Thailand - Premier League

Origins (1916–1995)

Thailand has had league-football competition since 1916. Before the inception of the Thai League, the highest level of club football was the semi-professional league Kor Royal Cup (Thai: ถ้วย ก.) which was contested in a tournament format from 1916 to 1995.

Foundation (1996–2007)

Thai League was introduced in 1996 by the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) under the name Thailand Soccer League. Eighteen clubs who earlier competed for the Kor Royal Cup were registered to play in the first edition of a double round-robin league system. Bangkok Bank was crowned as the first champion of the 1996–97 Thailand Soccer League.

The Thai League originally had 10 to 12 clubs each season until 2007, when it was expanded to 16 clubs. At the end of each season, the three bottom placed clubs are relegated to the Thai Division 1 League.

Leagues integration (2007)

Most of Thai League clubs in that time were the organisation of government authorities club that based in Greater Bangkok and Metropolitan. Meanwhile, the other local clubs had competed in the semi-pro league called the Provincial League. Thai Premier League faced the issue of low attendance and lack of local loyalties while the Provincial league suffered the financial issue. In 2007, Thai League was integrated with Provincial League completely. Chonburi from the Provincial League was the first champion of the new Thailand Premier League in the 2007 season.

Modern era (2009–present)

In 2009 season, there were significant changes in the lead to the new era of the Thai Premier League. Asian Football Confederation declared the regulations for the associations that have the intention to send the clubs to compete in the AFC Champions League starting from 2011. Football Association of Thailand had to establish Thai Premier League co.ltd and forced the clubs in the top league to complete AFC Club License Criteria otherwise Thai clubs will not eligible to play in the Champions League. Clubs were forced to separate themselves from the parent organisations and registered as the independent football authorities.

The massive changes occurred in that season. Thailand Premier League renamed to Thai Premier League. Two times league champion Krung Thai Bank failed to complete the new regulations. The organisation decided to sell the club. The club was acquired by Boon Rawd and rebranded to be Bangkok Glass. Bangkok University had expelled their football club section. The club rebrand itself to Bangkok United since then. The organisation-based clubs had to relocate to find the local supporters to backup the clubs. Osotspa changed their home stadium to Saraburi Province, TOT moved to play in Kanchanaburi, Royal Navy played in Rayong Province while Thailand Tobacco Monopoly integrated to Samut Sakhon Province and rebranded to TTM Samut Sakhon.

Muangthong United were promoted from Thai Division 1 League in that season and won Thai Premier League in their first year in the top league.

Thailand Clasico

Thailand Clasico or The Classic Match of Thailand is the matchup between Muangthong United and Chonburi. It is the matchup that presents Thai football in the modern era. The name was given to the encounter of two teams due to the hype and massive atmosphere around the match. The first encounter between them happened in the 2009 Thai Premier League season. On 30 May 2009, Chonburi that was regarded as the best club in Thailand at that moment hosted the new powerhouse who were just promoted from Division 1 Muangthong United. The match was played at Nong Prue Stadium, Pattaya. Before the match, Chonburi was the leader in the table after 10 matches of the season while Muangthong followed in second with one less point. Chonburi made the lead by 2–0 in the first thirty minutes but Muangthong bounced back to win by the 5–2 result at the end.

The first invincible

In the 2012 season, Muangthong United under Serbian head coach Slaviša Jokanović, had become the first club in the league history that completed the season with an unbeaten record. Muangthong finished at the top of the final standing with 25 wins and 9 draws.

Buriram dominance

The Buriram Dominance refers to the 2013 to 2015 season, when Buriram United won Thai Premier League in three consecutive seasons as the first club in the league history. The three titles in that period included two invincible titles which Buriram United completed Thai Premier League campaign unbeaten in 2013 and 2015 season.

Rebranding (2017)

In 2017, Football Association of Thailand decided to rebrand Thai Premier League into Thai League 1. Since its inception in 1996 the Thai Premier League has relied upon local sponsorship. Re-branding initiatives seek to foster an international identity for the Thai and elevate the league globally through commitment to world-class level management and marketing which incorporates multifaceted promotion through various media to draw attention to league competition and cups. This rebranding earned the Good Design Award in the Brand Identity branch from the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.

The rebranding of the Thai League from 2017 to 2023 has been well received in terms of viewership with a large number of visitors to the stadium and watching through live broadcasts but in terms of benefits, the Thai League receives royalties for broadcasting live matches at an ever-lower value after the end of season 2022-23 Thai League is only worth 50 million baht, an amount that risks collapsing the league.

Thai League Revolution (2023)

On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, Kornwee Phrissanantakul, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Thai League Company Limited and Patis Supapong, Secretary General of the Football Association of Thailand in the Royal Patronage has called a meeting of representatives of 16 Thai League member clubs to find a solution and offer suggestions after the auction to buy Thai League licenses is not as expected. The recommendation from the majority of 16 teams is for all 16 teams to manage and find benefits among themselves (Premier League Model), which will bring information and details to the Association Executive Council meeting on Monday 3 July.

On July 18, 2023, the Thai League club meeting launched the #SAVETHAILEAGUE initiative to raise funds for Thai League clubs directly from football fans by purchasing a package to watch live broadcasts directly from your favorite team to address the issue of low Thai League values.