Monday, January 26, 2026
The Rise & Fall Of Muang Thong United
A typical fixture list would see SET v KTB, TFB v PEA and PAT v RTAF, all in Bangkok. Funnily enough, people weren't interested.
Then along came private clubs, and leading the push were Muang Thong United. They looked and smelled like a professional football club. They had branding, albeit with a strong Manchester United influence, and they developed a tidy stadium to the north of Bangkok.
They even bought in Robbie Fowler as player-coach at one stage!
All the while, the owners kept putting money in things were good. They were Thai champions in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2016. Even as recently as 2017, they won the Kor Cup, League Cup and the Mekong Cup. But in the major competitions, they finished runners-up in the League and semi-finalists in the FA Cup.
They've won nothing since, not finishing higher than 4th. This season, they are firmly in the relegation places, and Thai League 2 beckons
What happened? From afar, the answer looks simple enough. The moment a powerful, provincial politician, Newin Chidchob, bought an electric company, which happened to be Thai champions, and relocated them to the north east of the country. Buriram United was born.
Newin worked from the Muang Thong playbook. Branding was important, the club crest featured an important temple complex, and a stadium was developed. Newin had one advantage that the Muang Thing owners didn't. As a scion of a provincial political dynasty, he wasn't distracted by annoying things like shareholders, dividends or profits.
From initially copying Muang Thong, he then looked further afield to build his football club. Much like the US under Ronald Reagan in the Cold War, Newin was able to outspend everyone to the extent that anyone trying to keep up risked bankruptcy.
Much like Johor Darul Ta'zim in Malaysia, one man's money has dramatically changed the domestic football landscape to the extent his riches have built a massively successful behemoth, but at what cost to the rest of the league?
There is, of course, an irony of one rich entity outspending another rich entity. Chelsea did it to Manchester United. Manchester City did it to Chelsea. In the case of Muang Thong United, should we mourn the loss of a once mighty football club or should we take delight in the karma that has befallen them?
