What You Didn't Know About Thai Football – It's Made of War Elephants!

This paper goes beyond the stereotype of Thailand as being all about sex tourism, zero tolerance to drugs (capital punishment), murder capital of Southeast Asia and a non entity in the field of sports. Taking the purview of sports and economic development, the paper argues that the game of football is huge in Thailand and the War Elephants (Thai national football team), may well be a force to reckon with in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region and beyond. At the recently concluded Suzuki Cup accredited by the world football governing body (FIFA), the War Elephants proved their mettle. Drawing upon official statistics and unreported sectoral developments, the paper, in its exploratory form, challenges marketing scholars to devote time in advancing the debate as to whether Thailand can chart a path to its future on the global marketing stage through football