Day 1, Sunday 31 March, True Bangkok Stadium, Pathum Thani

Abandoned....... The era of long distance travel in Thailand seems all but over at least the way we conducted the last tour and I'm into a phase of shorter trips. It's only the second full day since we returned from the south and I'm heading for a football game at the start of a busy week in the Thai Premier League. That said, I would like to see some trains too and adjust my plans for today accordingly. However, my time estimates go out of the window as we hit traffic and I'm forced to abandon any hopes of getting back on track.
True Stadium....... Today we are off to True Stadium which lies on the Thammasat University Complex in Pathum Thani Province. It should be a comfortable hours drive but it's clear we should have used the tollway. Well, at least we arrive earlier than expected and for this trip I have my own dogie bag so don't need to queue for food. As regarding tickets, I already bought them from a 7-Eleven but unwisely in the event as there was a service fee to pay. Nevertheless the base price is only 100 baht per ticket here but there is hardly any queuing for tickets. I will know next time.
True Stadium on the university campus has an all seated ground capacity of 25,000 and is suitable for holding international football games. This stadium I've been to only once before.
True Stadium is the home of the TPL team Bangkok United and today they are playing Chonburi FC. Bangkok United are title contenders while poor Chonburi are in danger of relegation. It could well be a one-sided contest.
Bangkok United vs Chonburi FC....... The game kicks off at 7.00 pm and the players look almost lost in this stadium. I would like to know what visiting teams are thinking. Bangkok settle the better and are quickly up to speed while Chonburi seem one-paced but do mange to hit an upright. It's no surprise though when Bangkok takes the lead in the 19th minute though Lebanese Bassel Zakaria Jradi who fires in a shot from a tight angle that the goalkeeper seems to fumble into the net. The question is how will Chonburi respond, but they continue to have little impact but are still in this game at half time with no further scoring.
The second half hardly starts when Bangkok double their lead in the 48th minute. Chonburi's marking is awful as the ball is chipped in from the right by Rungrath Phumichantuk finding Brazilian Willen with enough time to turn and score from the edge of the box. 2 : 0. Even at this early stage you sense that Chonburi have given up and things get worse 3 minutes later. Brazilian Vander who is having a blinding game feeds the ball out to the left finding Peerapat Notchaiya unmarked. He casually slips inside the defender and smashes the ball into the roof of the net 3 : 0. In the 66th minute the Brazilians are at it again. A free kick finds the defenders ball watching. How on earth Willen finds himself free in front of goal is a mystery. He isn't going to miss from there. 4 : 0. In the 81st minute frustration sees Phitak Phimpae of Chonburi see red as he lashes out at a Bangkok player. That's the last thing Chonburi needs going down to 10 men. What follows is predictable with Chonburi in total disarray. In the 87th minute a defender is dispossessed in a dangerous position in front of goal by Weerathep Pomphun. As cool as you like when many would take a shot he slips the ball to Tassanapong Mhuaddarak who can't miss, 5 : 0. With 90 minutes up Bangkok are still not done. An amazing ball with Chonburi on the press, by the unselfish Weerathep Pomphun from his own half finds midfielder Thossawat Limwannasthian racing towards goal through the middle. His long range shot beats the goalkeeper. This is embarrassing for Chonburi, 6 : 0 and so it ends.
This is probably the highest scoring TPL game I've seen, certainly the most one-sided. Chonburi will go home not just empty-handed but in need of an in depth analysis of what went wrong. Surely they have to find some character and organisation from somewhere. (Postscript: Chonburi go on the win a midweek game after this 2 : O. What a crazy game football is!).
Obviously it's a late night for us needing to cover nearly 50 km but what a night's entertainment it's been.