AES Moonlight

 

AES Moonlight FC is an amateur football club in the Thai capital of Bangkok who were originally called Lucid Dreams AES in 2020 playing home games at Airport Stadium in Division 5 of the Bangkok Premier League.

AES is a Bangkok based engineering company that sponsored the club which then became part of the Thonburi City FC club playing as a second side in Division 3 of the same competition. In July 2022 the club changed its title from Thonburi City AES to AES Moonlight. 

Owner Sorawit Pop Sueyouyong decided that they should become independent once again with many home games shifted to Grakcu Stadium in Sai Mai as the club competed in the Thai FA Cup in the 2021-22 season, hammering TK Academy in the Qualifying Round.

The club continued to play in the Bangkok Premier League until the end of the 2023-24 season. From September 2024 they played in the Greenfield Super League.

My visits

Camp 1001/Greenkeeper

Thonburi City SEA 4 SPA Srongpol 0 (Sunday 24th April 2022) Bangkok Premier League Division 3 (att: c25) 

A 6pm fixture up Hathai Rat Road was just the job for Steve Walker and I to take in some football after I had dropped off my laptop for repairs at Fashion Island Mall and some food before we commandeered a taxi.

The match was played at the home ground of Srongpol, which AES also used, with the main issue at night of Camp 1001 being the number of mosquitos owing to its location by greenery and water. We applied plenty of repellent on a hot sticky night.

We received the usual friendly welcome from the Srongpol guys who were the first team I had seen in action after moving full-time to Bangkok when they gave me a training shirt as a welcome gift. Not something I can imagine happening in England.

We were treated to a reasonable game at a tightly enclosed venue I had grown to like. To be honest we expected an easy AES victory after seeing SPA take a proper drubbing in Nong Chok against AUU Dream Team earlier in the month.

As it transpired Srongpol had become more organised and put up a decent show, though goals from Panupong Chanhom, Metha Sirisuwansit, Kittipong Sunarak, and Phumiphat Exists made the 4-0 score about right.

Post-match we decided to need to seek out The Craft House for which I had been given a tip when visiting a bar on Seri Thai Road. Craft beer was indeed available in cans and bottles with a decent range to choose from.

It was a sensible visit on this occasion, with prices being at the higher end of the scale but we vowed to return to the establishment on Thai Raman Alley, which we did after a game a mile or so north a few weeks later. Now that was a long and expensive do!

Grakcu Stadium

AES Moonlight 6 TK Academy 2 (Wednesday 28th September 2022) Thai FA Cup Qualification Round (att: 50) 

The early stages of the FA Cup through up some interesting ties spread over two consecutive Wednesdays. Having looked through my options and knowing I was picking my pal Jarvo up from Suvarnabhumi that evening I wanted something relatively local.

This game at Grakcu Stadium, hired by Moonlight for the occasion, fitted the bill perfectly. I had seen Moonlight in action a few weeks earlier at Alpine Football CampTraining but didn’t realise they were previously known as Thonburi City AES earlier in the year when my mate Steve and I saw them take on SPA Srongpol. 

My van driver was a bit on the tetchy side, so I ended up getting out far too early along Ram Inthra necessitating a walk to Wat Phra Sri Mahathat BTS station where a free sky train ride took me to Saphan Mai.

A songthaew took me in the right direction thanks to helpful locals with me walking the final twenty minutes to arrive with the teams ready to take the pitch. Admission was free and I took up a place in the far stand with the visiting entourage from Nakhon Ratchasima. 

The pitch was boggy from the outset and cut up badly as the match proceeded leading to plenty of errors from both sides and an entertaining encounter. In the early exchanges, the “home” player Kittiiphong Areerak had a shot easily saved by Chanayut Tosanthia.

Manuchet Wansa looked strong down the right for AES from the off as did Damrong Aiemdang up front. Areerak set up Wansa who should have scored but fired over in a good position. Despite their good start, it was TK Academy who took the lead.

