Thailand Vs Australia, Bangkok

Arrived in Bangkok for the Thailand versus Australia football game in the Asian Cup. Based camp near Khao Sahn (or however they choose to spell it) Road which is a haven for backpackers, drug addicts and tight arse travelers such as me. Had met the night before the game a couple of Sydney guys who were part of a larger group who had come to watch all the games in Bangkok. Had a couple of beers and agreed to meet them at the ground the next day. Woke up early (midday) and had usual meal of rice for breakfast (notice how expert I am with the chopsticks).


Druggie Street .............................................Spot the foreigner

Made my way to the football stadium by public transport. Bangkok has a very flash monorail train system called the Skytrain and by studying the map I found out where I needed to go. I had earlier gone to Siam Square which is the shopping district of the city and I discovered the National Stadium station was in fact only a stop away. But this is not the National Stadium that I assumed was the ground where the game was being played, I needed the Rajamangala National Stadium (a subtle difference, but it makes perfect sense to almost identically name the 2 major sporting venues in the city). I could use the Skytrain to get to one of the outer stations and then catch a bus to the ground. This was about 4 hours before the game started. Bangkok traffic is very congested and the local paper suggested that it would be a good idea to get to the ground early. This was wise advice because though I was told that the ground was around 40 minutes away the trip was a lot longer. The Skytrain portion of the trip was only about 10 minutes but the bus was a worrying 60 minutes. There is no organized official Asian Cup guides or directions you would expect to find at a major sporting event back home and the Thais have been criticized for their efforts of holding the event (couldn’t organize a piss up in a brewery). As I boarded the bus, that I wasn’t 100% convinced was going to get me to the ground, I was greeted by a bus conductor who told me that he has never had a "farang" (non-Thai or foreigner) on his bus before (not very comforting, but he laughed when he said it so I felt much better).


Skytrain (no use what so ever) .......................Moving death trap

After the ride through Bangkok traffic in the bus (that would make a handy gas chamber given the exhaust fumes) arrived at Rajamangala where the crowds were already gathering. This is Thailand’s version of the MCG complete with statues of sporting heroes (not sure of the below guys name but I think he was the national champion for shooting student demonstrators 3 years straight). Thais are mad English Premier League followers but have barely half-filled the seats at the earlier games the national team competed in. But as Thailand stood a good chance of progressing to the finals there was hope for a full house. Tickets ranged from about $4 to about $25 (bought a gold class $25/700baht ticket under the roof as I thought sitting with the taxi drivers who bought 100 baht tickets in the outer might get a little rough if the result went the wrong way for the locals).


Street vendors pounce.................................. Thakisn "Bang-Bang" Sirikirit

As I entered the grounds of the stadium I sighted small pockets of Aussie supporters and saw the group of Sydney lads who I had met the night before. They had been to the earlier games and knew that no alcohol was served in the stadium so were making up for it by sinking piss sold by street vendors. Thais think that all Australians are alcoholics and that all waking moments are spent consuming beer (this is, in fact, a correct assumption). With 3 hours to go till kick off the street vendors made a nice profit off the Aussie fans (mind you the Thais were getting pissed on straight whiskey). The Thailand football strip is red or blue but the vast majority of the crowed were wearing yellow shirts. "Were they supporting the Socceroos?" No, the Thais fanatically love their King and their wear yellow shirts to show their respect to him (this was a little confusing to pick who the to say "g'day mate" to). It became increasing unnerving as the crowd swelled with the noisy Thai buggers blowing their horns and chanting.


Australian Team warm up............................. Natives gathering

About an hour from kick off black clouds rolled in and it started to piss down Bangkok-style. Downed what I was drinking and headed through the police check point to get to our seats (these guys, in typical Thai fashion, are not very thorough and I could have smuggled in a tank for all the attention they were paying).


Upcoming shit storm.................................. Post 9/11 security

Entered the stadium where our seats were fortunately under the cover of the roof. Most of the fans sitting on the uncovered half were hiding under the stands to avoid the pelting rain. Photo below is a less then full shot of the outer of the Ragamangla and a shot of a slightly fuller me. Beer was having its effect and the nearest toilet was about four flights down (some of the water that started to fill up the ground may have been yellow). The Stadium seats about 40,000, comparable to the Telstra Dome in Melbourne for size and about the same as Victoria Park for facilities (current state). The boys from Sydney had smuggled some beer in despite the best efforts of the officers in brown which was only adding to my discomfort as I joined in the drinking to fit in (twisted my arm they did).


