Thai Football Travels
by Jamie Pinder
There’s a certain deep down enjoyment in following your ‘home town’ football club both home and away. The camaraderie and friendships that you build over there years as well as the shared pleasure and pain of being a football fan.
Like many expats, I joined the game many years after I’d moved here, having for a long time never realized there was a Thai League, let alone a top tier team near me. I’m fortunate, some may say unfortunate, to live in the province of Buriram, currently home to the most successful Thai team in recent years. Somewhere around 2011 I Thai friend of mine, a local policeman, invited my wife and I to go to a football game. Assuming it would be a bit of a kick around I was astonished to find a stadium filled with 14,000 crazy fans that had a rather unusual, for me, section where people stood, cheered, danced and sang songs for the entire match. I’ve no idea who was playing or who won but it got me interested and that year I went to the old Khao Kradong stadium a few times, watched a few games, bought a shirt, and was hooked.
I learned that this team had become the league champions and they were building a new stadium to seat 28,000 people. Where on earth in Buriram would you find that many people who wanted to watch a game? It opened to great fanfare and the first match I saw was a Champion’s League qualifier against Brisbane Roar which still ranks as my favorite night at the stadium. It was a one off match to see who would go to the group stages. No goals after 120 minutes and the stadium was packed and absolutely bouncing, except in the away end where there was one lonely Australian. It went to penalties and Buriram won. Amazing scenes and the start of an amazing journey for me. At the end the team stood around the center circle, linked arms and sang with the crowd. Everyone except me seemed to know the words and it took me a while and many games to learn them.
Under the ownership of New Chidchob, Buriram United have become the number 1 team in Thailand, won numerous trophies, and regularly attract the largest crowds. Up until the last year or two, you were guaranteed 15-20,000 fans at the home games and each time we travelled away the stadia would be full which meant that every match was a real occasion.
At the Chang Arena now, there is plentiful parking and Buriram Castle which has restaurants and shopping. There are activities around the stadium for hours before kickoff and the atmosphere builds nicely. As I’ve now learned, the singing and dancing troupe are known as GU12, which I translate as “we’re in this together”. At home games I sit as close as I can to them to enjoy the singing and fan noise, led by the lovely Karuna Chidchob and her ‘twin sisters’. If an English fan has never seen an overseas games where megaphones and drums are employed then they should come and see. It all adds to the day out.
For me though, it’s the away days that are the most fun. Being in Buriram, our newest away trip is to Korat, an hour and a half away. My first time to their large stadium was not as a Buriram fan but as a Krabi FC fan, on the day that Korat were crowned champions to league 2 and promoted to the top table. The stadium was packed and the singing was top drawer. At half time I was dragged by an expat friend and Krabi fan on to the pitch. I has no idea why but we exchanged scarves and pennants, and had a jolly good time. I forgot that I was wearing a Buriram shirt and took some fearful abuse from the home fans as I walked back to my seat, passing in front of the main home stand!
All other away trips involve a fairy early start and there’s a very set routine. Out of the house, stop at the first PTT patrol station, fill up the car, grab a frappe coffee from Amazon, too cheese and ham toasted sandwiches from 7/11 and a couple of kit-kats too. Into the car, Bat Out of Hell of the stereo and prepare to meet some lovely local policemen 10 minutes down the road who will tell me that I’m driving too fast. Aside from bathrooms breaks, my first stop is usually Pathum Thani to pick up my long-time associate and ticket supplier, Ms. Kingkarn. She has access to ticket and knows directions to every stadium so we’ve become very good friends.
Away days have morphed into away weekends and each place has pros and cons. For traveling outside Bangkok, anywhere down the eastern side usually means a few days or R&R on the edge of Pattaya in a beautiful resort run by a crazy Frenchman. Bangkok matches mean an overnight and anywhere else depends on location and what’s there to see. Chiang Rai is one of the best as we usually fly up with the team, get to know some of the players and have a short holiday. It was on one of these that we joined the team in the departure lounge just as a certain left back (Judas) was starting his campaign to destabilize the club from the inside. Noticeably, he sat with one other player away from all the others and didn’t mix at all. We know something was amiss but didn’t know what. It was about 2 months later that he was transferred and he became public enemy number 1. (Wicked left boot but never liked him really.) The trip includes a visit to the border market in Myanmar or popping across to Laos at the golden triangle, plus a couple of drinks and some supper at the night bazaar. Shame that the stadium is so far out of town and there are never any taxis to take you back after the game.
