Thai Honda

 

Thai Honda FC was a professional football club based in the Minburi district of the Thai capital of Bangkok when they were dissolved in 2019, after playing at several venues in the farthest east of the city.

The club was formed in 2000 as Thai Honda Ladkrabang FC playing regional football before being accepted into the second-tier Thai Division 1 League for the 2004-05 season.

                                      

A runners-up position gained promotion to the Thai Premier League for 2006, where they finished in eleventh position with Coulibaly Cheick Ismael top scoring. A move to the 72nd Anniversary Stadium in Minburi followed for the 2007 campaign.

The goals of Ismail Faday Kamara weren't enough to save 'The Speed Kings' from relegation. Things could have got worse in 2008 when they finished in the League 1 Division relegation spots.

This and the next three images, 700th Anniversary Stadium, Minburi

However, Bangkok Bank withdrew from the competition so all four relegated sides played off to retain their second tier status. Honda defeated Raj Vithi and then Nakhon Sawan to stay up. The goals of Sutin Anukoon led the side to eleventh place in 2009.

The club moved to King Mongkut's Institute of Technology (KMITL) Stadium near to Suvernabhumi Airport for the 2010 season, with the team finishing in eighth place as Nana Yaw Asamoah top scored for the team.

In 2011 Honda were back at Minburi for a disastrous season in which the team finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the third tier Regional League 2 Bangkok Metropolitan Region. 

In 2012 Thai Honda won their divisional title while playing at KMITL Stadium to qualify for the Champions League play-offs where dreams of promotion ended in the group stage. This was followed up with a fifth place in 2013.

2014 saw Honda lift the league title once again. The team won Group B of the Champions League to secure promotion back to the second level as Rodoljub Paunović banged in the goals. Gastón González topped the charts in 2015 as Honda consolidated their status.

Ricardo Jesus fired Thai Honda Ladkrabang to the Division 1 League title in 2016 to send the club back to the top flight while playing back at the 72nd Anniversary Stadium. Thai league football was restructured for the 2017 season, with the top division being called Thai League 1 (T1).

Honda's promotion led to BEC Tero-Sasana looking for a new home. A ruling didn't permit groundsharing between teams in the highest division. Honda secured the stadium to stay in Minburi, while Tero moved to merge with Police United and play in Lak Si.

Ironically, Honda's spell at the top table lasted just one season before they were relegated to Thai League 2, where they finished in twelfth place in 2018 as Tawin Butsombat ended as top scorer. 

Worachai Surinsirirat was the head coach for the 2019 campaign, doing a fine job in leading his side to sixth place as Valdo topped the scoring charts. However, financial problems led to the owners shutting the club down at the season's end.

My visit

KMITL Stadium

Thai Honda 0 Samut Sakon 1 (Sunday 8th April 2012) Thai Regional League Bangkok Area (att: officially 150)

It was the final day of one of my best ever holidays in the Land of Smiles. I had just arrived back from Chiang Mai after a wonderful and joyous International Cricket Sixes Tournament by plane with Steve and Fah who headed back to Minburi.

I was to meet them later that evening for my goodbye mookata meal, but in the meantime I said my goodbyes and headed for my very budget hotel towards Suvarnabhumi Airport, where I was in a quandary as to which game to select, as there were choices of two 4pm kick offs

I wanted to catch the majority of Bangkok United's 6pm game in Ding Daeng close to the city centre. In the end, I plumped for Thai Honda's home game after I was given helpful advice from the guys Thai football experts online via their Twitter accounts.

They confirmed the venue to be the KMITL (Technology) Stadium, which I'd passed on the motorway many times when heading to Pattaya. It was in the nearby Lad Krabang district, and I reasoned that it would be easy to make a quick getaway to get into the city meaning I would miss a minimum of action.

One beauty of Bangkok is that you never have to wait long for a taxi, wherever you are. Whether the driver has a clue where he's going is another matter altogether as I was about to find out! I saw virtually all of the city by taxi within four hours! 

Anyway, even though my hotel was well up a lane away from traffic, a taxi soon appeared. I had planned well in advance and printed out a map of where I wanted to go. The driver still seemed confused until suddenly the penny dropped. 

If I'd have asked for the King Mongkut's Institute of Technology rather than the stadium he'd have sussed it a lot quicker, but I didn't realise it was on the campus. We still seemed to go an agonisingly long way round, but the city's traffic system has baffled more experienced tourists than me many times before. 

The main thing was that he knew the way. We were waved through the gates of the Institute and drove round the large campus, which even had its own 7/11 shop; another guaranteed feature in the city along with taxis. He dropped me behind the towering Main Stand.

