Disappointed, sad... what comes next!?
Since I've been supporting the Thailand national football team,
I must admit that the SEA Games football final, which I had the chance to watch from the sidelines last night,
was heartbreakingly disappointing, truly unlike anything I've ever experienced before.
I was in the VIP block with the Football Association executives and many big figures from top Thai League clubs.
The Thai players led the Vietnamese 2-0 in the first half; everyone was happy and joyful.
We were certainly expecting to celebrate the gold medal after the match.
But in the second half, everything turned upside down, like a completely different story.
We missed an early penalty, which shifted the game's momentum back to Vietnam, who relentlessly pressed and equalized at 2-2.
The match went into extra time, and in the end, we conceded the winning goal, allowing the Golden Stars to snatch a 3-2 victory.
We painfully lost this gold medal, snatched right from our hands—an extremely devastating blow!
This defeat underscores the reality we must accept:
Vietnamese football has developed in a tangible way, achieving real success.
Both their senior and youth teams won the ASEAN Championship earlier this year and the SEA Games gold at the end of the year.
This means that throughout this year, our Thai football has had no success, missing out on all championships.
We have become the "runner-up" in the region by default.
This is because we lack any clear goals for development.
Every tournament has been about patching problems as they arise.
There is no master plan to guide us on where to go next.
We keep talking about surpassing ASEAN, yet in practice, we have never managed to do so.
In SEA Games football, once our "stronghold," we've now missed out on gold for nine years across four consecutive tournaments.
This silver medal at the SEA Games reflects the outcome of efforts that show
that the entire Thai football ecosystem is not yet good enough to reach the continental level as intended.
I had the opportunity to exchange views with “Big Pok” Warong Tiwattat, the young and dynamic chairman of the Thai Futsal League, who has experience in football association management.
He posted an interesting comment on his personal page, saying...
Thai football system: The problem is not the match results but the "stalled development structure."
Over the years, Thai football often questions failure based on match results.
Who did we lose to? Why? Is the coach good enough? Are the players skilled enough?
But if you look deeper, the real problem of Thai football doesn't start and end with the 90 minutes on the field.
It lies in outdated and stagnant development concepts and structures that have remained unchanged for a long time.
In modern football, development is not driven by "talent" or "faith" alone.
It requires a football ecosystem that systematically links every component together.
This is where Thai football significantly lags behind other countries.
The most worrying issue is not that Thai football is "getting worse," but that we are standing still while other nations advance systematically.
Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and other ASEAN countries invest in long-term structures,
building systems that consistently produce quality personnel.
Over time, the gap has only widened.
If we don't change our mindset today, one day Thai football won't just "fall behind" but will lose its place in real competitive levels.
Thai football must shift from "occasional efforts" to "systematic building."
Thai football doesn't lack passion or talent but lacks systemic thinking and the courage to restructure.
If development remains about short-term fixes, personnel changes, and hoping for quick results,
we will remain trapped in an endless cycle.
These are the candid views of a new generation sports executive regarding our Thai football.
They answer the question I raised in today's column title,
"Disappointed, sad... what next!?" indeed!
Bee Bangpakong
joggingboy_be@yahoo.com