Tung Burapha Stadium (Ubon Ratchathani)

Tung Burapha Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Jaeramair municipality of Ubon Ratchathai province in northeast Thailand, located around 13km northwest of the city centre. The arena was formerly used by Osatspa in the top tier of Thai football on occasions if information is correct.

The capacity of the stadium is stated as being 10,000 with semi-permanent open seating surrounding the running track, none of which has any covered areas to protect from the sun. It is owned by the local municipality who appear to use it for local events and hiring it out.

My visit

Sisaket Wittayalai School 1 BWS Warriors 0 (Sunday 7^th May 2023) Thailand Amateur League Northeastern Southern Zone (att: c25)

My attention was drawn to a competition that I had enjoyed the previous year while residing on the outskirts of Bangkok and fancied attending again. Especially as I would be coming across teams I’d never heard of before and there was a chance of visiting a new venue.

It was a warm Sunday morning when the wife dropped me by the market in Kanthararom, the nearest sizeable town to us in Sisaket province at around 8am, so I could get a minivan to Ubon Ratchathani where the day’s action was to take place.

 

Communication as usual difficult with the woman on the desk where the vans stop, as she speaks not one word of English, and my Thai was just met with a smile and a gesture to sit down. This I found frustrating as I tried my best, and used Google translate as an aide.

The first van to arrive was full, so it meant it was just gone 9am after a second one pitched up and when I reached Ubon bus terminal. I took some photos of the boards which advertised where services travelled to which were written in Thai. 

I could translate these later as they would hopefully allow me to find some unknown pleasures in the future as I am otherwise reliant on public transport or lifts. A nice young lady dropped me outside Tung Burapha Stadium in her Grab taxi.

Among its distinguishing features were a disused scoreboard and floodlights that are a long way back from the stands. An unusual feature is that like Highbury in Fleetwood, the original main stand stands behind the current one. 

Just what views spectators used to get must have been terrible. To gain access to the new area you walk down the old player’s tunnel going past the changing rooms where some were sheltered from the hot sun.

I quickly realised I’d made a schoolboy error, as I had only one small bottle of water, and no refreshment stands were open, with the stadium having no roofs. I hoped that by some miracle a mobile caterer might pass like at some games in Bangkok I’d attended, but in my heart of hearts I knew we were too far away for anyone to realise.

I watched the first half under the shade of the far stand with an obscured view before finding a bit more shade on the far side for the second half which also had a much gratefully received breeze. I was seriously close to bailing out at one point.

The game on the heavily grassed surface was nothing to write home about. I was unsure where BWS came from, but I knew that they needed to up their game if this was anything to go by. They got away with the best score they could have hoped for as the Sisaket mob missed chance after chance.

Don’t be fooled into thinking it was a school team, in the way. Many organisations bolster their line-ups from anywhere to try and win a place in the Pro League’s which would appear to be something of a status symbol to educational establishments and their CV’s.

The game was decided by a penalty scored by Oakkarapong Tongkam just before the half hour mark after the awkward forward Apisit Keawchaingthong had been tripped in the box. As mentioned, the heat was stifling, my thermometer saying it felt like 46 degrees. The ref sensibly had drinks breaks, but surprisingly only one in each half after thirty minutes.

 

In the second half I was sat next to a team waiting to play in the second game at 1pm. The coach of Roi Et FC asked if I were scouting and struggling to work out why I would be there otherwise. He might have had a point…

With a couple of minutes remaining, I ordered another Grab to take me back to the city at Ubon Square, which is a large shopping area to grab some food and liquids and then take a ten-minute walk to the UTM Stadium for my second game of the day.

Northeastern Polytechnic Vocational College 1 Nakhonratchasima College 2 (Sunday 18^th June 2023) Thailand Amateur League Northeast Southern Zone Semi-Final (att: c120) 

A decent semi-final encounter in shocking conditions after half-time that would have surely meant an immediate abandonment in England. The pitch was splodgy enough in the first half which saw a stretched encounter with both sides playing nice football from the off, despite going down the tunnel with the scores blank.

At the interval, a huge downpour deposited itself. A few weeks ago, at the same venue I was suffering from sunstroke, this time the wife’s brolly which I requisitioned saved me from a proper soaking. Most locals just shrugged their shoulders and accepted it. They’re hardy souls. 

The local bunch representing Ubon Poly went ahead just before the hour mark. Sub Phuttiphong Somboon turned superbly just inside his own half and went on a brilliant run through the puddles before providing Thoedkead Siribon who scored with a sublime clip over stranded keeper Suchat Wongwat.

The celebrations as the players slid on their knees through the water in front of their ecstatic following as good as the goal. The scores were level within a few minutes when referee, Jirayu Lohapom, who officiated sensibly throughout allowing for the conditions and didn’t put up with playacting, pointed to the spot after deciding a shot was blocked illegally.

The aptly named Anuarak Mungdee scored from the spot. The side who travelled across from Korat had been impressive the week before when I saw them and were the slightly more creative of the two sides on this occasion.

Sunthon Sanitnok scored the winner twelve minutes from time when he finished at the back post after a corner was flicked on. His side defended comfortably to see out their win despite some attempted late pressure.

Why this match and the semi that followed were played in a stadium well out of Ubon city with no cover for spectators in rainy season was beyond my comprehension. I know nobody is forced to attend but it seemed a bit daft when there were 3 good stadiums in the city, all offering protection against the elements.

It provided me with the issue of no Grab taxis wanting to head out after the game in torrential rain, for which I don’t blame them. I sheltered and walked before the worst of it and sheltered in a local shop. Fortunately, I was able to hail a cab who deposited some players to pitches outside the main stadium at a very decent complex.

 

Many other games were taking place in all adult age groups in the Ubon Ratchathani Cup which was for local teams at the Provincial run site which also contains tennis and golf and stores for the council wagons, though I didn’t see any gritters.

A lift from my wife to Kanthararom and back home when I returned. The small bus was 106 baht return to Ubon. From there taxis in each direction of less than 2 quid each for the 9km ride. A smashing few hours out and home for a tradition Isan hotpot and the Test match.