Rasisalai United FC is a professional football club that represents a district in the northern part of Sisaket province, which is located towards the eastern edge of Thailand. The club was formed in 2019.
In their inaugural season in the Thailand Amateur League Northeastern Zone, ‘The Monkey King’ lost all three of their matches, before the competition took an enforced sabbatical for a couple of years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Upon resumption in 2022 Rasisalai stormed to the top of Northeast Southern Group F to progress to the knockout stages, where they dispatched Jfam United and Amnatcharoen City, with both games taking place at Ubon Ratchathani Rajabhat University Stadium.
Roi-Et PB United and Roi-Et 2018 were then both seen off. The run continued as Konkrillas United and Warship United were defeated, before Muang Trang United were overcome 4-1 over two legs to claim the championship and seal promotion to the national competition in style as Polite Mueang Chan banged in the goals.
Promotion meant finding a suitable venue, and a deal was struck with SAT Sisaket and the Sisaket Provincial Sports Association to use their venue in the city, which is sometimes known as Central Island Stadium.
The side consolidated their new status under head coach Tossapon Kanplook who was succeeded by Preeda Chankra before the mid-season break in front of encouraging home attendances. Chankra was replaced by Chonlathit Janthakham before returning to the position in November 2023.
My visits
Rasisalai United 2 Yasothon 2 (Sunday 15th January 2023) Thai League 3 Northeast (att: 411)
What a day! One of those you don’t want to end aside from your body telling you it’s time for bed. I had already had a beautiful walk as the sun came up over the village of Suan Kluai in the Sisaket countryside, as I listened to an archived edition of TalkSport’s, My Sporting Life featuring an old Hull City favourite of mine, Steve McClaren.
After a traditional Isan style breakfast my beautiful partner Taew kindly drove me to Kanthararom, the nearest town of any size. She wanted food to cook from the market and we had sussed out the day before that no local transport existed.
She left me to my own devices as I had a walk around and had a nice chat with a young monk at the temple. We bumped into each other at the market before I headed off towards the bus terminus.
It was a bit of a surprise that the lady who oversaw the desk and toilets had to telephone a driver to tell him that he had a pickup. I had no idea what vehicle to expect or what time it was due. I never have quite phrased that question correctly in Google translate.
It wasn’t long past midday when the minibus arrived, which I presume had set out from Ubon Ratchathani. It cost me 53 Baht for the 18 km journey, depositing me at Sisaket Bus Terminus. Feeling adventurous I thought I would ask about transport back to my village.
There were plenty of blank looks and shakes of the head. The lady on the information desk hadn’t even heard of it. That would be a no then! Unperturbed I set off for a walk, visiting the ageing Sun Haeng Plaza shopping mall for some provisions for home.
Another temple in a state of being refurbished was visited, and I went past Leo’s, previously a craft beer establishment which was closed, apparently to move to a new premises in the near future. However, I had been given a tip off about somewhere else and it didn’t let me down.
Hong Kong Garden fitted the bill perfectly. Nice hosts in Peter and Amy, and a superb 12-inch pepperoni pizza for 190 Baht, with a large Leo only 75 Baht. Before long it was time to go, which was a shame as I could have sat there for some time, especially if Peter had played some of the albums, whose covers adorned the wall.
The walk to the game via Google maps ended in one dead end among the houses of the new village by the bar. Eventually, with the help of friendly locals I was at the bottom of the road when a large gap lead through to the large area surrounding the stadium.
It certainly looked an impressive venue from the outside, that we’d passed previously in the car when we were out in the car. The ticket in was 60 Baht, with friendly youngsters staffing the gates. Inside the main stand was very grand with decent clean toilets.
The view from the back of the seats also semi negated the running track around the pitch. There were also some home fans of the far side braving the scorching sun. I had missed the first couple of minutes but soon settled with a coke to enjoy a decent game.
In the early exchanges, the home forward partnership of Supab Muengchan and Hamzeh Sari looked lively. A free kick from a Yasothon player was easily dealt with by home custodian Banhan Thubthong.
