Thai football free-for-all aftermath: PM Abhisit urges football fans refrain from violence

BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has expressed concern at a possible decline in the popularity of football matches in Thailand, urging fans to refrain from using violence after a bloody clash at a Bangkok stadium Saturday night in which many were injured.

Violence should be avoided, said Mr. Abhisit. Thailand’s football is heading in a positive direction because growing numbers of fans are watching the sport, and any violence would only reduce its popularity.

Football in Europe has suffered serious declines in popularity due to a series of incidents of fighting by hooligans in the past. It took several years for the sport to recover, he said, urging Thai football clubs to implement stringent measures with their fans.

Pichet Munkong, chairman of Thai Port Football Club, apologised to football fans and the public nationwide after fans from his football club invaded the playing field of Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok, throwing lighted flares and fighting with fans of Thai Premier League champions Muang Thong United (MTU).

The free-for-all fight erupted after players of FA Cup winners Thai Port Football Club protested when MTU were leading 2-0, charging that the last goal which came 10 minutes before the match ended was a handball.

A number of people were hospitalised following the incident, with Muang Thong United being declared winner as Thai Port FC refused to continue playing.

Police said they were looking for troublemakers and they would be charged for bodily assault.

-- TNA 2010-02-21

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Last place I'm going to be.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

Should have had Pattaya SWAT there to organise the security

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

I thought that the Burmese had killed off all of the warriors!! It's good to see young men and women having a good time!

Would be interesting to know the colors of the shirts of the opposing teams.

Sorry to hear there were injuries, not too serious I hope.

Is the Yid Army in town ?

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

No such thing as a Scottish football hooligan.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

ah yes, Hibs, Aberdeen, the old firm, all best of friends eh?

shame it's caught on here though

what colours do the teams play in?

it is a bit tame to be fair, and the Thai police show their usual prowess and stand by watching, nobdiy to extort you see

anyway here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wF1INxBuGU

actually it looks more like security guards than police

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

A bit ironic coming from an old firm supporter.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

A bit ironic coming from an old firm supporter.

but the excuse will be that it is not football hooliganism, it is racial intolerance

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Just a little game we play....init

Is the Yid Army in town ?

thats it where ever there is trouble i will be there if she is. mght even start some

Stupid game>>>crazy fans...

:D

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

We never tore up the stadium, just the pitch. Souvenir's you know. I was there and it was great.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

We never tore up the stadium, just the pitch. Souvenir's you know. I was there and it was great.

Sure it was just the pitch ?.....distinctly remember members of the tartan army snapping crossbars as well...

Should have had Pattaya SWAT there to organise the security

Ohh something tells me that they are a little bit busy

The link does seem to reinforce the purported tendency here, for a group to gang up on a individual. If this is, as described, an example of a violent, bloody, free for all, the participants seem to need some coaching/coaxing in effort. I have observed, that the girls/women , if turned loose, would put on a better show. They also seem more fair in that they do not seem afraid of one on one.

Stupid game>>>crazy fans...

:D

Yeah. Same same basketball and baseball if what I see on TV is the norm.

We never tore up the stadium, just the pitch. Souvenir's you know. I was there and it was great.

Well it makes a change from crossing the border to steal sheep - presumably thought more alluring than the average lassie.

I wonder if carried on outside,or do you think everybody would of just been shouting "gin khao" and looking for there favourite noodle stands,storm in a teacup really...no security or uninterested security!! people can do what the want and lets face it they did not do that much.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

ah yes, Hibs, Aberdeen, the old firm, all best of friends eh?

shame it's caught on here though

what colours do the teams play in?

Not to mention the friendliness between Glasgow Ranger & Glasgow Celtic

I was watching on TV and it looked fairly minor (impossible, of course, to see what was happening out of shot). The commentators seemed pretty laid back about it.

The headline "Many Injured.." makes it sound like a mini-Heysel, the copy "some hospitalized" sounds closer to the mark.

Certainly, plenty of flares were thrown onto the pitch, which argues that nobody is frisked on the way in. That may have to change.

The disturbance didn't start until several minutes after the second goal, which the Thai Port players had not challenged. The flares appeared to be coming from a Thai Port area of the stands. Both goals were headers scored by Muang Thong's contingent of tall Africans, so I hope this was not the cause of the poor reaction from the Thai Port fans.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

What's your problem you have a nice new stadium now

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

No violence at the old firm games then?

These issues can only be solved by expensive measures. In the UK the clubs pay for the policing at the games and are fined and can be banned from competitions following FA charges of 'failing to control' their supporters. This, and laws enabling police to declare areas around grounds as 'no go' areas moving on, or arresting anyone who doesn't disperse when told, plus cctv and video footage, all ticket games, registration with address verification before ticket purchase (for 'high risk' games)mean that anyone involved in this kind of behaviour knows the law is 'on them'. Train stations, streets, highways, bristling with cctv, police units dedicated to infiltrating/monitoring of hooligan elements, follow up arrests (you can get the 'knock on the door' six months later then end up with a prison sentence). All of this took years to implement and cost(s) millions of pounds.

And was only implemented after many years of repeated violence at nearly every football match in the top leagues.

If the Thai authorities can jump in quickly and there is proper segregation/ticketing and adequate security/policing at matches, they can prevent the rise in popularity of the game equating to a rise in violence and disorder. The lessons have been learned in (some) other countries.

The press don't help by exaggerating the extent of the trouble.

Hope no-one was seriously hurt.

Sure it was just the pitch ?.....distinctly remember members of the tartan army snapping crossbars as well...

We had no option. How on earth would we be able to get them on the train back north otherwise?

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

No violence at the old firm games then?

Not in recent memory... unlike Millwall.