As at every game I'd attended in Thailand, a small stall had been set up by a vendor selling drinks of all kinds, crisps, noodles and local delicacies that were cooked on a small griddle. I was glad to get some water. 

I was determined to keep my alcohol content down as I'd had enough to sink a battleship over the previous ten days. It was officially the second day of mourning for the late Princess who'd passed away six months earlier. 

Her funeral parade was to be the next day. I happened to see this on live TV as I was awaiting my call to board my plane at the airport. In terms of pageantry, the Thais did it as well as anyone.

I went up to the desk and paid 50 baht for admission to the stand. I was surprised at the absence of any souvenir stand, especially as some home fans were wearing replica kits. I went up the stairs to survey the scene.

The KMITL Stadium was extremely lopsided. The stand I was in was the only proper spectator accommodation. It was an absolute beauty of a cantilever structure raised above the pitch and following the contour of the field, which had a running track around it. The rest of the pitch was surrounded by a prim hedge. 

Fans could stand there and watch for free, although I'm sure that it wasn't encouraged. A large scoreboard stood at the Motorway End but the rest of the area spread out to wide expanses of the Institute's sports facilities.

The crowd was sparse, with more away fans than Honda's and definitely more watching than the official figure. I'd have put it at around 3 to 400. The Samut Sakon supporters wore their eye-catching pink and sky blue striped shirts. 

Both sets of fans who sat at either end of the stand had drums and hooters to try and create an atmosphere. One of the vocal Honda fans offered me a warm smile and welcome. I'd seen them a couple of years previously in their local derby at the team now called Customs United (Suvarnabhumi Customs at the time). 

Maybe he recognised me as I don't suppose they get a lot of farangs (westerners) following them? The teams came out with flag bearers at the front and stood to attention for a minute's silence, which I presumed was for the Princess. 

The royal family are extremely revered in Thailand so it was no surprise that you could have heard a pin drop during the period of reflection. A lady who was sitting in the same block as me was as pretty as any fan I'd ever come across at a match. If she required consoling I would have definitely put my name down to offer my shoulder.

The game itself was pretty poor if truth be told. It was scrappy and lacking pace, which was little surprise as they were playing in at least thirty-degree temperatures. I was having another bottle of water and some interesting sausage meat-type delicacy on a stick, which was seasons with chillies and onion. They were tasty and a great help to my dietary plan for the following twenty-four hours!

I was getting restless. I reckoned I'd chosen the wrong game and my thoughts were on sneaking off at halftime to maybe catch some of R-BEC's game in Lat Phrao on the way to the Thai-Japanese Stadium for my evening fixture. 

Both teams at my current game were struggling to put any real moves together or test out the goalkeepers. Just before half time I decided to make a move. I walked behind the goal to take some photos and went on my way with the game goalless.

I left the Institute by the back entrance and crossed the railway lines and a small canal to try and get a taxi to take me to Lat Phrao. This was not an easy task as most drivers just shook their heads until I walked to the main road at the end of the soi I was on. 

I'm glad I visited a lovely stadium, but had wished for a better game. I later found out that the visitor's solitary goal was enough to take them to the top of the league. I could have found a lot worse activities on a Sunday afternoon!

Click here to see a short home video of the game.

Hua Hin City

 

Hua Hin City FC is a football club which was formed in 2007 as Hua Hin Municipality FC, who are based in the seaside city of the same name which is located on the west side of the Gulf of Thailand.

In 2011 the club changed their name to their current title and entered the Khǒr Royal Cup, a competition for non-league teams in Thailand, finishing as runners-up in 2012 to take up a place in the third tier for the 2013 season in Division 2 Central & West Region.

 

Playing at the remotely located Thanaratchata Camp Football Field, the team achieved a ninth-placed debut season, Hua Hin won the regional title in 2014 going on to the Champions League Round in the quest for promotion thanks to the goals of Anucha Chaiwong.

A fourth-place finish in Group A meant that City remained in the third tier for the following season, but that’s just part of the story. A vital game against Prachuap descended into fierce and violent battles instigated by the Prachuap chairman.

 

Hua Hin were punished for their part in the scenes and were forced to play some home games at Tha Yang the following season, where they finished in fifth place. This was after new owners came in and threw lots of money at new overseas signings including Andre Marques who topped the scoring.

This was after big talk of the building of a new super stadium near to the city’s by-pass. There were also rumours that the license for Bangkok club TOT had been purchased as coaching staff were dispatched.

 

2016 saw the club in the rebranded Division 2 Western Region and also saw Hua Hin City move into their new Khao Takiap Stadium to the south of the city as the team ended the campaign in eighth place, leading to a place in the fourth-tier Thai League 4 Western Region following league re-organisation.