Rasisalai was the better side as the ref called for a break for drinks at the midway point of the half. Nattapon Yongsakool went on a mazy run for the home team, but he couldn’t get his shot away, but second later his side took the lead.
A fine cut back from Jaruphong Wongphithak was put away by Somyot Pongsuwan with three minutes of the first period left on the clock. The goal was greeted by a brief instrumental version of Seven Nation Army. I’m sure White Stripes would have been chuffed.
The lead was nearly doubled when Sari narrowly headed over a cross put in from Aphisit Nusonsala. At the interval I walked round the stadium perimeter to grab some photos. I was greeted by friendly fans on the far side, some of whom were enjoying beers.
Yasothon hadn’t just come for the ride and played very well after the break. They equalised when a curling shot from Panawat Jantasila might have taken a slight nick on the way through, but I thought that home goalie Thubthong should have at least got a hand on it.
Rasisalai retook the lead, in a game that flowed from end to end, when a fine pass allowed Muengchan to beat the offside trap and finish coolly past Ronnachart Phuchum. It looked to me like that goal would be decisive, but the visitors weren’t having any of it.
They levelled once again, eleven minutes from time, when a free kick from Jantasila flew in straight above the hands of Thubthong. It was a good strike, but the hosts keeper showed all the reflexes of Peter Shilton in the 1990 penalty shootout against West Germany.
By now I had other concerns, as Grab taxis were not responding to my request for a cab. I was desperate not to ask Taew as I needed to retain some independence for future occasions. I had considered walking to the bus terminal where I had seen taxis earlier in the day.
However, I used a solution that has worked for nigh on forty years, as I returned to the bar for a beer. I had remembered Amy asking if I wanted a taxi before I had left, so I decided to take her up on her offer.
She was unsure of exactly where I wanted to go, and my Thai isn’t the best to be able to describe such things. I put her on the phone to my good lady who explained all, and before long a car had arrived for me.
Toy turned out to be a terrific man driving me home. He spoke a bit of English and knew the quickest route offering a comfortable ride, rather than back alleys and bumpy lanes. It was well worth the tip I gave him, as we exchanged numbers for future occasions.
My return was near the end of a mini party, featuring female members of Taew’s family who were delighted to see me, especially the more imbibed of the fraternity. Food and beers were waiting, before we went to a local gathering where villagers prayed for happiness. Amen to that!
Udon United progressed to the next round with a 2-1 win in a tetchy encounter against hosts Rasisalai in an encounter that could be called the Sales show, but what won’t live long in the memory at the SAT Provincial Stadium
Joao Paulo Sales De Sousa, to give the Brazilian his full name, was at the thick of most things important. At least that was so once compatriot Abner saw a shot ricochet in the direction of Niwat Nonkao who headed home to put the team who had travelled by bus getting on for six hours ahead in the regional cup tie.
Within a minute the hosts levelled up when Wichit Kongsinkaew scored an early goal of the season contender with a half volley from the angle of the penalty area that flew into the far top corner. By now our man Sales was having an enormous influence, putting himself about and being a general nuisance to opponents and officials alike.
His complaining, aided by the other two Samba stars in the Udon line up was of impressive levels. Incessant would certainly be one description. He eventually got himself a yellow card for a ridiculous late lunge, and then avoided a second one which only the imagination of the referee could allow for.
However, while he rolled around, his teammates were going spare pointing at opponent Jakkapan Phaopan who was also prostrate on the turf. Palakon Hasuk tried to unravel the mess after a minute or so and then showed a straight red to the Rasisalai defender, causing the clubs woman owner to go rushing out of the stand to see what was going on.
Quite how I’m not sure, but the referee was convinced to speak to the fourth official who could well have been rewinding his Facebook page to look at the live feed, before the red was overturned to a yellow to cue more moaning from the away team.
Udon were turned down what looked like a good shout for a penalty, leading to more complaints, before a Sales was header was superbly saved by Banhan Thubthong. After the break, the hosts looked good but quickly ran out of ideas.