An innocuous free kick from skipper Kritsada Phinsanthia found Teerapong JomKor at the back post who controlled and scored with his shot taking a slight deflection on the way past custodian Kittin Uttsan on eleven minutes.

Moonlight responded as Sathian Rairat saw his shot from long range saved. The young academy lads were holding a good defensive line but were lacking in physical strength which would be their undoing when Wansa was too quick and strong as he latched onto a through ball to restore parity after swapping to the left, in a game changing move.

He put his side ahead a couple of minutes later before the half-hour mark when his strong low shot was too powerful for Tosanthia. A fine move extended the lead when a crossfield ball by Wansa picked out Rairat who fed Komin Samadpattanakit whose low cross was controlled and smashed home by Aiemdang.

The generally unconvincing Tosanthia made a decent save to deny Samadpattanakit before TK responded with both Apichart Chinsranot and then Annop Meephu with a free kick. At the interval, I popped to the Grakcu shop for a beer where their academy coaches were preparing to welcome graduates on the second pitch. 

Wansa completed his hattrick three minutes after the restart when too strong for his marker before finishing cooly. The Academy contingent around me seemed resigned to their fate, but I guess they could take pride in competing in the competition.

Referee Thapana Thaworn played an excellent advantage to allow a move to continue with Samadpattanakit being denied by the feet of Tosanthia. Senior visitor Phinsanthia saw a free kick pushed onto the angle of the post and bar by Uttsan as his side continued to rally.

It became 5-1 when more good football ended in a cutback from Areerak for Wansa to smash home his fourth of the afternoon in the gloom after sixty-seven minutes. Aiemdang hit the frame of the goal with Wansa seeing his shot saved from the rebound as the pressure continued.

The sixth Moonlight goal was an absolute belter from all of thirty yards when a dipping swerving thunderbolt from Rairat beat Tosanthia all ends up. TK gained a consolation eight minutes from time through a fine JomKor effort. 

At full time I somehow managed to squeeze onto a songthaew out on the main road back to the BTS before chaos ensued when I alighted. There was a queue for the bus, so when a 95 arrived I was happy to get on board. Only to realise it didn’t go to Minburi but it cut off down Nawamin Road.

A taxi took me the rest of the way through murderous traffic leaving me time for a quick change and shower, a beer at my favourite local bar, prior to taking a taxi to the airport to greet my friend and then get stuck into a proper session. A grand day out. 

SPA Srongpol

SPA Srongpol is an amateur football club based in the Thailand capital of Bangkok who were formed in 2020. The club is connected to the company of the same name that specialises in accounting, administration, and office services.

The team joined as members of Division Four of the Bangkok Premier League, playing home league matches at Bhutthi Anant Sports Center under head coach Phichai Piyapiwat. The club moved to Grand Keeper Football Stadium on Hathai Rat Road in Sam Wa for the 2022 campaign.

The club decamped from their home on Hathai Rat for the 2023-24 campaign, after previously adding hoarding and advertising banners. Home games were played at Bang Sao Thong Football Stadium as the side settled into life in Division 2 following a reorganisation of the competition.

The competition was reduced in size in 2024-25 with Srongpol remaining members despite victories being extremely rare.

SPA Srongpol will play in the Bangkok Premier League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Grand Keeper Football Stadium

SPA Srongpol 3 Nonthaburi City 3 (Thursday 9^th December 2021) Friendly (att: c20)

I had arrived to start a new life in Thailand the previous week and was gradually getting used to living in Minburi in the eastern suburbs of Bangkok. It was the middle of an international break for matches in the AFC Suzuki Cup so I thought I might have to wait for live football.

With nothing to lose I appealed to some fans of Thai football, I follow on Twitter to try and source something. I received a reply from Svein, a Norwegian supporter of Bangkok United which would open up opportunities I never knew existed.

