Kiatisuk Senamuang (; born 11 August 1973) is a Thai

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former football player. He is nicknamed "Thai Zico" by fans. During his eighteen-year career Kiatisuk played as a striker and scored 251 goals in 339 appearances. The former

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

played for clubs in Malaysia, Singapore, England and Vietnam as well as in his homeland. Kiatisuk also earned 131 caps and scored 70 goals for Thailand between 1992 and 2007. Between 2014 and 2017, Kiatisuk was head coach of the

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 ...

first-team (2013–2016) and the Thailand U-23 team. Previously, in 2013, he had also been the caretaker head coach of Thailand. Kiatisuk has a Bachelor of Business Administration from

Dhurakij Pundit University Dhurakij Pundit University (; , ; ''thurakit'' translates to "business", ''bandit'' to "scholar") is a university in Bangkok, Thailand. Founded as Dhurakij Pundit College in 1968, and upgraded to university status in 1984, it is one of the larger ...

and Master of Business Administration from Chandrakasem Rajabhat University.

Playing career

Club career

Kiatisuk Senamuang played with

Perlis Perlis (Kedah Malay language, Kedah Malay (Perlis dialect): ''Peghelih'') is a Negeri, state of Malaysia in the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. The state borders the Thai ...

in Malaysia before joining an English club

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

in 1999, which the then manager,

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

, considered merely a publicity stunt. After one season, in which he did not feature in the

first team squad, Kiatisuk left English football for Rajpracha Sports Club in Thailand, later joining

Singapore Armed Forces FC Warriors Football Club was a Singaporean professional Association football, football club based in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore, that played in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. Before changing their name on ...

where he scored 15 goals in 20 games. In March 2002, he moved once again to become a star in Vietnam with Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, where he helped win the

V.League 1 The V.League 1 (), also called LPBank V.League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF). It is contested by 14 clubs who play each ...

title several times. He returned to play for the

Thailand national football team The Thailand national football team (, , ) represents Thailand in senior international football and is controlled by the Football Association of Thailand. In the regional competition, Thailand is the most successful football team in Southeas ...

in the

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 ...

International career

Kiatisuk played 131 international matches and scored 70 goals for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. Both figures are Thai national records.

Managerial career

Vietnam

After retiring from playing in 2006, Kiatisuk went straight into management with V-League side Hoàng Anh Gia Lai.

Return to Thailand

In 2008, Kiatisuk returned to Thailand to take charge of

Chula United BBCU Football Club, known fully as Big Bang Chula United Football Club (), is a Thai defunct professional football club based in Bangkok, Thailand, owned by Montri Suwannoi. Founded as "Bangtoey Football Team" in 1976, the club changed its name ...

. In 2009, Kiatisuk became the head coach of Chonburi F.C. and led the club to win the

2009 Kor Royal Cup The 2009 Kor Royal Cup was the 76th Kor Royal Cup, an annual football match contested by the winners and runners-up of the previous season's Thailand Premier League competitions. The match was contested at Suphachalasai Stadium, Bangkok, on 1 Marc ...

. Kiatisuk managed to finish the season in second place, with the highest points ever achieved by the club. Nevertheless, after failing to secure the domestic league title he resigned.

Second spell in Vietnam

Kiatisuk went to Vietnam again to manage his former club Hoàng Anh Gia Lai. He finished his season in the V-League in seventh place. He led Hoàng Anh Gia Lai to the final of the 2010 Vietnamese Cup but lost 0–1 to Sông Lam Nghệ An at

Thống Nhất Stadium Thống Nhất Stadium (''lit. Unification Stadium)'' (), formerly Cộng Hoà Stadium (Vietnamese: ''Sân vận động Cộng Hoà'') is a multi-purpose stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It is located at 138 Đào Duy Từ Street, Ward 6, ...

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

Back to Thailand again

In December 2010, Kiatisuk returned to Thailand as the head coach of

Division 1 Division 1 or Division One may refer to: Association football * Azadegan League, the second-tier professional football league in Iran * Brisbane Premier League Division 1, the second-tier professional football league in Brisbane, Queensland, Austr ...