The winner came ten-minutes from time when a low away side cross was missed before falling to Sales to tap into an empty net with ten minutes remaining and that was that despite a late flurry to try and force the game into extra time at the other end.
As ever, just part of the day back up in the countryside. Shopping in Kanthararom was followed by me catching a minibus into Sisaket. A look around the ageing mall, an expensive pint in Craft & Cold and a cheap head shave was followed by lunch at Hong Kong Garden.
The sausage, chips, and gravy and some Laos Dark beer set me up for the fifteen-minute walk to which included taking my socks and trainers off to wade through a puddle/lake in the car park after heavy rain over the previous few days.
At full time Taew ordered my taxi who waited outside an empty Sri Nakhon Lamduan Stadium, home of Sisaket United. He eventually came for me forty minutes later, but worse things happened at sea. Not least concerning events back home where we had four cattle, one a recent addition.
A mother birth gave birth to a ewe a couple of weeks ago but stumbled in the barn the previous night and couldn't get up again having severely damaged a leg. The vet had arrived and administered a sedative to the mum, supported on her belly with bales of straw with the aid of a harness.
There's one thing for sure. She wasn't faking injury like some of the footballers I encounter.
Rasisalai United 4 Surin Khongcheemool 1 (Saturday 16th September 2023) Thai League 3 Northeast (att: c350)
Sometimes the first result of a season can be a slightly misleading form guide. Players might not have gelled, or the coach doesn’t have his ideas across fully. The previous week Surin KCM were dumped out of the League Cup 8-2 at Khon Kaen Mordingdang. One the evidence of this showing, it was no freak scoreline.
How Rasisalai didn’t bag eight themselves, was only down to some awful finishing, some of it comical, like the missed penalty at 0-0 that came back off both posts, and the free header into an open net at the back post that was somehow blocked by a teammate. To be fair to the visitors they plugged away right until the last kick of the game.
You would have thought full back Surawat Tarnparsert has scored a winner in a cup final such was his joy in finding the net, after colleagues Phongsuri Etmsakdi hit the post, and then Amonthep Kamchadphai saw his shot come back off the bar, but by now the game had been well and truly put to bed.
Natchanon Yongsakool atoned for his earlier penalty miss from scoring from the spot after twenty-seven minutes. Soon after the interval Aphisit Nusonsala crossed from wide on the left and saw the ball sail over the head of keeper Kittiphop Panjan and into the net. The home player acclaimed the adulation of the crowd who surely didn’t think that it was an intended shot.
Two goals with five minutes from Wichit Kongsinkaew must have had Surin hearts sinking, with around twenty-minutes remaining, but they somehow managed to put together a threadbare offside trap that the home side couldn’t work out and they decided to have some fun.
In fairness they tried to play the right way throughout. It’s just that they weren’t particularly good at it. Neither side with an overseas player, which always gladdens my heart as a pragmatist, as it’s surely unsustainable paying out the wages, plus it’s great to see local players getting a go in professional football.
A special mention to referee Tharanon Naowapan. There had been some huge rainfalls over the past few weeks in Sisaket province and the pitch was difficult. He used his common sense and kept dishing out cards to a minimum, also allowing for a lack of malicious intent from the away side, with their poor challenges on occasions.
A lovely day out as ever. Dropped off in Kanthararom by my wife, Train ride to Sisaket fand then got a cab to Hong Kong Garden
for lunch. Homemade meat pie, chips, and gravy washed down by a cider and a
couple of bottles of Laos Dark and a chat forming the perfect Saturday with
football.
My earlier driver collected me after the game from SAT Sisaket Stadium and took me home. He knew the route as he lived in the nearby countryside. And he put the metre on, which revealed the previous week’s pilot enjoyed a couple of beers out of me. Food, beers, and some live Thai League and EPL action before bed.
Rasisalai United 1 Khon Kaen Mordingdang 1 (Sunday 5th November 2023) Thai League 3 Northeast (att: 172)
The lady owner of the hosts rang the changes during the week before the match as Preeda Chankra who led league debutants Rasisalai to third place the previous term returned to the dugout.