He suggested checking out the Bangkok Premier League on Facebook. There was a match advertised the following day, so I asked the question if spectators were allowed to attend, bearing in mind some restrictions still in place owing to COVID.

Within minutes, Chai the Srongpol coach got in touch and told me that I was welcome. Even better was that the match was taking place just three miles from my apartment. I was as excited as a kid at Christmas, which was convenient for the time of year.

Thursday evening arrived and after a dire second day of the Ashes cricket on TV I headed over the bridge at the end of my road to await the 197 bus which would drop me nearby to the Grand Keeper Ground.

I waited and waited even longer until it was apparent that I was going to have to grab a taxi to the game. Fortunately, this is never a problem in Bangkok. They are plentiful and good value. I arrived at the ground around ten minutes before the 8pm kick-off.

Grand Keeper’s pitch was surrounded by high netting held up on the wooden floodlight pylons. It had a smaller pitch in use behind the entrance end goal, where there was also a small cover to accompany the snack bar. The main tenant of the ground appeared to be Khlong Samwa FC.

Along the roadside of the venue were small changing facilities behind a small cover, where I grabbed a plastic chair. Either side was two covers, which I guess could be both for substitutes and coaches and spectators. The ground was surrounded by trees and bushes.

Chai spotted me and came across and said hello. He had asked me if I wanted a trial for the team when we spoke online. I think he now realised why I declined. A couple of decades earlier I’d have jumped at the opportunity, but I knew my limits.

Both sides would use lots of players throughout the friendly, with rolling subs being implemented. The away side took the lead on fourteen minutes against the run of play. It was nearly two, but a shot went wide across the goal.

Srongpol’s farang goalie tipped a shot over from a Nonthaburi forward, whose side played in green with no numbers, while the officials were in bright orange. Both sides wore sleeveless training tops. Which made sense in the heat which was in the early 20’s.

The equaliser arrived when SPA’s 42 set up number 44 to slot home midway through the first half. Nonthaburi were getting through the host's high line offside trap regularly. Srongpol’s western defender wearing the 67 shirt was composed on the ball if he did overplay at times.

City missed another good chance in a game played in excellent spirit with no dissent. It was a similar standard to higher-level local district league football back home. Of course, players of that standard are susceptible to the occasional howler, and so it proved.

Srongpol’s keeper let a seemingly harmless low shot through his grasp and into the net to make it 1-2 a few minutes before the break. However, his side went straight up the other end to level things up as a low cross was deflected past the stranded visiting custodian.

The frenetic end to the half wasn’t over as number 62 pulled a man back in the box. He briefly protested and blamed teammates, but the ref was bang on. The penalty was slotted away for City to head for the interval with a 3-2 lead.

The pace was lesser after halftime, as both coaches made several changes. SPA’s 27 restored parity when he collected a pass on sixty-eight minutes and shot across the goal into the far corner.

Space and time became more prevalent as the match entered its final period. Nonthaburi piled on the pressure but couldn’t find a winner as Srongpol stood firm against a late onslaught. A draw was a fair result.

While I enjoyed the game, it was put in the shade by the kindness and hospitality of Chai and his club as he gave me a team shirt. It looks like I’m now Srongpol’s number 77! Several players also joined in with the general welcome, with some becoming Facebook friends.

After the game, I made the decision to walk home. It took around an hour and was fine aside from the occasional feral soi dogs which gave me a shock at times. At least I found out about several good options for food, drink and nightlife along Hat Yai Road.

The following morning saw me engage in further research, with everyone being most helpful. My love for Bangkok had grown even greater with the realisation that I would not be going short of football to attend and supplement my cricketing activities. I made a mental note that mosquito repellent was a necessary purchase for night football.

Please click here for another SPA Srongpol friendly at the same venue as an ‘away’ side.

Busaba FC

 

Busaba FC is an amateur football club from Bangkok in Thailand that was formed in 2014. The club joined up with another local club, Amr Nameng to strengthen their youth set up and production line in March 2021.