Not Full ..................................................................Full

The rain was still bucketing down ahead of kick off which, the drunk Sydney experts opinion was, beneficial to the Australian team who so far had played in hot and steamy conditions. No great expert myself I asked their thoughts on the Thailand team and what to expect. Little information was offered as most could not have told the difference between a Thai football player and Thai bar girl at this stage (guess who they would have been more familiar with??). The Thais had so far drawn with Iraq and beaten Oman and were headed for the finals if they could at least hold Australia to a draw. Hopes were high that the fast running, skillful Thais could outpace the physically bigger and experienced Australians (Note: all facts in this post that sound well researched were sourced from the Bangkok Post that I bought the next day. I had very little sober connection to the events that night).


Pissing down .................................Thai star striker - Dumbo

Kick-off and the game got underway. The crowd had settled in and the ground was pretty much packed. Thais are noisy buggers when they get together in a group and the chanting, horn blowing and drum beating didn't give up for most of the night. The rain gave way about 20 minutes into the game which made the contest and viewing much better. The Thais were very quick and seem to be intent on running the Aussies ragged. Compared to the bigger blokes in the team like Viduka and Emmerton, the Thais looked like kids (very fortunate that it wasn't an AFL or NRL game as the Thai would have been severely fucked).


Canary yellow dominated ...........................A more fitting opposition

Loud Thai Buggers

20 minutes in to the opening and Michael Beauchamp powered in and headed home a Luke Wilkshire free kick for the opening goal (Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oii, oi, oii!!). Shut the Thais up nicely and got the Aussie fans going. There were small pockets of Socceroo supporters around the ground and a large contingent of the Green and Gold Army opposite me in the outer. The illegal beer started to flow again in celebration of the goal which didn't really improve my condition (but what the heck).

Beauchamp 20' goal .......................................Carr 22' state of intoxication

From then on, it was backs to the wall for Australia (and swaying for me), as Thailand lifted the tempo and had Australia under enormous pressure. The Thai crowd started to lift again and really got into the game realising they only needed to score a goal to advance. Australia kept the Thais at bay, who were mainly forced to shoot from long range. The death blow came when 80 minutes in a (Timmy, Timmy, Timmy) Cahill cross to Viduka was chested and then blasted into the goal. Aussie fans were jubilant "Going to Hanoi, Going to Hanoi". The Sydney fans who conducted themselves with politeness and grace conveyed their pleasure at the goal and obvious coming victory by announcing to their fellow Thai fans "Screw you and your King". Cahill and Viduka repeated their success with another cross and header for a 3rd goal in the 84 minute.


Snow White and his favorite Dwarf.... Chivalrous Sydney fans with companions

On the 90th minute some bloke from Liverpool who claims to be Australian, unsighted most of the game as he sat on the bench to get away from the rain, slotted in the 4th and final goal and finished off the brave little Thais. The home fans were now streaming out of the stadium and some near me started to show the emotion of a loss and the unfortunate experience of having to sit near too many Australians with to much piss under their gut.


Kewell 90' minute ........................................Emotions get the better of local fan

Full time and a happy Australian team gave a lap of victory for the benefit of the fans on all side of the grounds. Despite the distance from the pitch you could smell the sweat the team had worked up (I think Bresicano went from a size M to an S with the amount of weight he lost perspiring). You could also tell from the pitch exactly how drunk I and others had gotten (Australian team doctor was sent up such was the concern).


Victory salute ............................................Hasselhoff level drunk at full time

Headed home in the dark happy at the result and effect of the drink. Dawned on me that I had no idea about getting home (returning by the way I came was impossible to find again). I started to sense a feeling of panic realising that here I was a drunk, obivious Austrlain fan wandering around in the dark amongest upset local fans (like General Custer at the last stand surrounded by the unsettled natives). Thankfully my newly aquired friends from Sydny had a bus going back to Khaosan and gave me a lift. Unfortunaly they had the bus stocked with after game beverages to celebrate the anticpaited victory. The ride to town was about an hour of drinking warm piss that had been sitting in a Thai bus all evening. Memories of the arrival are minimal but made it back to the hotel and awoke the next day to find I was alive. The last photo on my camera is the shot below (no idea where or when i was here, but here's the photo to prove i was there).


Fear in Bangkok ...............................................What-da-fuck???

Excellent day and a shocking hangover.

Fin.