Here's the third entry in our new regular feature. Take five (or in this case, six) Thai football fans, share five contentious opinions with them and let everyone have their say. Nice and simple. Our panel today is made up of Rob B ("Nomad"), Jamie (Buriram Utd), Robert S (Chiang Mai), Will (Pattaya Dolphins Utd), Obb (BG Pathum Utd) and Stephen (Muang Thong Utd). Take it away, chaps...
1. All Thai league grounds should have a running track.
Rob B: Of course. What's better than watching a match from miles away. So successful, West Ham adopted it.
Jamie: Only the teams with few supporters, and the away end should be at the farthest possible point away from the pitch. Put in an extra high jump pit to extend the distance.
Robert S: Clearly. They are a grossly underused facility. Pre match entertainment should involve mascots from both sides racing around the track while in full costume...preferably a steeplechase track.
The four officials should hold a 100m race pre match - whoever finishes last has to referee the match. In T2 it really would make no difference.
No more bookings - use the running tracks as a form of sin bin where miscreants have to parade around the track x number of times in the style of the ministry of silly walks while being pelted with an ample supply of rotten fruit. The Nakhon Pathom fans would have loved that last weekend.
At half time the medical staff should be positioned around the running track to lead the crowd in a ten minute workout class - think seventh innings stretch!
Since we will never be rid of running tracks we simply have make them a part of the entertainment.
Will: No football ground in the world should have a running track! Fans need to be up close to the action. I make one exception to this rule – Bayern’s Olympic Stadium. Only because I have fond memories of my UK team, Norwich, beating them 2-1there in 1993, becoming the only English team to ever beat them there. A record that can never be beaten after Bayern moved to the Allianz Arena!
Obb: Definitely. The stray dogs love them!
Stephen: All Thai league grounds should have a running track - and the stands need be as far from the pitch as possible
2. Away fans should be charged more than home fans.
Rob B: And so they should. Trying to dilute home advantage by travelling in numbers. And furthermore they should be given the worst place in the stadium, just to replicate good old England.
Jamie: Why not? What do away fans bring to the matches experience?
Robert S: Look - we appreciate that you have driven half a day across the country - and spent your money in our hotels, bars and restaurants - but you need to understand that the club is just a tenant and to the stadium owners you are an annoyance, an irritation, a problem that ideally will go away.
We have to open up a part of the ground that we would happily leave in disrepair; worse we may need to create a space for you as far away from the pitch as possible using a combination of left over constructions materials, Meccano sets and sticky back plastic.
We have to employ an extra ticket collector for the eight of you that went to Nakhon Pathom last weekend; then find the local Malvolio to act as security.
The stadium owner has to build the equivalent of the Berlin wall to keep you away from the good people of the local town and even create an empty DMZ to keep fans apart. This is all space that could be sold to home supporters if it was not for the nuisance that away fans create.
Basically you are lucky that we are not the FAT and do not charge you 3x the cost of home supporter tickets...we can get to that next year!
Will: Never. Away fans are crucial for a decent atmosphere – and they should be encouraged to travel in numbers. Especially here in Thailand when quite often vast distances need to be travelled on dangerous roads. Away fans should be charged less.
Obb: Yes, yes, yes. Part of the “REAL” football experience is to suffer away from home.
Stephen: Away fans should be charged more than home fans - and Away Zone seats must have a solid view of no more than 25% of the pitch.
3. Foreign fans should be charged more than Thai fans.
Rob B: At least double. Unless they're Chinese of course.
Jamie: Foreign fans should be forced into the VIP seats and charged 5x the regular price. After all, they’re not real fans. Whoever heard of a foreigner cheering a Thai team?
Robert S: And put in a separate fortified pen - from which one fan is taken out and fed to the lions everytime a goal is scored....
If the clubs want a revolt - at least do it in style!
