My interview with Thai Port fan and blogger, Marco, from 13th June, 2010
Q - How does a lad from The Wirral (north-west England) end up supporting Thai Port?
A – Well, I spent five months travelling the length and the breadth of Thailand in 2009 and decided to spend my last six weeks in Bangkok before returning to the UK. I went to see a few AFC Cup, TPL and Division 1 games in the capital which were enjoyable, but I wasn’t really drawn to any of the teams. As soon as I went to see Thai Port though, I felt an instant affinity, despite them being a bit unfashionable and just above mid-table (very much like Everton!).
Q - Which was the first match you went to in Thailand? And what were your first impressions of Thai football?
A – I went to watch the Thai League All-Stars vs Manchester City in 2007 at Rajamangala Stadium, which was a reasonable game. The first Thai League match that I went to was Khon Kaen vs Police United last season. I got invited along by the Khon Kaen players, who I had met at a temple in the city about an hour or so before the game. In all honesty I thought they were just a Sunday League team. I only realised otherwise when I was in the back of a pick-up truck with a few of the players and someone pointed to Issarapong Lilakorn (now at Thai Port) and said ‘he plays for Thailand’! I was impressed with the standard of football on display at Khon Kaen, despite the terrible pitch hampering both teams. The Stadium was neat and tidy and the fans were colourful and vociferous. It was a good first experience of Thai League football.
Q - Which was the first Thai Port match you went to? And what were your first impressions?
A – My first game was a 1-1 draw between Thai Port and Nakhon Pathom. It was a superb match that had pretty much everything - including floodlight failure! At that time there were only two stands at PAT Stadium, which were quite sparsely populated, but the fans that were there made plenty of noise and were incredibly friendly and generous towards me. Since that day I’ve followed the clubs fortunes intently.
Q- Why did you start your website?
A – There were a few good English language websites around dedicated to Thai football and there were some specific websites for Thai clubs springing up (such as yours), so I thought I’d give it a go! It has been a really good way for me to stay in touch with what is going on at Thai Port and in Thai football in general, because I’m always searching for new things to post. I’ve had pretty good feedback, including some from a few recently converted farang Thai Port fans, so hopefully the stuff I post is of some interest! I also have some regular readers who provide links to news items and snippets of information which is greatly appreciated!
Q - On average, how much time do you spend on your site each day?
A – I try not to spend too long, but it can be time consuming looking for stories, translating them into English and then re-writing them. Some days there is nothing to post, others there are three or four things, so it can vary a lot. Keeping the stats, fixtures and results section up to date all takes time, but it’s worth doing.
Q - What is the strangest thing anyone has ever written to you about via the site?
A - I’ve had plenty of CV’s from African, European and South American footballers. I’m pretty sure some of the CV’s are heavily embellished though! Saying you’ve played for Chelsea, when you actually played for Chelsea Under 12’s is basically lying isn’t it?! I’ve also had loads of agents contacting me trying to flog Thai Port some new players. An Asia based guy actually sent me a pdf file with the details of the players on his books. There were some pretty decent names on it!
Q - Do you always reply?
A – Yes, I always reply. I can’t really help these guys out apart from giving them the standard e-mail address of Thai Port. I imagine the club must get inundated with requests for trials etc, so whether the CV’s get looked is anyone’s guess. Certainly none of the names that I’ve seen have ended up in the Thai Leagues.
Q - Which type of article do you enjoy posting the most?
A- A breaking news story is always good such as some transfer news etc, but I really don’t mind. I try to stick to facts as much as possible rather than airing my thoughts, because at the moment I’m not seeing enough Thai Port games to be able to comment on player performances etc. Having said that, I did get off the fence briefly to vehemently defend Sasom Pobpraserd when a few people were calling for him to be sacked just three games into the season, which was plainly ridiculous. I also quite enjoy posting stuff about the Thai National team as it seems to create plenty of interest. I think I’ve seen the last 7 or 8 Thailand games, so I am able to be a bit more forthright with my opinions on that subject!
Q - Is there anything that you've been told that you wish you could post but daren't?
A- Nothing about any of the Thai Port players anyway! ; ) I was told that we were signing Sarayoot Chaikamdee about 4 months before it happened. The guy who told me gave me permission to post the info, but in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have. If was given news like that again, I’d keep it to myself.
Q - How much cooperation do you get from the club?
A- I don’t have and have never had any official contact with Thai Port. I’m not even sure they know my website exists to be honest?! Basically it is 100% unofficial. I recently started posting news about Port Authority Futsal team. One of the PAT players has been a big help to me and regularly gives me news. I am more than happy to promote the team, as they don’t have their own website.
Q - How frustrating is it being 6,000 miles away when your team is playing?
A- It is very frustrating! On the plus side, at least you don’t have to wait around all day for the match to start. Home games are over by 12:30pm UK time, so it’s good from that point of view, but I’d obviously much rather be at the match.
Q - How frustrating is it trying to watch matches on a computer?
A- This can also be very frustrating! If the internet stream is working well, it’s great, but if it is buffering all the time it can be a bit annoying, especially when the stream cuts out when someone is about to shoot! It’s better than nothing though, so I can’t really complain. Fortunately, highlights of the games can be found on youtube, so I always get to see the goals at the very least.
Q - Any plans to return to Thailand?
A- Yes. I’d like to think that I will be back later this year for a holiday, although the exchange rate of £ to Baht is dreadful at the moment and doesn’t look like improving any time soon, so I’ll have to save a bit more cash than I’d normally have to!
Q - Would you prefer Everton to qualify for the Champions League or Thai Port to win the TPL?
A- Definitely Thai Port to win the TPL. I agree with David Moyes when he said that the view of success have become blurred in English football. Finishing 4th place in the league is seen as success. It isn’t success. At least in Thai football if you want to qualify for the AFC Cup or Asian Champions League qualifiers you have to actually win something!
Q - Would you prefer England to win the World Cup or Thai Port to win the AFC Cup?
A- It’s a tough one, but it has to be Thai Port to win the AFC Cup. It’s club over country every time for me.
Q - Finally, a prediction for Saturday, please.
A-It’s a bit of a cop-out, but I’m going to answer this one with a quote from Frank Skinner. “You can’t predict the score of a football match. If football was predictable, we wouldn’t love it so much.” – I couldn’t agree more!
Q - Thanks Marco.
A - You're welcome.
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