CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence

They were hoping it would be Bangrachan, but it seemed more like the Little Big Horn.

An unranked – by the International Ice Hockey Federation – Thai team took on Kazakhstan, seeded eleventh in the world.

It was at the Asian Winter Games in Changchun, China and Thailand was outshot 97-7, and outscored 52-1.

At first glance, these numbers seem to tell the story of Thai hockey.

But, there are other numbers that are more significant.

There are only two hundred hockey players – 80 males, 20 females, and 100 Juniors – in Thailand (Kazakhstan, by comparison has some some 2,931 registered players.). And to oversee the Thai players, there are only eight refs in the Kingdom.

It’s only the relatively affluent who can afford to play the game. In a country where the average farm worker is making only $7 or $8 a day, few can afford equipment from North America and Europe.

Many Thais play with poor-fitting gloves, or no gloves at all, and sometimes two broken sticks taped together.

Interesting enough, this is not too different from hockey’s roots in Canada during the 1880s. At first, only the wealthy played, because everyone else was working sixty and seventy hour weeks. But, a decade later, Canadians were working shorter weeks and had leisure time, and hockey soon became the national past time.

There are just three ice rinks in the Kingdom.

There is the Samrong mall rink, where the locals play in Bangkok. There is also the very tiny Lad Prao rink in the Big C complex, where enthusiasts can play three-on-three contests.

To take the Canadian hockey roots analogy one step further, Thailand has a third ice surface called the ‘Esplanade’ in Bangkok, which is figure-8 shaped, and thus not appropriate for hockey.

Kingston’s first hockey games – played in 1885 – were on an ice covered field, with a bandstand in the middle. To play in the Esplanade today, would be like playing around a bandshell, a century and a quarter ago in Ontario.

Thailand’s ice has been described as “foggy but functional,” and of course, is softer than surfaces in more temperate climates.

The most significant numbers to Thai hockey, are dollars – or baut in Thai currency.

Or the lack there of.

Thailand, plain and simple, isn’t a hockey country.

The most popular sport is football – aka soccer.

Football is so popular that that the former Prime-minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, bought his own team – the Manchester City soccer club in Britain.

Also, Thailand makes a significant commitment to the Southeast Asian Games, where they recently won 181 gold medals, versus their nearest rivals, Malaysia with 68 and Vietnam with 64 golds.

Then of course, there is the national sport, Muay Thai, with its two large arenas in Bangkok, which draws many athletes, fans and bettors.

Wealthy countries like Australia are always expanding into new sports. But, Thailand only has the resources to support their main activities – which doesn’t include hockey.

Those players who battled against the Kazakhstanians, played out of good old national pride. They had to pay their way to China, buy their own equipment, etc.

Although not officially sponsored, Thailand still joined the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1989, and a few years ago, hosted an Asian development camp in Chiangmai, with attendees from Taiwan, India, Singapore, as well as Thailand.

They have been playing hockey in Thailand for over 30 years.

But, it wasn’t until 1999, that the Bangkok Hockey league was started with five teams playing. The following season there were nine Thai teams, and one Farang (foreigner) side.

Then the Samrong Ice Rink closed in 2000, and the circuit was temporarily disbanded.

But, the core of the expats, the self-named Flying Farangs, kept Thailand’s hockey torch burning. They attended tournaments in neighbouring countries, in preparation for hosting one of their own.

A few years later, Samrong re-opened, and the new circuit became the the Thai World Hockey League.

Today’s four team league is largely expat-driven, with players from America, Canada, Finland, Japan, Germany, Sweden, as well as Thailand.

The farangs are spread throughout the four teams, and the quartet starts playing again on Sunday nights in September.

The players’ skill levels range from semi-pro to beginners.

The teams are named after their sponsors: the BNH Hospital Blades, the Curve Coyotes, the Woodstock Bar and Grill Blues, and the D’Pelican Inn Flyers.

The international tournament hosted by the farangs is now called “The Land of Smiles Hockey Classic,” and this year will be their fourteenth.

Thirty teams fly in from as far away as Russia, Canada, and the Czech Republic, and as close as Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Beijing and Tokyo.

The tourney supports local hockey, and raises money for children at the Human Development Center, operated by Father Joseph Maier in Klongtoey.

Thai hockey’s proudest moment came after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

Bangkok’s hockey community – the Flying Farangs in particular, and the Thai World Ice Hockey League in general – teamed up with the NHL to raise more than US $40,000 for the tsunami’s survivors.

In a game, billed as “Canada vs. The World,” a team of expats and Thais defeated a Canadian squad 7-6.

The NHL donated US$2,600 per goal, and $5,000 was raised at the door from the 800 fans who packed the Bangkok rink to capacity.

A second proud moment came when a Flying Farang’s jersey was hung in a global hockey exhibit, in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

A third proud moment came during the Kazakhstan slaughter. It was a proud moment because a major disaster had been averted.

At 47.15 minutes, Arthit Thamwongsin scored Thailand’s only goal.

At a great time in Thailand’s history, when the Burmese army were marching towards Ayutthaya in 1765, eleven villagers from Bangrachan fought and delayed the invaders for some five months.

They finally fell, Ayutthaya was over run, but there was honour in defeat – face had been saved.

By scoring that one goal, the Thais had saved face, which was in itself, a proud moment.

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