Busaba generally play friendly matches and do not compete in league competition although they do enter occasional one day amateur tournaments.

My visit

Grand Keeper Football Stadium

Busaba FC 4 SPA Srongpol 6 (Thursday 16^th December 2021) Friendly (att: c10)

My luck was definitely in good health regarding fixtures following my move to Bangkok a couple of weeks earlier. Research and joining several Facebook sites alerted me of a third match that I could attend in a week, despite an international break halting professional football.

The previous Thursday I’d had a lovely time and received a warm welcome from coach Chai and his SPA Srongpol team when I attended their game against Nonthaburi City which can be read about here. They were to play at the same venue, and I was keen to return.

This time I left my home at Min Residence a little earlier. I needed cheering up after a disastrous day for England in the cricket against Australia. The 197 bus arriving was a good start, with the old vehicle complete with a wooden floor dropping me at Big C near to the ground.

Unfortunately, it didn’t have a food court so after a bit of shopping I grabbed a snack at 7/11 before wandering across to be greeted by some friendly familiar faces as I settled into a seat under one of the covers.

Players from Khlong Samwa FC were training before kick-off with the game getting underway at 8.10pm. The pitch seemed in better condition than I noticed a week earlier, or perhaps the poor surface at FC Bang Sao Tong two days earlier had created that impression.

I remembered my mosquito repellent. What a difference that made! Chai had around 22 players to give a game to. Busaba’s squad probably numbered 15. In the early stages SPA’s number 4, 8 and 62 all played confident football once again, though Mark, wearing 8 was close to scoring an accidental own goal, with the post saving him.

The ’away’ Srongpol team went 1-0 up when number 4 put away a corner. A beautiful slide rule pass and a neat finish by 39 doubled the lead after twenty-six minutes. The same player missed an open goal seconds later after dispossessing the Busaba goalkeeping.

However, a far post header after half an hour extended the lead to 3-0. At this point, the referee blew his whistle to halt play. The sides came off to the side of the pitch. I asked a SPA player if it was a shortened match? He explained that it was to be four-quarters of thirty minutes to give everyone a decent game.

That made sense. Chai changed ten of his players as the next set got their opportunity. A good finish by number 69 dragged Busaba back into the contest. The team in a fetching amber and black outfit began to beat the offside trap when they attacked.

Chances were being missed at either end, with the standard not as high as in the first quarter. 8 for SPA Srongpol made it 4-1 before another interval when the original starters resumed for the boys in blue.

I was surprised that the teams hadn’t changed ends, but it didn’t really matter. The conditions didn’t give an advantage to attacking either goal. People were enjoying playing football. That should be all that matters.

Busaba got another back and then scored once again to make it 3-4 when number 13 beat the offside line to square for 9 to score. The clever interplay along with Srongpol’s high line was keeping the linesman on the far side on his guard.

However, a series of defensive errors allowed in 6 of Srongpol who scored to make it 3-5. The pace dropped in the final quarter. Credit must go to the three officials who were still going strong after two hours. I liked the tactic of the nearside linesman who flapped his flag so the ref could hear him when he signalled.

The lead was narrowed when a deflected shot from Busaba’s impressive 69 looped past the keeper. Any chance of a draw disappeared with a fine solo goal from SPA’s 10 in the final action of the game.

It had been a first for me. I had only seen games of two hours before when cup ties had gone to extra time after finishing level on ninety minutes. And I hadn’t seen teams kick the same way throughout.

But it didn’t matter. I enjoyed myself again. The welcome was warm, and I loved the way the players acknowledged each other at full time. I headed off to grab a taxi home in time to enjoy a Zoom chat with my brother and family back in the cold of the UK.

Would there be any more midweek games between Christmas and New Year? If there was, I’d be making an effort to attend.

