4/21 Chiang Mai FC

4/21/2013: After my all-nighter in getting back to Chiang Mai, I took a long nap on Sunday. I had plans to go to the local pro soccer game that night, so I had to be rested before the 6pm game. John (the Thai guy who works at the hotel I stayed at when I first arrived) picked me up on his motorbike and we drove to the game. We each got a Chiang Mai FC jersey, and he picked up some street food before we headed into the stadium. Strangely, there are no food and drink vendors inside the stadium - only outside. The game had just started when we sat down in the bleacher seats section near mid-field. You can get a 40 Baht ticket, 60 Baht, and 80 Baht, and we got the 60 Baht seats to be with the "real" fans. 40B seats are in the corner, so bad vantage point. 80 Baht seats are actual seats and are under a big awning for rain protection. 60 Baht seats got us in the same area as the drummers and chanters, who sang the team song the whole game ("we are, we are, we are Chiang Mai, we are, we are, we are Chiang Mai, etc......ole!").

The local fans

 The stadium is pretty small, and not a lot of bells and whistles. They had a color screen at the east end of the stadium, but it just displayed the score the whole time. Nowhere did they actually display the play clock. A track surrounds the field, so I felt pretty separated from the action. It was a good time though, and fun to see how people cheer for soccer in other countries. Drums seem to be universal, and so does "ole!" Whenever there was a bad play, or a player from Uttaradit got in a Chiang Mai player's face, the fans wouldn't boo or anything, they would just shout "hey!" in quick succession, like a dog barking at an intruder. It rained for about 20 minutes, but it felt pretty good.

Me and "John" in our Chiang Mai FC jerseys

 Chiang Mai is the top team in the league currently, and they gave Uttaradit a serious beatdown: 4 - 0. Two goals in the first half, two in the second. It was never close, but it was fun to watch.

Chiang Mai FC thanking the fans

I "talked" to a pretty drunk Thai fan on the way out, who said his name is Tony, and he insisted that I drink some of his beer, which was in a plastic cup, with ice and a straw. That was the first time I've had ice-beer through a straw...

Me and "Tony"

Overall fun night, and I'm looking forward to taking Ariel to the next home game.