Thai trio went on a road to nowhere
Written by Writer on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
ON THE Ball
Thai trio went on a road to nowhere
TOR CHITTINAND
Bangkok Post
Wednesday October 22, 2008
Not surprisingly, new Manchester City owner, the Abu Dhabi United Group, has terminated the club’s contracts with three Thai players - Suree Sukha, Teerasil Dangda and Kiatprawut Saiwaew.
Suree Sukha
When you own a football club and have money to burn, who will want “unknown” players from a country which many foreigners mistakenly think is Taiwan?
The Arab billionaires, who took over the club from former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are talking about signing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitar Berbatov, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Lionel Messi, so there is no reason for them to keep the three Thais.
The trio made history by becoming the first Thai footballers to be on the books of an English Premier League side when they inked contracts with City in a high-profile ceremony at a Bangkok hotel last November.
Representing the club was then City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson who was assigned by then owner Thaksin to sign the trio in Bangkok.
Thaksin, who bought the club in June last year, was not at the signing ceremony because he was living in exile in England after his government was toppled in a coup.
However, he appeared in a taped video with sweet words such as how he would make City the pride of Thailand and would help develop Thai football to the best of his ability.
At the time, critics believed the three were just a political tool to gain support for the People Power party (PPP), led by former members of Thaksin’s defunct Thai Rak Thai party, as the signing ceremony took place just weeks before the December general election.
The signing ceremony appeared to have been arranged hastily. Observers believed the three were unlikely to get work permits to play for City and that proved to be true.
After the general election, which was won by the PPP, it seemed nobody cared about Suree, Teerasil and Kiatprawut. It was like a case of, as a Thai saying goes, “one kills his oxen after ploughing the paddy field, one kills his commander after a war.”
The trio soon found their future was not at Eastlands. They did not get their salary and only received it when the matter was published in the Thai press.
They were loaned to other clubs. Suree and Teerasil were sent to Swiss club Grasshopper Zurich while Kiatprawut went to Club Brugge of Belgium. The two clubs were not interested in them and they soon headed home.
As for Thaksin, who was found guilty of a corruption charge and sentenced to two years in prison by a Thai court yesterday, he might have needed money to make ends meet while living in England so he sold his stakes in City to the Arab group.
A Manchester City official here confirmed last week that the club had terminated their contracts.
From the start, Suree, Teerasil and Kiatprawut should have known that they had a very slim chance of playing in England as better Thai players had failed before them.
Kiatisak “Zico” Senamuang and Teerathep “Leesaw” Winothai, considered more skilful than the trio, failed to play for a Championship side.
Kiatisak failed to impress after a trial with Huddersfield Town, while Teerathep did not get a work permit when he was a trainee at Crystal Palace.
However, Suree, Teerasil and Kiatprawut were better off than Kiatisak and Teerathep as each received about 300,000 baht monthly for virtually doing nothing for the club while on City’s books.
They will still get a decent job in Thailand. Suree and Kiatprawut are likely to return to their former club Chonburi FC in the Thailand Premier League, while Teerasil is likely to play for promoted Muang Thong-Nong Jok United.
Suree and Teerasil are in new Thailand coach Peter Reid’s squad for this month’s TT&T Cup in Hanoi.
Kiatprawut was not picked because he is facing a long-term injury lay-off. Despite the disappointment of failure to play in England, the defender still has ambitions to play overseas.
The 22-year-old aims to play in Japan. He is realistic and aims to first play for Division Three side Totori, who are under former Chonburi coach Vittaya Laohakul, before trying to play for a J-League side.
