Kawin Thamsatchanan (, ; born 26 January 1990) is a Thai retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Club career

Rajpracha

Born in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Kawin began his youth career in 2006 with Rajpracha, making his senior debut in 2007.

Muangthong United

In 2008, defending Thai division 2 champions

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club () is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Pak Kret district, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League 1, the top-flight football league of Thailand. Muangthong United has pa ...

signed Kawin at the age of 18. In his first season with

, he secured his first-team status and helped the club win the division 1 title that season. After Muangthong's promotion to the

Thai Premier League The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

for the 2009–2010 season, Kawin led the team to win the top division title two years in a row, 2009 and 2010. In October 2010,

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

, a

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

legend and Thailand's national team head coach at the time, spoke to United's goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, suggesting he take a look at Kawin. However, Kawin broke his wrist, causing him to be out of action for months, ending his hopes of going on trial at

. At the start of the 2013 season, while competing in the 2013 Lunar New Year Cup, Kawin collided against Chris Dickson. He suffered a broken shin, which kept him out for 7 months. After returning to the pitch in the second leg of the Thai Premier League, he dislocated his shoulder and tore ligaments in a match against TOT S.C., ending his season. Kawin was named man of the match against

Johor Darul Ta'zim Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore to the south and Indonesia to the east and w ...

in the second round of the 2016 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs, saving all three of Johor's spot kicks in the penalty shoot-out.

OH Leuven

In 2018, Kawin completed his move to Europe by joining

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

in the

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

on a five-year contract. The deal was formally announced on January 10, 2018. Kawin, who wore the number 16 jersey, quickly became Leuven's first-choice goalkeeper, a position previously held by Nick Gillekens. After an outstanding performance in a 1-1 draw against Beerschot Wilrijk, Kawin was named in the Proximus League's Matchday 27 team of the week along with teammate Jarno Libert. In October 2018, Kawin suffered a foot injury which has kept him on the sidelines for months, allowing Laurent Henkinet to take up the position as first-choice goalkeeper. While Gillekens' contract was not prolonged after the 2018-19 season, OH Leuven signed international goalkeeper

Darren Keet Darren Keet (born 5 August 1989) is a South African soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper. Keet is currently playing for Cape Town City in the PSL. Club career Born in Cape Town, Keet was a member of the Vasco Da Gama squad that won promoti ...

, who has since become the second choice goalkeeper behind Henkinet, bumping Thamsatchanan into third.

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo

On 4 February 2020, it was announced that Kawin had joined club

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of the 2024 season. Th ...

on a season-long loan deal. He would eventually not play a single match for the team and returned to OH Leuven at the end of 2021.

Return to OH Leuven

Meanwhile at OH Leuven, the goalkeeper situation had changed completely: both Laurent Henkinet and Darren Keet had left the club and two new goalkeepers had been signed mid-2020: Rafael Romo and Daniel Iversen. With Iversen returning to Leicester City due to lack of playing time, only Romo and youngster Oregan Ravet remained and Kawin was soon reinstated as second-choice goalkeeper behind Romo. On 11 April 2021, in the penultimate game of the season against

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Their matricule number is 12. The club plays home games at the 29 ...

, Kawin was brought on as a replacement for an injured Romo at half-time, becoming the first Thai to play in the Belgian league. It would prove to be his only match that season, as Romo returned to play the final match of the season. During the 2021 summer transfer window, OH Leuven loaned

Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson (born 18 February 1995) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Danish Superliga club Copenhagen and the Iceland national team. He has also previously played for Dijon, Nordsjælland, KR Re ...

, demoting Kawin back to third-choice. He did not appear on the match sheet in any match during the first half of the 2021–22 season and being deemed surplus, he was allowed to play at the

2020 AFF Championship The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), the 7th and the last edition ...

towards the end of 2021, a tournament which he played part of the first leg of the final. Subsequently, Kawin was loaned out on 4 January 2022, when it was announced that he had joined club

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

on a loan deal.

Return Thai league with Port

Upon joining

, Kawin was given the shirt number 1. In the

2021-22 Thai League 1 Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

, he played 7 appearances for the club.

Back to Muangthong United

On 9 August 2022, it was announced that Kawin has back joined club Muangthong United, along with wearing shirt number 26.