The club was close to disbanding and even relocated for a time to Rajapruk University in the Bangkok district of Nonthaburi. A locally based French businessman bought the club and returned it to Khao Takiap as City finished the 2017 season in seventh place in the league under French head coach, Sébastien Roques, with Arnon Kaimook ending up as top scorer.

 

This was followed up with a third place in 2018 as Kaimook continued his fine form. Again, it was overshadowed by events off the pitch. The owner had been forced out by previous Thai custodians as he also lost his businesses in an unsavoury run of events. The players were forced out without payment before taking their cases and winning at the Thai FA and FIFA.

'The Sailors' reached the Champions League promotion play-offs in 2019 where BGC were defeated to reach the group stage where Hua Hin's hopes of going up were extinguished in a season in which Sutin Iamsa-ard put away the goals.

 

2020-21 saw league re-organisation once more and a return to the European season calendar. Hua Hin City were placed in Thai League 3 West, finishing in ninth place under head coach Jiradech Seangsang which was improved upon with third position being achieved twelve months later.

The 2022-23 campaign got underway with experienced Belgian head coach Rene Desaeyere in charge of the side. Again, the team finished third, with Chitsanuphong Phimpsang heading the scoring chart. Coach Jiradech then returned to the bench after a year away.

After a disappointing tenth-place finish, City kept faith with the head coach.

Hua Hin City will play in Thai League 3 West in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Hua Hin City 5 IPE Samut Sakhon United 3 (Sunday 26^th March 2017) Thai League 4 Western Region (att: 200)

Having visited Hua Hin on many happy occasions over the years I wanted to see a match at Khao Takiap Stadium. My pals Steve Walker and Mark Dumnall had seen the team in action at Thanaratchata Camp and enjoyed the hospitality.

It was time for me to head to the Land of Smiles for a week of rest and socialising before the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes, arriving on Saturday evening. This was the chance I had been waiting for.

It was the international break weekend in Thailand so lower division football was the order of the day. My friend Dale Farrington, who runs the Chonburi FC English website deciphered the Thai language fixtures and confirmed that I was in luck.

Steve and his girlfriend Fah were accompanying me for a couple of nights in Hua Hin as we headed south in one of the smart luxury coaches from Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday morning before us lads headed out for lunch and a couple of beers.

We decided to head to Soi 80 for a few more bottles before it was time to try and find a way to the ground. I was a little surprised by Steve’s choice of destination. I was pretty sure of the way to the stadium, but I left it with him.

A local pulled up in his large car and offered us a lift for 100 Baht, so we got in with him and his infant. He seemed sure he knew where we wanted, so it was a bit of a shock to him when he pulled up at a small-sided complex and we shook our heads and said “Mai”.

Off we went again. I thought I saw some floodlights across from us. We were in an undeveloped part of the city with poor roads and no English signage. Our chauffeur seemed confident once again.

This time we ended up at Hua Hin Centennial Club; a lovely sports facility, but once again wrong. There was nothing left for it as I made the ultimate sacrifice and turned on the mobile data on my phone. Hey presto, we were pretty close and exactly where I’d initially thought the stadium was located.

The poor little lad in the back of the car must have been thoroughly fed up. We gave his Dad double money, which he appreciated as he dropped us off in the car park behind the main entrance on Nong Kae-Takiap just before the 5.30pm kick-off.

Entry cost us 50 Baht, which was around £1.10. There were no programmes but I picked up a fixture list. I thought that Steve had last learned to read Thai as he confidently told me the schedule, only for him to burst out in laughter. He hadn’t the foggiest.

Khao Takiap Stadium was pretty basic, with an open semi-permanent stand down our side, and a small covered stand opposite with two small sections of open stands on either side. There was nothing behind either goal. Indeed, the south end only had a wire net separating it from the alley.

It only took Hua Hin a couple of minutes to take the lead through midfielder Ratchapark Duangfa before doubling their lead just before the half-hour mark as Ghanaian striker Gimba Ali fired home.

The home fans were most happy. A Scottish ex-pat behind us offered his observations to the referee, who’d already booked two United players, who would have absolutely no idea what he was going on about? I mean Steve and I were struggling with him!

IPE Samut Sakhon United were the second team from the same town below Samut Sakhon FC who I’d seen play away from home in the past. The extension of the Thai League to four divisions was welcome in many ways, but it made deciphering teams a bit tricky at times.

Kovit deservedly reduced the arrears just before the break to the joy of the twenty or so away fans on the far side. By this stage manager Somboon Chiwprecha had already made two substitutions to try and change the game. His side was decent enough going forward, but woeful at the back.