United tend to play lovely football at times, without delivering an end product, and can be guilty of missing a lot of chances. And so, it proved once again, as they played with vigour without putting the ball in the net in the first half. They were made to pay as Tanapol Srithong put KKM 1-0 up five minutes before the break.
The second half was of a similar pattern, and equal. A fantastic move led to an equaliser from Natchanon Yongsakool seven minutes after the restart. The midfielder always seemed to be in the thick of the action and gave his all whenever I watched. Chukwuma at the back a steady presence as ever.
In the gloom in stoppage time of the 3.30pm kickoff, the visitors nearly snatched a last gasp winner, but for a superb point-blank stop from home goalie Banhan Thubthong. Why they hadn’t switched the lights on was beyond me and my mate.
A lovely few hours in town as ever in the good company of my new companion John Thornback with a fine baguette and plentiful refreshments at Hong Kong Garden, a few minutes by car from Sisaket Provincial Stadium. A special shout out to my Grab driver who has become my regular pilot.
Our car was having repairs, so I needed a taxi both ways. Grab doesn’t connect with drivers in the deepest countryside, but he gave my Taew, my wife, his number and tells her to ring in advance whenever I need a ride.
He drove down to us, and then I made the connection on the app. The fella
is full of laughter. They call him Euan which is translated to “fatty”, and he
has one leg, which we discovered when opening his boot to put the shopping in
at Makro a few days earlier. I make sure he gets a good tip.
Rasisalai United 5 Nakhon Ratchasima United 3 (Saturday 11th November 2023) Thai League 3 Northeast (att: 175)
A highly entertaining encounter as the improving hosts
faced a better than expected challenge against the side second from bottom in
the thirteen team division.
A brace from the consistently impressive Natchanon from midfield along with a penalty from Tangrit put Rasisalai in command as expected with fifty-one minutes on the clock. The away side had been horrible to watch at Sisaket a few weeks earlier, with niggly tactics and an immobile goalie who was on the bench for this encounter.
They had a different attitude this time out with Thanwa giving them a lifeline just before the hour mark. Tanagrit added another penalty before Nadtakorn reduced the arrears once again. By now the game was stretched and my mate and I both thought anything could have happened if Ratchasima scored next.
However, it wasn’t to be. Supab made it 5-3 before Nadtachorn scored his second in additional time, meaning his side still only had one point after nine games. The hapless bottom of the table side Surin Khongcheemool still had to register a point.
When I got home my good lady registered a point. That I was drunk and had been stupid walking several miles in flop flops and now had blistered feet. Guilty as charged. I was in one of those moods where I wanted a good drink. Pre-match as ever in the excellent Hong Kong Garden for home made pie, chips, and gravy along with a range of beers and a cider. I continued at the stadium and post-match found myself without an available Grab driver.
I’d been given a recommendation of a restaurant bar that later turned into the place to be a few weeks earlier. I thought it a good idea to take the fifteen-minute walk, have a beer and see if I had more look getting a taxi. After one agreed and then turned me down saying the fare Grab was telling him to charge wasn’t expensive enough a kind member of staff spoke to my better half on the phone so she explained where we lived and so that they could call me a taxi.
The following day I was feeling sheepish, with sore feet making
walking a few yards painful, and a hangover from hell.
Rasisalai United 0 Sisaket United 1 - at Sri Nakhon Lamduan Stadium (Satuday 16th December 2023) Thai League 3 Northeast (att: 536)
A hard fought victory for the league leaders in the local derby. The only goal from Argentinian star man Panigazzi five minutes after the break with Danilo the Brazilian forward putting in a much improved shift as Sisaket maintained their position at the top of the table.
The first half showed signs of imitating the first encounter between the sides which ended 0-0. Sisaket keeper Adisak Lambelsah turned over a long range effort in the only real offering on goal from either side. Referee Chlaermpon Thongsri did his best to liven things up with some bizarre decisions, mainly against Rasisalai.
