Thailand

Cricket was introduced to Thailand by the children of elite Thai families who learnt the game during education in England. They founded the Bangkok City Cricket Club in 1890, and the side played its first game in November of that year. An invitation to come to the city was sent to the Singapore Cricket Club, but it was turned down due to the fear of a cholera epidemic. Cricket in the Thai community failed to develop however, and by the early-1900s the game was confined almost entirely to expatriate residents. The Royal Bangkok Sports Club began to play cricket in 1905 and they were instrumental in arranging the first international in January 1909, when Siam beat the Straits Settlements by an innings in Singapore. Siam won the return match in Bangkok the following year, and the Straits Settlements won the third and final match in December 1911. Cricket remained a recreational activity, with a national side not surfacing again until 1990. Various sides came to play the Royal Bangkok Sports Club in the 1960s and 1970s, including Worcestershire in 1965 and the MCC in 1970. This encouraged the development of more cricket facilities.

One player based in Thailand in the late-1980s and early-1990s was Ronald Endley, who worked for Volvo and persuaded the company to offer a trophy for a match against Hong Kong. This match was played in January 1990 and took the form of a two-day match, which was drawn. It became a one-day match in 1991, and 1992 saw Malaysia join in for a tri-series. The tournament was superseded by the Tuanku Ja'afar Cup, which involved all three teams along with Singapore. The early-1990s were one of the most successful periods for Thai cricket, but tight ICC player eligibility rules came into force when they became an ICC affiliate member in 1995, which led to them being forced to field weaker teams. This coincided with financial problems, causing Thailand to pull out of tournaments. In contrast, the early part of the 21st century has seen youth cricket take priority in addition to much more being done to promote the game beyond the expatriate population. In August 2017, Thailand won the bronze medal in the 50-over tournament in cricket at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. They placed fourth in the 20-over tournament, losing to Indonesia.