The National Stadium of

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 ...

( or ) is a sports complex located in

Pathum Wan District Pathum Wan (, ) is one of the Districts of Bangkok, fifty districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. It lies just beyond the old city boundary of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem and was a rural area on the eastern outskirts of the city when royal vill ...

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 ...

. Founded in 1937 with the construction of Suphachalasai Stadium, its main venue, the complex has since expanded and now consists of multiple stadia and sporting facilities.

History

The stadium construction started in 1937 in the original area of Thai Windsor Palace that demolished in 1935. The Department of Physical Education entered into a 29-year lease agreement with

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

. First use of the stadium happened when King Ananda Mahidol presided over in the opening ceremony of 1938 men's athletics competition, which changed the venue from Sanam Luang.

Stadium Facilities

Suphachalasai Stadium

Suphachalasai Stadium is the majority part of the National Stadium. It is the

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used for multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a design philosophy that stres ...

with

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

for athletic purposes, as well as a partial roof on one of its side. With its capacity of 19,793 for sport events and 35,000 for concerts, the stadium is being used to hold important matches such as the

Thai FA Cup The Thai FA Cup (), known officially as The Football Association of Thailand Cup, is a football cup competition in Thailand. Thai FA Cup is an annual knockout association football competition in men's domestic football. It was held between 1974 a ...

and

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 ...

. The stadium named after Luang Supachalasai (Bung Supachalasai), considered the Father of Thai Sport and the first Director-General of Thai Department of Physical Education.

Thephasadin Stadium

Thephasadin Stadium was constructed in 1965 for the use in 1966 Asian Games as the Hockey venue, hence its original name, Hockey Field. It was renamed in 1983 in memory of Naga Devahastin na Ayudhya, former Acting Director-General of the Department of Physical Education. With its capacity of 6,378 seats, since then the venue turned a specific football venue.

Jindarat Stadium

Jindarat Stadium, constructed after the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, was formerly used as the outdoor stadium for medium-level sporting events and practicing purposes. It was originally named ''Ton Pho Stadium'', but was renamed in 1983 in memorial of Jindarat (Jamlong Sawat-chuto), former director of the Office of Sports and Recreation Development.

Visutdrarom Swimming Pool

Visutdrarom Swimming Pool was constructed in 1961 under the term of director Kong Visudharomn. It was the

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...

with two sides of stands, used for the competition and general practices. Originally named the Olympic Pool, it was renamed in memorial of the director who organized the construction.

Nimibutr Stadium

Nimibutr Stadium, opened in 1963 is an indoor arena used for sports including boxing, badminton, gymnastics, futsal, basketball and handball.

Jhanthana-Yingyong Gymnasium

Jhanthana-Yingyong Gymnasium was built in 1965.

References

{{2007 AFC Asian Cup stadiums

Sports venues in Bangkok Stadiums of the Asian Games Venues of the 1966 Asian Games Venues of the 1970 Asian Games Venues of the 1978 Asian Games Venues of the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games athletics venues Southeast Asian Games stadiums Sports venues completed in 1935 Pathum Wan district 1935 establishments in Siam Property Management of Chulalongkorn University Asian Games water polo venues