My interview with Nigel Baine, who started Thailand's first independent English language site dedicated to covering Thai football, in 2009.
Please can you introduce yourself
My name is Nigel, I’m from Australia. Previously I spent 15 years living in Thailand.
You shot a TV pilot. What happened to this?
Thanks for the chance to share my story.
How did you first get interested in Thai football?
The first time I became aware of the Thai League was in September 2008. At that time I lived in Ayutthaya. There was a match on whilst I was visiting my gym located under the main stand of the local football ground. There was a bit of noise coming from the stand above so I went out to have a look. A crowd of about 500 was watching a game which appeared to be taken a little more seriously than the regular social fixtures. A man told me it was PEA v Army in the Thai Premier League. I later learnt it was the fourth to last match of the season and the local team PEA, (Faifa Yutthya) were poised to win the league. I managed to persuade a couple of friends to join me for the next 2 home games and the final away game verses Bang Pra, where we lifted the trophy. It was a heady couple of weeks and a lot of fun. Unfortunately for me the club was relocated to Buriram in 2010.
How did you get your information about Thai football in those days?
The only information I could find was through the official Thai Football Association website and a site called coreballthai, they were both completely in Thai. There was also a forum in English where a few foreigners chatted about the league. I think there were about a dozen of us exchanging news and opinions by the end of 2009.
Why and when did you decide to start a Thai football website?
I was learning to read Thai so thought it may be fun to start a blog translating info from the Thai websites into English. In 2009 the interest in the league grew so I made the website, thailaeguefootball.com.
How long did it run for?
I gave up the domain thaileaguefootball.com in 2019. It ran for approximately 10 years.
What kind of things did you feature on your site?
Originally the website just had news (translated from Thai news websites), fixtures and results. As time went on I met some of the foreign managers and players so I included interviews with them. Later I got help from some other football enthusiasts.
How did you promote your site?
In the beginning I just posted in the odd forum to promote the site. As the league became more professional I felt the need to get the word out so I got a little adventurous. At the Liverpool v Thailand match in 2009 I joined up with Dale outside the Rajamangla stadium to distribute fliers to every white face we could see.
Some Thai media picked up on what I was doing. They were mystified as to why a foreigner would be interested in Thai football when the European game is so much stronger. I appeared in A-Day magazine, True Sport TV and in an article for Matichon. When interviewed I talked about benefits sports culture has for a country, how I was excited to see it grow and in my small way be part of it.
How much time - on average - did you spend on your projects?
Probably too much. There was always more news than what could be translated so I kept pretty busy. It was a consuming project for a few years. My girlfriend at the time, Kassie helped lots.
Which aspects did you enjoy doing the most and why?
I think the best thing, (along with the game of football) was the community. Almost all of the English speaking fans were supportive of each other in the spirit of the game. I also enjoyed practicing Thai and using it for something which other people found useful.
Who else helped you with the project and what did they do?
From about 2011 there were some people who helped with Thai League Football, they raised its standard as a media platform. With a photographic memory and brilliant Thai ability, Kevin Watkin from New Zealand ran our twitter account. Scotsman, Malcolm Imray wrote regular articles summarizing the weekend action. Matt Riley from England started many great media projects. Joseph Edmed was a half Thai, half English photographer. Later, in 2017 you, (Dale) helped make an awesome weekly podcast along with Gian Chansrichawla. Welsh/Thai player Mika Chunounsee also joined with some media projects. Paul Murphy also sent some articles in although have never had the chance to meet him in person.
How did you recruit these people?
Most of the people were already posting things online, I asked if they wanted to join the site. Joseph, I met whilst I was working for a photograph company outside of football. You, Dale introduced me to Gian. I met Matt at a Muangthong game.
What co-operation did you get from clubs, players, coaches, Thai league etc?
The foreigners in the clubs were always willing to chat as they were somewhat shut out of the Thai media due to the language barrier. Some Thais were helpful, but it was mostly difficult to work with them. Sometimes I think they were suspicious of my intentions.
What is the funniest thing that happened to you during your involvement with your site?
Probably the funniest thing was the constant assumption that I was a football player. I was in my early 30’s so I guessed I looked the part. Every Thai person I spoke to decided I was a player as they couldn’t comprehend why else I would be involved in the Thai League. The profile of the league was very small.
If you were starting out now what would you do differently?
I think I would pay more attention to the history of the league in Thailand. A lot has happened in the league in the past which adds meaning going forward. Also I would probably be a little more careful about the projects I got involved in and who I worked with, but it’s all part of the learning process. I could have done some things much better if I didn’t let myself get distracted by too many projects.
There is now so much more English content available, what part do you like to think you played in initiating this?
I don’t know if I played a huge part in the content that is available now. Thai football is now mainstream so I am sure it’s inevitable foreigners would be busy creating content. I did however notice many English language podcasts started shortly after we began ours. I’d love to see live facebook “pundit podcasts” pre match, half time and post-match to tune into and listen to live reactions.
Not really sure. There were always lots of promises from T-Sport and SMM Sport, but nothing really eventuated. I remember shooting a football talk show pilot with Mika Chunounsee, Douglas Cobo and Matt Riley. I have no idea where that is these days (I have a copy - ed).
What are you up to now?
Now I live in Australia where I work in a school. Karma gave me a wife from Buriram, (the city that stole my club). We have a 5 year old boy who is the main focus of life these days. I plan to return to Thailand every 2 years or so for a visit and the odd game. The last time I was in Thailand was January, I took my wife and son to the Thailand v Australia game. Maybe further down the track I will return to live in the country.
Do you still follow Thai football?
Yes, I’ve never stopped following the league. It’s easy to do as games are live online and many Thai League enthusiasts are ever present on Twitter. My team, Ayutthaya FC are currently in the third tier. Mostly I just enjoy following the league, I’m optimistic about its future. I’m looking forward to the seeing what happens in the new site thaileaguecentral.com.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
When I first watched the Thai League I was not really a football fan, just a general sports fan. Now my interest in sport is almost exclusively in football and tennis. Last weekend I joined about 200 fans to watch the local team play here in the Australia, this is wholly due to my time in Thai football.
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