GAMBLING AS A SOCIAL PRACTICE AMONG THAI LEAGUE‘S F FOOTBALL FANS

WASAN PANYAGAEWDEPT. OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITYPRESENTING AT INTERNATIONAL GAMBLING CONFERENCE 2018,

SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY, AUCKLAND

BACKGROUND: THAILAND MIDDLE - INCOME TRAP, THE COUP, AND THE AFC▸ rural transformation since late 1990

▸ Decentralisation - 1997, urbanisation, urban space - football field construction since 2009

▸ new middle class

▸ Or new class in Thailand provinces?

▸ Thai politicians/ the business groups and Football Club investment,

▸ Is this field a new politics, after the Coup?

WP1

Slide 2

WP1 Wasan Panyagaew, 2/07/2016

TIMELINE▸ 2001-2007 - Semi professional (Thailand)

league

▸ Coup 2006, ousting Taksin and his govfrom power/Thailand

▸ 2007-2009 - Parties were dissolved

▸ 2009 FIFA regulation, leads to TPL

▸ privatization and professionalisation of Thai Football league)

▸ 2010-2015 - Yingluck and another Coup in May 2014

▸ 2016-The new President of FA Thailandelected - New Era?

▸ Note that, football game betting is illegal but is commonly known and practiced among young men in Thailand, since 1992

FROM SPORTING CITIZENS TO CONSUMING FANS: FORMATION OF THE NEW CLASS?

LEGALIZING FOOTBALL GAMBLINGIN THAILAND?

Is Football gambling related to a social problem?

BEFORE AND AFTER 2009

NUMBERS OF FC OWNED BYGOVERNMENT OFFICE, STATE ENTERPRISE, AND BANKS WERE FALLENBUT THOSE INVESTED BY PRIVATE COMPANY AND FORMER POLITICIANS ARE ON THE RISE!

TPL 2009, THE AFC AND TRANSFORMATION OF THAI SOCIETY ?

THAI PREMIERE LEAGUE

THE RESURRECTION OF PROVINCIAL POWER

AND THE NEW CLASS?

THAI LEAGUEWHO ARE THE FAN?

13%19

%25%

30%

13%

I-mobile stadium

SCG Stadium

United Stadium

Chiang Mai 700

PAT Stadium

121

101

765250

THE SURVEY: 400 SAMPLES IN 5 STADIUMS, IN BANGKOK [2], THE NORTH AND THE NORTHEAST[3]

FINDINGS

THAI FOOTBALL FAN' BACKGROUND

Ma…

Fe…

single75%

other

1%

married23%

divorce2%

elementary2%

pri-high school15%

high school23%

poly technic

19%

undergraduate41%

postgraduate0%

other3%

studying33%

wage labor5%

agriculture2%

employee

36%

gov/state

enterprise

11%

private/freelance

11%

Bangkok or the countryside does not matters?

TEXTAGE GROUP AND MONTHLY INCOME

>1000039%

10001-2000041%

20001-3000012%

30001-40000

5%40001>4%

15-2028%

21-2518%26-30

22%

31-3517%

36-4015%

age group

LEISURE PLACE AND LIFE ON THE WEEKEND

home48%

shopping centre14%

tourist site6%

park4%

pub and restauran

t6%

Football stadium

21%

religious place and

others2%

leisure place

0

10

20

30

40

50

alone couple peer group family football fc

Going to Football stadium with whom?

male female

GAMBLING EXPERIENCE AND BETTING ON THE GAME?

Football game betting by age group

FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE TO BET ON FOOTBALL GAME BY AGE GROUP

FOOTBALL BETTING , THE URBAN EXPERIENCE?

Football bettors

HOW THEY BET THE GAMES?

What kinds of football game betting they love to play and consume?

No ! Not for TPL, but EPL, probably

THAI FANS AND FOOTBALL CONSUMPTION

FROM TELEVISION VIEWERS TO STADIUM ATTENDANTS ANDFOOTBALL CLUB SUPPORTERS

FROM VIRTUAL TO REAL FANS?, FROM THE DISTANCE TO INTIMACYFROM THE BETTOR TO FOOTBALL LOVER?

THE SOCIAL MEANINGS OF THAI FOOTBALL CULTURE TODAY

IDOLS, GIRLS AND SEXUALITY, CONSUMING PRACTICEIN THE MASCULINE WORLD?

A KIND OF COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE AMONG THAIMEN

DEFINITELY THE GAMBLING IS STILL ROLLED ON

THAI FOOTBALL BECOMING MORE REGIONALIZED

AND IS INTERWOVEN WITH SPORT BETTING INDUSTRY, GLOBALLY!