Chonburi is fun as it’s a chance to meet with another expat or two and put the world to right. Srisaket means a drive thru southern Isaan and for some reason, the fans all stop in Surin on the way home for Thai food yet nobody really makes it a night out and goes to Tawan Deang!
Port means engaging with a wonderful group of expats in the Sandpit before the game, and for the close knit Buriram expat fans, it also means a lunchtime start in Nana Plaza before moving on to the stadium (allegedly). And, of course, there’s the excitement of being put in a pig pen on a council estate when you go to visit Muang Thong. Despite the small ground, it's still the place with the atmosphere closest to en English ground; it’s loud, hostile, abusive and you’re very close to the pitch, all things that make winning there a real treat.
All the teams have their singing and dancing sections at their home games but over the years it’s been interesting to occasionally go to a game where my team are not involved and stand in the away end. The first year that Sukhothai came to the premier league, we went to their game at Chonburi and stood with their fans. They were loud and proud, very vocal, very friendly and truly welcoming albeit a little confused by seeing two people in Buriram shirts among them.
This was, for me, the day Jon Baggio announced himself to Thailand. I also had a quite surreal experience at Rayong, going to watch PTT play Krabi the day after Buriram had played Pattaya. They have a lovely new stadium and we, Ms Kingkarn and I, struggled to find a ticket office. Apparently Krabi FC had not sent a supporters’ bus and so no fans were expected. For the first 45 minutes, as stood alone, just the two of us, in the away end, my friend in her Krabi shirt and me in my Buriram one. The TV cameras would pan to us every so often and when Krabi scored, it was a weird scene as the camera zoomed in on the two away fans making all the noise and bouncing up and down! Just to add to the excitement, the local radio station insisted on interviewing us and once the photos were published on Facebook, there were many comments as to why ‘half’ the away fans were wearing Buriram United shirts. Some Krabi FC even petitioned the club chairman to award us for our loyalty by giving us season tickets! (Surely we’d suffered enough!).
As much as most fans hate the mid-season breaks (and don’t get me started on this!!), they do create an opportunity for teams to go on tour and take their product and players to far flung corners of the country, and even to neighboring countries. A couple of years ago Buriram United undertook a tour to Ranong and Prachuap, when the latter were a struggling second tier side. Now apart from the distance, Ranong is an easy drive. South from Bangkok, right at Chumpon and you’re there. Shame not to spend a night at the beach on the way, I thought. Leaving Chumpon,, heading west, we pulled into the first PTT station for the usual necessities and parked behind the team bus. Of all the PTT stations in all the towns, we had to use this one!
The bus was, strangely, empty, as the team were flying down but needed transport once of the ground. We went to the airport and were treated like royalty, interviewed (again) and made to feel at home, until that is, the team arrived. It was organized mayhem. Thousands of ‘selfies’ and flower garlands made it a wonderful arrival. As an aside, late August is the wettest time of the year in Ranong and the friendly was played on a bog with football really not being possible. We sat on the ‘bench’ with the coaching staff and tried to stay interested.
The second part of the tour was to Prachuap where the game was well attended. On the way across the peninsula we found, allegedly, the best ‘salapao’ shop in all Thailand too, which was a real bonus.
Being a Buriram United fan with time on your hands (which I don’t have right now) means that you get to see the country with friendlies in all 3 of the “southern Muslim” over the last couple of years and into next year.
Finally, the best away trip ever! AFC Champions’ League 2014, Buriram United away to Shandong Luneng in China. What was so good about it?? Well, firstly being in a 50,000 seat stadium with 35 away fans being guarded by 40 Chinese soldiers who really didn’t want their photos taken. Secondly, watching the home fans (about 30,000) signing and then trying to out sing them (just not possible)…until we scored to equalize in the final minute and the place went rather quiet, except of course for the 36 Buriram fans!!! And finally, the best thing ever….getting to walk on the Great Wall of China!!!! Bucket list-status “DONE”!!
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