Will: Aah, the old ‘dual pricing’ chestnut. I know this winds some people up no end, but for me it’s just part of living in Thailand generally and I can’t say it’s something that I lose sleep over. I can see both sides of the argument to be honest. I do think those of us who live/work here, pay taxes, or are married to a Thai should be treated as equals. For tourists? Well, if you can afford to come here on holiday then don’t moan about an extra 100 baht or so now and again.
Obb: Yep. Make sure to write the Thai price in Thai numbers. That’s how you trick the farang.
Stephen: Foreign fans must use the Thailand Pass app and upload passport, visa, bank statements for the past six months, TM.30 form, letter from their employer, vaccination records, and proof of insurance, then maybe we'll let you in.
4. Madam Pang has done wonders at Port and with the Thailand national team, she should be made head of FAT.
Rob B: You mean she isn't already? She should be. A football genius of Geoffrey Richmond proportions (thankfully not in weight)
Jamie: I thought she was already the head.
Robert S: I know nothing about Madam Pang except that she is a brand that other clubs - yes I am thinking of you Chiang Mai United - have been trying hard, but not always successfully, to emulate.
Good for her.
The joint heads of FAT should be Ekanit Panya's parents who are far more approachable than anyone at the FAT.
Will: Honestly, I don’t know too much about her, Port or the national team. I know she’s a billionaire and seems to be doing an impressive job from what I can tell. I have no idea if she’s popular or hated. My knowledge of Thai football is mostly local – I moved to Pattaya in 2016 for work, went along to watch Pattaya United about a week later with some like-minded friends hungry for some local football, and never looked back. Unfortunately the club got the ‘MK Dons’ treatment and were relocated and renamed Samut Prakan FC in 2018.
It was fairly depressing until Chokchai Tespan took over in 2021, renamed us Pattaya Dolphins Utd and things became really enjoyable again. We came tantalisingly close to getting promoted to T2 last season and what would have been an epic meeting with Samut Prakan, only missing out on head-to-head results in the playoffs after an almost unbeaten season in T3 (East). In hindsight, I really should have listened to Dale when he encouraged me to go and watch/support Chonburi FC instead…. but after seeing Pattaya Utd once I couldn’t do the dirty on them! Anyway, I’ve gone off on a tangent and failed to answer the original question, so I’ll stop now.
Obb: Great start as the War Elephants general manager! She appointed Mano Polking. Can he win the AFF Cup with less than a week to work with the squad? True Pang masterclass.
Stephen: Already done.
5. There should be no restrictions on the number of foreign players in a match day team.
Rob B: Open to all clubs aside from Buriram who should be forced to field an all Thai side to even things up a bit.
Jamie: All teams, apart from Buriram United should be allowed more foreigners, to give the others a chance of winning something.
Robert S: The Miss Universe Organisation is now owned by Jakapong “Anne” Jakrajutatip, CEO and biggest shareholder of JKN Global Group (JKN).
In order to support Thai businesses investing overseas and to promote co-operation between the FAT and Miss Universe foreign quota players should only be hired from the countries that win or are runners up (an heir and a spare!) each year in the annual pageant.
Of course that means an annual turnover of players - but that happens already at most clubs!
The current Miss Universe is Harnaaz Sandhu of India who was crowned on December 13, 2021 - Virat Kohli would make a fine addition to any T1 squad!
Will: Tricky one this. I think the balance is just about right at the moment. While we all want to see the best players playing for our teams, if the floodgates were opened for foreign players then it would ultimately lead to a complete imbalance where the rich/top clubs would become far too good and we’d end up with something akin to England where, frankly, the Premier League is just boring these days. For the Thailand national team to get better, they need the best players playing at the best clubs, and if the top tier gets flooded with foreign imports then that’s just not going to happen.
Obb: The Thais can go and play in T2!!!!
Stephen: Serious answer this time: the issue for Thailand's football progress is not about foreign quotas, it's about the lack of a coherent and sustained grassroots strategy, combined with an insufficient fan base to generate the revenues needed. Thai football fans spend more money on Manchester, Liverpool, etc. than they do on their local teams.
Please note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of each individual and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the blog. Thank you.
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