. He brought the club to third place by the end of the season resulting in promotion to the

2012 Thai Premier League 2012 Thai Premier League (known as Sponsor Thai Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the 16th season of the Thai Premier League since its establishment in 1996. A total of 18 teams are competing in the league. Teams Khonkaen, Siam Navy and ...

. After ten games in the top league, Kiatisuk resigned from his position due to poor results: 1 win, 4 draws, and 5 losses. A month later, Kiatisuk decided to join Bangkok F.C. in the

2012 Thai Division 1 League 2012 Thai League Division 1 (known as Yamaha League 1 for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of the League since its establishment in 1997. It is the feeder league for the Thai Premier League. A total of 18 teams will compete in the league t ...

to help the club to avoid relegation. Bangkok survived in the second league of Thailand after finishing in tenth place (in the middle of the table).

The national manager

In January 2013, Kiatisuk was appointed to be the head coach of Thailand U-23. He won 1–0 in his debut match in the friendly against Ayutthaya F.C. of

on 12 January. In June 2013, Kiatisuk was appointed as a caretaker head coach of Thailand senior team, replacing

Winfried Schaefer Winfried is a masculine German given name. Notable people with the name include: *Winfried Berkemeier (born 1953), former German footballer *Winfried Bischoff (1941–2023), German-British businessperson * Winfried Bönig (born 1959), German organi ...

. His debut match as head coach of the ''War Elephants'' was in a friendly against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

on 15 June 2013, which the Thais won 5–1. He was also responsible as the head coach for the Thailand U-23 team preparing for the

2013 SEA 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 ...

. As head coach of Thailand U-23, Kiatisuk guided the team to 2013 SEA Games gold, adding to the four golds he won as a player in four straight Games from 1993 to 1999. He also led Thailand U-23 to the semi-finals at

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 finished in 4th place. In 2014, due to his success in 2014 Asian Games, Kiatisuk was appointed to be a permanent head coach of Thailand to compete in the

2014 AFF Championship 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 ...

. Using mainly young players from his former U-23 side, he led Thailand to the victory with a 4–3 aggregate score against

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

in the final, becoming the only person to win the

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 ...

as both a player and a manager. In 2015, for the

second round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA FIFA#Structure, confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia national football team, Rus ...

, Thailand was drawn in the same group as

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

. With Kiattisuk as manager, the team finished as the winner of the group with 14 points from six games. Thailand advanced to the

final round A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of qualification. In 2016, Kiatisuk managed the Thai side to defend the title in the

2016 AFF Championship The 2016 AFF Championship, sponsored by Suzuki and officially known as the AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, was the 11th edition of the AFF Championship, the Association football, football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation ...

. Having won all the games en route to the final, on 14 December Thailand lost 1–2 at

Pakansari Stadium Stadion Pakansari is an all-seater stadium at Pakansari, Cibinong, Bogor, West Java in Indonesia. It is mostly used for football matches and is the home stadium of Persikabo 1973. It can hold 30,000 spectators. The stadium is one of the venues fo ...

against

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

in the first leg of the final. Nevertheless, Thailand managed to secure a return of the trophy with a 2–0 win at

Rajamangala Stadium The Rajamangala National Stadium (; , ) is the national stadium of Thailand national football team. It is part of the Hua Mak Sports Complex, and is located in Hua Mak Subdistrict, Bang Kapi, Bangkok. Its official opening on 6 December 1998 co ...

and lifted their fifth regional title on 17 December 2016. Kiattisuk became the third manager, after

Peter Withe Peter Withe (; born 30 August 1951) is an English former football Manager (association football), manager and Forward (association football)#Striker, striker who played between 1971 and 1990. At Nottingham Forest F.C., Nottingham Forest he won ...

and

Radojko Avramović Radojko "Raddy" Avramović ( sr-Cyrl, Радојко Аврамовић; born 29 November 1949) is a Serbian retired football coach and player. A goalkeeper, Avramović most notably played for Croatian club Rijeka and English club Notts Count ...

