Sunday, February 21, 2010
Crowd trouble hits Thai football
Thai football has grown used to incidents on the field what with walk offs but yesterday saw the trouble on the terraces as Thai Port met Muang Thong United in the Kor Royal Cup at the Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok.
There is a You Tube clip here, the Bangkok Post has its say here while Greg at the Muang Thong United blog has his satang's worth and plenty of images here
Given all the images on line there is absolutely no reason why many of the faces shown actively involved, and walking round the pitch with a stick is being involved, should not be waiting for a visit soon from Sgt Nop and the boys in brown
Obviously never saw the game but one thing looks clear from the reports I have seen and that is the role of security. There is no crowd control period in this part of the world. OK, Singapore has no crowds but in Thailand and Indonesia there is no attempt to take preventitive measures.
I saw a game recently where the security responded to racks being thrown on the field by tear gassing a section of the home support. Said fans got upset and climbed the fences, getting on the pitch. Security jumped in the nearest TARDIS and disappeared leaving the fans to do what they want.
The Thais have done a great job with the game there over the last 12 months. Now they face a different kind of challenge. Is this the start of a trend or is it a one off? Are Thai stadiums with their meccano stands and little in the way of safety apparatus able to handle fans who want to throw more than placcy bottles?
An aside but a few years back I started write a book about Thai football hooligans...guess which team they were following?!
UPDATE just been texting former Thai Port striker Pipat Thongkaya and he said he was very sad about what had happened.
There is a You Tube clip here, the Bangkok Post has its say here while Greg at the Muang Thong United blog has his satang's worth and plenty of images here
Given all the images on line there is absolutely no reason why many of the faces shown actively involved, and walking round the pitch with a stick is being involved, should not be waiting for a visit soon from Sgt Nop and the boys in brown
Obviously never saw the game but one thing looks clear from the reports I have seen and that is the role of security. There is no crowd control period in this part of the world. OK, Singapore has no crowds but in Thailand and Indonesia there is no attempt to take preventitive measures.
I saw a game recently where the security responded to racks being thrown on the field by tear gassing a section of the home support. Said fans got upset and climbed the fences, getting on the pitch. Security jumped in the nearest TARDIS and disappeared leaving the fans to do what they want.
The Thais have done a great job with the game there over the last 12 months. Now they face a different kind of challenge. Is this the start of a trend or is it a one off? Are Thai stadiums with their meccano stands and little in the way of safety apparatus able to handle fans who want to throw more than placcy bottles?
An aside but a few years back I started write a book about Thai football hooligans...guess which team they were following?!
UPDATE just been texting former Thai Port striker Pipat Thongkaya and he said he was very sad about what had happened.
# posted by Me @ 11:54 AM 