Retirement

On 17 June 2024, Kawin announced his retirement from 17 years of professional football. Kawin intends to quit playing football with the last team he was attached to,

. Kawin played professional football, his last match in a game with Muangthong United versus BG Pathum United in 2024 Thai League Cup final on June 16, 2024.

International career

Kawin had debut his first senior caps in

2010 King's Cup The 40th King's Cup (Thailand), King's Cup finals was held in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from 17 January until 23 January. The King's Cup is an international association football, football competition held in Thailand. ...

against

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

at Nakhon Ratchasima province. Recently, under the management of Winfried Schafer, Kawin has been dropped to a substitution of Sintaweechai Hathairattanakool. He was the starting goalkeeper of the tournament in the

2012 AFF Suzuki Cup The 2012 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 9th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of Southeast Asia. It was co-hosted for group stage by Malaysia and Thailand a ...

. He represented Thailand U23 in the

2013 Southeast Asian Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games (, ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and commonly known as Naypyitaw 2013, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event took place in Naypyidaw, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 11 ...

. Kawin was the flag bearer for

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in the

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games (), officially known as the 17th Asian Games () and also known as Incheon 2014 (), were a pan-Asian multi-sport event held from 19 September to 4 October 2014 in Incheon, South Korea. On 17 April 2007, Incheon was awarded ...

, and was the captain of Thailand U23 in the tournament. Kawin was one of the overaged players playing in the

. Kawin was part of

's squad that won the

2014 AFF Suzuki Cup The 2014 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, was the 10th edition of the AFF Championship, an international association football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the ...

. In December 2018, it was announced that Kawin would be part of the

that would compete in the

2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...

. However, due to an injury, he sustained in October while playing for

, Kawin was forced to withdraw just 2 weeks prior to the tournament. He came back in the drawn match against Vietnam.

Personal life

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, Kawin attended Assumption College Thonburi in high school and graduated from Assumption University with a bachelor in Business Administration. In September 2013, V. Vachiramethi, a famous Thai monk, advised him to add two Thai characters to his name, thus changing its spelling from กวิน to กวินทร์ (meaning "a great and powerful man") while retaining the pronunciation. Kawin is good friends with former national team captain Panupong Wongsa and his idols are

Oliver Kahn Oliver Rolf Kahn (; born 15 June 1969) is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in t ...

and Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool.

Honours

Club

Rajpracha *

Khǒr Royal Cup Khǒr Royal Cup (), known as the Noi Cup () until 1963, was a part of the Thai football league system, founded by the Football Association of Thailand in 1916. Khǒr Royal Cup was the second-highest level of the Thai football league system from ...

: 2007 Muangthong United *

Thai League 1 The Thai League (, pronounced as ') or Thai League 1 (, pronounced as '), often referred to as T1, is the highest level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai L ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Thai League 2 Thai League 2 (), commonly known as the T2, formally called Thai Division 1 League, is the second-tier professional league in the Thai football league system. Seasons typically run from August to May, with each team playing 34 games : two agai ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Kor Royal Cup Kor Royal Cup (), known as the Yai Cup () until 1963, was the highest level of club football competition which competed in the tournament in Thailand from 1916 to 1995. It was founded by the Football Association of Thailand in 1916. Department of ...

Thai League Cup The League Cup () is a association football, football cup competition in Thailand. It is also known as Hilux Revo Cup for sponsorship reasons. History Thai League Cup was started by Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor (Thailand) in the name of ...

International

Thailand *

AFF Championship The ASEAN Championship (formerly known as the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the ASEAN Hyundai Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the biennial football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for men's natio ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

King's Cup King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King's Cup (Bahrain), the premier national knockout football tournament * King's ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Thailand U-23 *

Sea Games The Southeast Asian Games, commonly known as SEA Games is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with su ...

gold medal:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

; silver medal:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Individual

ASEAN Football Federation The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) is an organisation within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and is an international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer in Southeast Asia. It consists of the federations of Fo ...

Best XI: 2013 *

Best XI:

All-time XI

Royal decoration

* 2015 - Silver Medalist (Seventh Class) of The Most Admirable

Order of the Direkgunabhorn The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn (; ) was established by King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) on 22 July 1991 (B.E. 2534) to be bestowed upon those who have rendered devotional services to the Kingdom of Thailand. The title ''Direkgu ...

′ชนาธิป-ชัปปุยส์-กวินทร์′, ′อรอุมา-อัจฉราพร′, ′อะแมนด้า′ รับเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์

References

External links