, to successfully defend the AFF Championship title. Kiatisuk continued to coach Thailand in the final round of World Cup qualification. However, he managed to collect only one point from seven games of the qualification. Three days after a 0–4 loss to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Saitama Stadium 2002 , the or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan and is one of the largest stadi ...

on 28 March 2017, Kiatisuk stepped down from his position as the manager of the national team after four years in charge. After his spell at the national team, Kiatisuk shortly managed

Thai League T1 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 ...

club

Port F.C. Port Football Club (), formerly known as Port Authority of Thailand after its namesake owner, is a Thai professional football club based in Khlong Toei district of central Bangkok. They compete in the Thai League 1 and are one of the most succe ...

in 2017, but resigned due to poor results.

Return to Hoàng Anh Gia Lai

On 20 November 2020, Kiatisuk was appointed head coach with a two-year contract of Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, his former Vietnamese club. His first match in charge was on 17 January 2021 away against

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. The game ended in a 1–0 defeat. On 22 January 2021, Kiatisuk won his first game in a 2–1 home win over Sông Lam Nghệ An. At the time of the cancelation of 2021 V.League 1 due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Kiatisuk's Hoàng Anh Gia Lai were the 1st place in the league table with 29 points from 12 games and qualified for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

, but the season was voided and the title was not awarded.

Personal life

Kiatisuk is a

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 ...

, like most Thais in Thailand, and was born in

Udon Thani Udon Thani (, ) is a city in Isan ( Northeast Thailand), the capital of Udon Thani Province and the sixth largest city in Thailand. The city municipality (''thesaban nakhon'' / city proper) had a population of 130,531 people as of 2019, while Ud ...

. Before he became a professional football player, he worked as a police officer, but always had a love for football. According to a friend, "his move to football was prompted by insecurity". He was given the nickname ''Zico'' by his friends, in honour of his favourite

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian football idol Zico. Kiatisuk learned

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

and speaks the language fluently just after a first couple of years during his career in Vietnam. He has three daughters, their nicknames are Perth, Proud and Pearl.

Career statistics

International goals

Managerial statistics

A win or loss by penalty shoot-out is counted as a draw.
Kiatisuk Senamuang managed the team on a one-off basis as caretaker-manager.
Only FIFA approved games are counted for

Honours

Player

Thailand *

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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: 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 *

: 1994, 2000, 2006 *

Indonesian Independence Cup The Indonesian Independence Cup ( Indonesian: ''Piala Kemerdekaan'') was an international football tournament organised by the Football Association of Indonesia to commemorate the independence day of the Republic of Indonesia. The tournament was ...

: 1994 *

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

fourth place: 1998, 2002 Krung Thai Bank *

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 ...

: 1989 *

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 ...

: 1993 Singapore Armed Forces * S.League: 2002 Hoang Anh Gia Lai *

: 2003, 2004 *

Vietnamese Super Cup Vietnamese National Football Super Cup (), also called the Thaco National Football Super Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is Vietnamese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous V.League 1 season and the holders of th ...

: 2003, 2004 Individual * AFF Championship Most Valuable Player: 2000 *

Best Foreign Player of the year: 2003, 2004 * AFC Asian All Stars: 2000

Manager

Thailand *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

fourth place:

Chonburi *

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 ...

Hoang Anh Gia Lai *

Vietnamese National Cup Vietnamese National Football Cup (), commonly recognized and branded as the National Cup (), is a Vietnamese Association football, football competition. It is one of the most important club competitions in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Cup was first he ...

runner-up:

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 ...

* Quang Trung Emperor's Cup: 2022 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 ...

Coach of the Year: 2015, 2017 *

Manager of the Month: January 2021, March 2021, April 2021, July 2022

In popular culture

Kiatisuk became the first Thai footballer along with some others to appear in a video game when he appeared in World Soccer Jikkyou Winning Eleven 2000: U-23 Medal Heno Chousen as a player of the Thailand U-23 team. His name in the game is "Senamuran" (セナムラン).

References

External links

Fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senamuang, Kiatisuk 1973 births Living people

Kiatisuk Senamuang Kiatisuk Senamuang (; born 11 August 1973) is a Thai football manager and former football player. He is nicknamed "Thai Zico" by fans. During his eighteen-year career Kiatisuk played as a striker and scored 251 goals in 339 appearances. The fo ...

Men's association football forwards