NEW!! Following The National Team by Svein Lorentzen: 2020

Following The National Team

by Svein Lorentzen

I attended my first football match in Thailand on November 10th, 2004 when I was there on holiday. It was actually a World Cup match between Italy and Brazil. We arrived in Chiang Mai that morning and at the airport we saw the 2004 FIFA U19 Women`s World Championship were being promoted. There was a match at the 700th Anniversary Stadium that evening, and we went there. 6,000 fans saw Brazil win 2-1, and they ended the tournament in 4th place. The later famous and world class player Marta won the Adidas Golden Ball award.

In 2007 I moved to Thailand and started to follow the country`s National team. My first match was a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Yemen on November 18th, 2007 at Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok. A stadium in the city centre that`s very easy to get to. Thailand won the match 1-0 and I enjoyed it a lot, and started to look forward to other matches. At this time I didn`t know anything at all about club football in Thailand, so the national team games were the only matches I went to see, or even knew about. The fans were very different from what I was used to, with their drums and music. The crowds were often big and atmosphere great. And everyone was very friendly.

At the end of December 2007 I attended my first King`s Cup match. It was the final of the tournament and Thailand beat Iraq 1-0 at Rajamangala Stadium. This stadium is the largest in Thailand, but unfortunately was not as easy to get to as Supachalasai, since there was no skytrain or metro. It could take forever to get away from the area after the matches. Now it`s much better, as the airport link is only a few kilometers away and lots of motorbike taxis are taking people to and from the stadium in only a few minutes.

In the following years I attended friendlies, AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, FIFA World Cup qualifiers, King`s Cup matches and AFF Championship matches. Those matches included my home country Norway playing Thailand in the King`s Cup, and also a “big” Scandinavian derby against Denmark in the same tournament. Hundreds of Scandinavians attended that match and it was a lot of fun being there. The match between my two countries, Thailand and Norway, is also a great memory.
This were good days, as we could sit in our seats at Rajamangala buying burgers, nuggets and drinks from McDonald`s, who had staff walking around in the stands.

On September 6th, 2016, Thailand played at home to Japan in their 2018 World Cup qualifying group. Thailand lost 0-2 in front of 44,500 fans at Rajamangala. My plan then was to also attend the next 4 matches at home in the group, but that suddenly changed. In November 2016 Australia were the next guests in the group. It was a big match against a good team, and I wanted to attend the match. That didn`t go as planned! Foreigners who supported Thailand were banned from buying their own tickets, unless they were bought for the away section. 

We would get in to the home sections of the stadium if we got Thais to buy tickets for us, but I didn`t want to attend matches to support my team if they wouldn`t allow me to buy my own ticket. I had at that time lived in Thailand for 9 years and had supported them since my first match back in 2007. I also didn`t want to sit amongst the away fans while supporting the home team. A reason for this new policy was never given.

From that time, in disappointment and anger, I didn`t even watch Thailand`s matches on TV. Why would I continue to support or care about them when I wasn`t welcome supporting them in the stadium. I had a lot of other matches I could attend since I had supported both Bangkok United and Udon Thani for several years already.

During the next 2 years I enjoyed my football without the national team, but it was irritating that the league took long breaks every time they had a match, especially as the breaks were because of something I didn`t care about.

In November 2018, after more than a month without any club football since the league had ended, I started to get restless. Bangkok United had made some exciting signings, and Udon Thani were moving to a brand new stadium, so I needed some football. Unfortunately the new season was still 3 months away. So what to do?

Benjamin Tan is from Singapore and works for Thai League and Thai FA. I had met him at matches with Bangkok United and Udon Thani earlier in 2018, and he also posts news and info about Thai football on Twitter. With the AFF Suzuki Cup coming up in November and December, I decided to ask him why foreigners who support Thailand can`t buy tickets for these matches. I sent him a DM on Twitter. That was on a Sunday. Less than 24 hours later he replied to my message and said the issue was now resolved and foreigners could again buy their own tickets. 

When I sent the message I never thought that it would change anything, but maybe I would get to know the reason for the policy. I bought tickets for two group matches the next day. The policy should never have been in place, but it was very good that Benjamin Tan listened to a fan, a foreign fan, and got the policy changed. Most fans probably think that Thai FA don`t listen to them, or even care, but at least to me, this was something I really enjoyed and am thankful for.

In less than 3 weeks I attended matches against Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, all at Rajamangala. I really enjoyed being back, and got to see some good football. I also got to see players from both my clubs playing for their country, including one for Singapore. Unfortunately Thailand was only a poor penalty kick, far into added time, away from getting to the final of the tournament, and another match at home.

What happens with foreigners in the future when the national team play tournaments or qualifying matches at home, I don`t know, but hopefully there won`t be any bans again. But, I`m pretty sure that if I didn`t have a contact at the FA, foreigners would still need Thais to buy tickets for them, if they wanted to support the home team amongst their own fans.

Anyway, my plan is to attend national team matches for many more years, in addition to matches with my two clubs. I have currently attended over 150 football matches in Thailand and will surely attend a lot more before I`m done. I don`t even want to think about a life without football, and all the nice people I`ve met over the years watching Thailand, Bangkok United and Udon Thani. Thanks to everyone who has made football in Thailand a real pleasure for a football crazy Norwegian…