At the break, Steve got the beers in while I went behind the goal and took some photos as the beautiful red sky formed a stunning backdrop to what was becoming a fantastic evening out.

After the interval, United pressed for an equaliser and looked the better team in parts. We both predicted that the next goal would be decisive, but little did we know just how many goals would be coming. It blitzed both our score predictions.

Hua Hin extended their lead after an hour as Arnon Kaimook scored. Gimba Ali netted his second to make it 4-1 on seventy-three minutes before United pulled back what looked like a consolation.

Three minutes before full time it was 5-2 as Hua Hin forward Panthakant Tiengnae scored. There was still time for the visitors to grab another goal and force some late pressure before full-time. It was fair to say that we’d received value for money.

We headed back up the main road and stopped for a beer at a neat bar showing Scunthorpe United v Bradford City on a big screen TV, before catching a sangtheaw back into town where we had a terrific bar crawl, ending with watching England v Lithuania in the Sand Inn Hotel & Bar as the Thai owner blasted out rock anthems.

It had been a fantastic start to my three weeks' holiday, and an experience that I would repeat at any time if visiting Hua Hin.

Globlex

 

Globex FC was a semi-professional football club, that was formed in 2011; playing home matches at Ramkhamhaeng University Stadium. The club was taken over by S.Boonmeerit Sport Club Co., Ltd at the end of the 2015 season, renamed BTU S.Boonmeerit United FC and moved across the city to Bangkokthonburi University Stadium.

That split of the club was then renamed Nonthaburi United S.Boonmeerit FC and can be read about here.

Globlex started out life in national football in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region of Regional League 2 following winning the Khǒr Royal Cup in 2010. The team finished tenth place in their debut season. 

This was followed up by three thirteenth-place finishes. As far as is known Globlex disappeared from the football scene after the takeover and move of the club.

My visit

Globlex 0 Samut Sakon 0 (Sunday 7th April 2013) Thai Regional League Central West Region (att: approx 500)

My holiday went superbly. The sixes cricket team I represent, Yarrambat of Melbourne, had won the third level Bowl of the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes and I’d had a solid tournament. 

More friends had been made and lots of memories accumulated in a great atmosphere, but by now I was ready to add to my live football experiences in the Land of Smiles.

In the week before travelling north, I’d visited several new grounds and seen a couple of midweek matches. I had an afternoon and evening to kill in Bangkok before heading to Phuket the following day for more cricket. 

This, as ever, gave me plenty of enjoyment and time to look around, which increased my knowledge of the capital and appreciate and visit places I would otherwise never see.

After closely scrutinising the websites and Twitter for news of late changes to fixtures, as is not unusual in Thailand, I plumped for a doubleheader on two new grounds not too far apart, which I knew would also be in two good venues.

Globlex were based at Rhampangpeng University in the shadows of the majestic national Rajamangala Stadium. Their game was a 4pm kick-off, in the searing heat which measured just under 40 degrees on the thermometer.

With the second match having a 6pm kick off I reckoned on getting in an hour at the first encounter.

As ever in Bangkok, a taxi was soon pulling in to transport me, and after a ride up the vibrant Rhampangpeng Road, a short walk soon had me outside the stadium's railings where I stood to attention with everyone else inside and out of the arena as the Thai national anthem boomed out. 

Admission was 50 baht (around £1.15) and gained me access to an excellent raised cantilever stand, which was split between home and away fans with the usual VIP section for officials and dignitaries in the centre block.

I had seen Sakon the previous season at Thai Honda and once again their following in pink and sky blue was higher than the home support and was loud and colourful. Another raised seated stand was opposite, but not in use for the match; with the pitch surrounded by a running track as are the majority of stadiums in the lower divisions in Thailand.

The match itself was not fantastic, although the build-up play was not the worst. Unfortunately, the finishing from both sides was wasteful in the extreme. This was emphasised when the visitors were awarded a debatable penalty on the stroke of halftime that was blasted over the bar.

Catering was like many grounds at that level in Thailand and came courtesy of a van behind the stand. I was still very much in my fledgling stage when it came to trying local delicacies, and years away from trying all kinds of recipes in Isan.

As was the norm, hands were stamped on entry allowing fans to come and go so that they could access catering inside and outside the complex.

After spending fifteen minutes in the company of the friendly Sakon fans at the beginning of the second half, who tried to work out my Boro shirt, I headed for the exit as I had a gut feeling the second game would be pretty special at the PAT Stadium, the home of Singhturua FC.

To see action from the game, please go to my amateur video by clicking here.