AUU Dream Team

 

AUU Dream Team is an amateur football club from the Thai capital of Bangkok that was formed in 2020. It’s origins and connection to a company is unclear, but the side joined the Bangkok Premier League as members of Division 5.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused huge disruption to the competition, with mass postponements and realignments of each tier, with some clubs folding. AUU played the 2021-22 campaign in Division 3, finishing in fifth position.

 

For the 2022-23 AUU became connected with Thai League 3 club, Inter Bangkok, who changed their title to AUU Inter Bangkok. Dream Team continued to play in the Bangkok Premier League, where they competed in the 2022-23 season as a Division 2 club. 

My visit

AUU Dream Team 7 SPA Srongpol 1 (Sunday 3rd April 2022) Bangkok Premier League Division 3 (att: c25) 

Sunday afternoons saw my local pal Steve and I head to some of the amateur league football, which I had discovered through Facebook. He was occupied until 3pm, so this 4pm kick-off not too far away fitted the bill on a weekend of few fixtures during the Songkran holiday.

The only information I had for the venue was that it was at the National Training Centre in Nong Chock. We set out by taxi, going the wrong way which meant a long detour that took us past Bangkok Arena. 

Just how an arena, miles from the city had its title was one I couldn’t answer, but it looked impressive enough from outside. Originally titled Bangkok Futsal Arena and was built for the 2012 World Cup of that sport. Unfortunately, it was never used after a faulty floor was laid. As to its future, who knows?

Anyway, we eventually found what we were looking for after passing the former BEC Tero Sasana stadium and then being dropped off by the large buildings which once looked like a blueprint for the future but were now semi-derelict.

Round the back was three pitches. I quickly worked out which was ours as I recognised the visiting side warming up. SPA Srongpol, were a kind outfit run by Chai Phichai who gave me a club shirt a few months ago, When I visited my first game in Bangkok after my relocation.

Chai was ever helpful in informing me of fixtures and even asked me if I fancied a game. Twenty years previously for sure, but my days at that level were well in the past. Though I must admit on occasions, I did wonder.

A couple of which occurred during the first half of this encounter. The game started reasonably even before the fitness and skill of the youthful AUU side began to tell. A superb free kick on fifteen minutes from midfielder Rata Kochasen opened the scoring and opened the floodgates.

Four minutes later a far post diving header from front man Phawat Limprapunsilp doubled the lead. An awful goal kick and bad defending led to the third on twenty minutes as Sirawit Klaijinda made no mistake.

 

Srongpol were being pulled apart at ease. French goalkeeper Michele Lanari made a rare save before a free kick cannoned off his bar with the stopper well beaten. He was picking the ball out of the net once again nine minutes before the interval following a long-range effort from defender Chanakorn Soikham.

The goals were being shared out by the Dream Team with Nonthaphon Daoruang collecting a long pass and lobbing Lanari a couple of minutes later to make it 5-0. It was half a dozen on the stroke of halftime as the same player was sent clean through. 

During the break, we tried unsuccessfully to find anywhere selling water and had a walk around the pitch and taking in the pleasant surroundings. It really did have potential, if not for the national team, then a professional club as a base.

Credit to Srongpol who re-organised and made five changes in personnel, including the goalie. They were far better after the interval despite conceding ten minutes after the restart as Daoruang completed his hat trick after getting clean through once again. 

Whether AUU took their foot off the gas, or Srongpol were genuinely decent is hard to tell, but it made for a far better watch. The away side got their reward with sixteen minutes remaining as Phitsanu Chivajorn netted a consolation.

We decided to have a walk after the game and have a look at the old stadium, which once hosted big crowds in the top level of Thai football. A game had just come to a conclusion in the Bangkok Premier League. I later found out that APD United used it for their two sides. 

Wandering down lanes was a nice way to catch up and have a natter before returning to civilisation on Mit Maitri Road. After a barren wait for a bus back to Minburi, we eventually hailed a taxi back to Pak Soi Market.

Unfortunately, owing to the holiday Toy Bar wasn’t open, so we went our separate ways to catch up with football from England on TV at home. It had been a really nice few hours.