The boss of the club, a lady not known for holding back her emotions, offered some forceful feedback hanging over the railings of the stand as the officials headed down the tunnel at the interval. Whatever Sisaket coach Narongthanaphorn told his troops at half time seemed to have a desired effect as they came out with more attacking intent.
Danilo, who can be lacklustre at times, showed some real quality featuring in much link up play using his strength and vision as well as a yard of pace most thought had long left him. Panigazzi as ever, despite carrying an injury, the driving force in midfield. His brave header from a floated cross the difference between the teams. Sisaket had another couple of guilt edged chances that went to waste, and they were nearly made to pay.
Finally, Rasisalai coach Preeda Chankra brought on the energetic Natchanon Yongsakool from off the bench. In the earlier fixture he missed a late penalty and was then dismissed for a second yellow card, but he is always in the thick of the action. His and the introduction of defender Gideon Chuckwuma made a big difference as the pace and intent intensified.
A couple of crosses flashed across the box, until in the second of five additional minutes, a shot smashed back off the underside of the Sisaket bar and danger was somehow averted from the rebound before a very enjoyable second half came to an end.
This was local derby with a difference. Rasisalai’s usual stadium a mile or so away was out of commission for a marching band competition so they forfeited their home advantage and hired the government owned Sri Nakhon Lamduan Stadium, the usual home of their opponents.
This meant that Sisaket fans were predominantly in the away supporter’s section of their own stadium. Rasisalai ut out a message of Facebook saying anyone in Sisaket colours could not use their usual home sections. One German fella, a regular hadn’t read the info, came in his usual orange shirt but was seen after half time with another shirt covering it over. Daft really as a few of us go to watch both sides.
I’d been a good lad all week, abstaining from booze and eating smaller portions to try and shed some timber and clear the head. Train from Kanthararom and a walk at the other end, including a stop for the first time at Barco, a café bar which had a good fridge with a wide selection of bottles from near and far.
Probably my one and only visit. The small bottle of Cha La Wan IPA from Full Moon Brewery in Phuket was good, but the price matched that of an English city. The challenge of trying to find out bus information to Khon Kaen for a future trip at the bus station where no English is spoken was a success, or at least I think so.
I continued past bewildered Thai's seeing someone walking in the heat, to Hong Kong Garden, my usual pre-match haunt for a late lunch and a couple of better priced bottles before heading to the game with my mate John. A good few hours out and home at a sensible hour.
Rasisalai
United 4 Muang Loei United 0 (Wednesday 7th February 2024) Thai League Northeast (att: 69)
The fixture planners, if there is such a thing, at the Thai League decided not to have any football in Sisaket for two consecutive weekends could be compensated by putting both T3 clubs at home on the same midweek afternoon.
John messaged me and said it make sense to meet at Hong Kong Garden and head to the first half at the first game before then heading on to the later full match. I was up for that so I went by train and met a lovely old Italian fella on the way who told be had lived in Kanthararom for fifty-five years.
A shocking attendance at the match, but little wonder really. Even the customary food and drink vendors didn’t bother turning up. The official crowd figure was certainly exaggerated. However, those who did bother saw a tremendous entertaining encounter. Well until halftime as that’s when we, along with another couple of carloads headed to the second match.
Loei had been good at Sisaket eleven days previously and certainly had the same attacking flair. Apidet once again stood out with his skilful footwork and footballing brain, while the front two of Omogba Esoh and Kamonchai Somsuk looked dangerous carving out chances.
It wasn’t their day in front of goal in this game between two sides with only pride to play for, as Rasisalai made hay taking advantage of some awful defending with Supab Muengchan grabbing a hattrick in the first thirty minutes.
The first so bad it was brilliant to watch, as he was put clean through but made an awful first touch. Keeper Thanarat Neao-Olo could have come and collected but stay on his line, and then let the shot which was straight at him through his grasp.
When it’s
your day, it’s time to capitalise. The scorer finished off a fine move for the
second and then once again was given the freedom of Isan to bag his third. The
score could easily have been 5-3 when we called it a day just before the break.
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