fences in the rest of the ground are six metres high.
After the final whistle there were no security guards or police inside or outside the ground. It was quite scary as I tried to find my way back to the coach. There were lots of Samut Songkhram fans running around with bars, pieces of wood and bottles but the only Chonburi fans they could find were families. After twenty minutes I think they felt a bit embarrassed and ran off in the opposite direction. But I was still scared because I didn’t know for sure if they would come back again or not. When the police finally turned up, they apologized for what had happened.
I would like to say thank you to the group of Chonburi fans in the black BMW who offered me a lift home because they felt it would be unsafe for me to be walking around looking for the bus. In spite of everything that happened, I’d also like to thank the cheerleaders who kept the atmosphere going to the last minute of the match and our team who gave us 100%."
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