I was immensely tickled to read about some disturbances at a recent Thailand Premier League game between TOT and Bangkok Glass. Tickled because these are two of the corporate clubs that litter the football landscape in the country and, for me at least, I find it hard to get excited about a club that is just an extension of a corporate entity.
The plastic water bottle throwing at the weekend, always the water bottles, excited me though. If fans of corporate clubs can get excited enough to lob bits of plastic at each other what else can they do? For most fans of real football clubs we have to make do with 90 minutes abuse, a walk through the back streets to the station after the game and a bit of banter at work in the Monday.
But the corporate clubs? Imagine, for example, a fan of TOT who has a successful business. He may decide, if he loathed Bangkok Glass enough, to have the windows at his office smashed in then call Bangkok Glass for a quote. Not give them the work of course but just string them along, costing them time, effort and money with no hope of a return.
Of course a Bangkok Glass fan could do similar. He could decide such was his visceral loathing for TOT football club he wants to find a new telecommunications provider.
The options are endless in Thailand. If you get annoyed at BEC Tero then stop watching the TV channel that owns them. Fed up with the ref giving Muang Thong United all the 50/50s? Then stop using their cement! Pattaya United get a last minute winner against you? Visit Phuket next vacation. Unhappy with the antics of Police United players? Secretly video the next shakedown and post it on You Tube. Buriram United come from 7-0 down with two minutes on the clock to win 14-7? Move your factory and your friends� factories to the north east and instruct your staff to vote for the other lot. Hate the hotel you have to stay in Chiang Mai when playing TTM? Stop smoking!
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