Mawin or Marwin Stadium, as it’s sometimes called, is two back-to-back training ground pitches of Thai top-tier football club Muang Thong United. The venue is around a mile north of their Thunderdome arena in Muang Thong Thani, north Bangkok.
The two pitches are divided by a long covered raised grandstand with several steps looking down onto the pitches. Changing rooms stand behind the far goal on the pitch farthest away from Watthana-Pakkret 39 Road.
Both pitches are equipped with modern drainage and modern floodlights, with the wide expanses of Mali Market offering ample car parking.
My visit
Thaispirit 0 Aidin Sports 0 (Friday 6th May 2022) Thailand Amateur League Bangkok Group F (att: c180)
The Thailand Amateur League offered plenty of options for some spectating, with some at venues I’d never previously been to. A Friday afternoon fixture was more than welcome and proved no problem to me on a retirement visa.
Not being familiar with Mawin Stadium when the fixtures came out, I asked the administrator of the Bangkok Premier League to kindly help me out, with Thaispirits’ Facebook page also offering further details as the game neared.
Heading out from Minburi on a pleasant early afternoon, I took a minivan towards Pak Kret, getting out on Chaeng Wattana where I knew the 66 bus headed to the bus depot near Thunderdome Stadium.
I learned a lesson as the bus continued all the way under the flyover at Pak Kret and took a U-turn back to Khlong Kluea Road before heading north. I could have saved time by crossing the footbridge and joining an earlier bus over the other side.
Like many outings, I was gathering information for future adventures. Alighting at Impact Arena, I set off past United’s stadium and headed up Watthana-Pakkret 39 Road, noticing darkening skies over the Chao Phraya River.
It was a bit further than I anticipated, reaching a place in the stand just as the teams lined up for the kickoff. Spirit had a very healthy support, with several of the youth team players in tow. Singhanon FC and DX FC were on the pitch on the other side of the stand in the same group of the competition.
Fans were treated to a very even first half as both sides played some nice football. As the interval approached, the storm clouds and the sound of thunder and lightning were building. The rain started falling heavily. The pitch quickly became what I would term waterlogged.
They somehow managed to reach half-time, when the peak of the storm was overhead. The rain breached the roofing and winds blew it through the stands. I managed to get downstairs to the dimly lit corridor to get some protection.
I’d already called it a day as far as seeing the rest of the match. The problem was how would I get home without a proper soaking? No taxis were available on the Apps, and regardless of that, it was impossible to get to the car park from the stand because of flooding.
It was the best part of forty-five minutes, but groundstaff unblocked drains and water slower started to drain away. Remarkably both games were to be completed. I couldn’t quite believe what I witnessed.
Credit had to go to both teams and referee, Niruch Panjontuk for getting on with things. Inevitably enough, the sodden pitch meant passing was very difficult. Both teams struggled to put any fluent moves together through no fault of their own.
I cannot recall either keeper, Sutaporn Kongwut for Spirit, or Watcharapong Tangpipatpaiboon for Aidin having to make a save. Both sets of defence held command. A scoreless draw was the correct result.
Fortunately, most of the rain had completely stopped as I headed away. A look at Google Maps suggested a different route back might work, so I headed towards Tiwanon Road past a couple of extremely interesting bars.
A bus soon arrived which took me towards Chaeng Wattana. A little walk later and a van pulled up which took me all the way home. More education and an interesting day in which I saw football being played in what were ridiculous conditions.