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 Cup eligibility Being members of a league at a particular level also affects the eligibility for Cup competitions. * Thai FA Cup: Levels 1 to 5 * Thai League Cup: Levels 1 to 3 * Thai League 3 Cup: Level 3 Current system Former system Befo ...

. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

with Thai League 2. Seasons typically run from August to May, with each team playing 30 games: two against each other team, one home and one away. It is sponsored by Toyota Motor Thailand and therefore officially known as the Hilux Revo Thai League. In the Thai League, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday evenings, occasionally being played on Wednesday and Friday evening fixtures.

History

Origins (1916–1995)

Thailand has had league-football competition since 1916. Before the inception of the Thai League, the highest level of club football was the semi-professional league Kor Royal Cup () which was contested in a tournament format from 1916 to 1995.

Foundation (1996–2007)

Thai League was introduced in 1996 by the Football Association of Thailand (FA Thailand) under the name Thailand Soccer League. Eighteen clubs who earlier competed for the Kor Royal Cup were registered to play in the first edition of a double round-robin league system. Bangkok Bank was crowned as the first champion of the 1996–97 Thailand Soccer League. The Thai League originally had 10 to 12 clubs each season until

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, when it was expanded to 16 clubs. At the end of each season, the three bottom placed clubs are relegated to the Thai Division 1 League.

Leagues integration (2007)

Most of Thai League clubs in that time were the organisation of government authorities club that based in Greater Bangkok and Metropolitan. Meanwhile, the other local clubs had competed in the semi-pro league called the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. Thai Premier League faced the issue of low attendance and lack of local loyalties while the Provincial league suffered the financial issue. In

, Thai League was integrated with

completely.

Chonburi Chonburi (, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and, as part of the district Mueang Chonburi District, Mueang Chonburi, the List of municipalities in Thailand, seventh-largest city in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Ba ...

from the Provincial League was the first champion of the new Thailand Premier League in the

season.

Modern era (2009–present)

In 2009 season, there were significant changes in the lead to the new era of the Thai Premier League.

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

declared the regulations for the associations that have the intention to send the clubs to compete in 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 ...

starting from 2011. Football Association of Thailand had to establish Thai Premier League co.ltd and forced the clubs in the top league to complete AFC Club License Criteria otherwise Thai clubs will not eligible to play in the Champions League. Clubs were forced to separate themselves from the parent organisations and registered as the independent football authorities. The massive changes occurred in that season. Thailand Premier League renamed to Thai Premier League. Two times league champion Krung Thai Bank failed to complete the new regulations. The organisation decided to sell the club. The club was acquired by Boon Rawd and rebranded to be Bangkok Glass. Bangkok University had expelled their football club section. The club rebrand itself to

Bangkok United True Bangkok United Football Club () is a professional football club based in Pathum Thani province, Thailand. Known as Bangkok University Football Club until 2009, the club was relegated from the 2010 Thai Premier League only four years afte ...

since then. The organisation-based clubs had to relocate to find the local supporters to backup the clubs. Osotspa changed their home stadium to Saraburi Province, TOT moved to play in Kanchanaburi,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

played in Rayong Province while Thailand Tobacco Monopoly integrated to

Samut Sakhon Province Samut Sakhon (, ) is one of the central provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand, located along the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. In 2024, it had a population of 590,867, and an area of 866 km², making it the 43rd most populated province whilst b ...

and rebranded to TTM Samut Sakhon. Muangthong United were promoted from Thai Division 1 League in that season and won Thai Premier League in their first year in the top league.

Thailand Clasico

Thailand Clasico or The Classic Match of Thailand is the matchup between Muangthong United and

. It is the matchup that presents Thai football in the modern era. The name was given to the encounter of two teams due to the hype and massive atmosphere around the match. The first encounter between them happened in the 2009 Thai Premier League season. On 30 May 2009, Chonburi that was regarded as the best club in Thailand at that moment hosted the new powerhouse who were just promoted from Division 1 Muangthong United. The match was played at Nong Prue Stadium,

Pattaya Pattaya is a city in Eastern Thailand, the second-largest city in Chonburi province and the List of municipalities in Thailand, eighth-largest city in Thailand. It is on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about southeast of Bangkok, and h ...

. Before the match, Chonburi was the leader in the table after 10 matches of the season while Muangthong followed in second with one less point. Chonburi made the lead by 2–0 in the first thirty minutes but Muangthong bounced back to win by the 5–2 result at the end.

The first invincible

In the 2012 season, Muangthong United under Serbian head coach Slaviša Jokanović, had become the first club in the league history that completed the season with an unbeaten record. Muangthong finished at the top of the final standing with 25 wins and 9 draws.

Buriram dominance

The Buriram Dominance refers to the 2013 to 2015 season, when Buriram United won Thai Premier League in three consecutive seasons as the first club in the league history. The three titles in that period included two invincible titles which Buriram United completed Thai Premier League campaign unbeaten in

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 ...

and 2015 season.

Rebranding (2017)

In 2017, Football Association of Thailand decided to rebrand Thai Premier League into Thai League 1. Since its inception in 1996 the Thai Premier League has relied upon local sponsorship. Re-branding initiatives seek to foster an international identity for the Thai and elevate the league globally through commitment to world-class level management and marketing which incorporates multifaceted promotion through various media to draw attention to league competition and cups. This rebranding earned the Good Design Award in the Brand Identity branch from the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. The rebranding of the Thai League from 2017 to 2023 has been well received in terms of viewership with a large number of visitors to the stadium and watching through live broadcasts but in terms of benefits, the Thai League receives royalties for broadcasting live matches at an ever-lower value after the end of season 2022-23 Thai League is only worth 50 million baht, an amount that risks collapsing the league.

Thai League Revolution (2023)

On Tuesday, June 27, 2023, Kornwee Phrissanantakul, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Thai League Company Limited and Patis Supapong, Secretary General of the Football Association of Thailand in the Royal Patronage has called a meeting of representatives of 16 Thai League member clubs to find a solution and offer suggestions after the auction to buy Thai League licenses is not as expected. The recommendation from the majority of 16 teams is for all 16 teams to manage and find benefits among themselves (

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Model), which will bring information and details to the Association Executive Council meeting on Monday 3 July. On July 18, 2023, the Thai League club meeting launched the #SAVETHAILEAGUE initiative to raise funds for Thai League clubs directly from football fans by purchasing a package to watch live broadcasts directly from your favorite team to address the issue of low Thai League values.

Second attempt at separation (2025)

Later on May 4, 2025, member clubs in the Thai League 1 held the first Thai League Work Shop meeting to discuss the separation from the Football Association of Thailand under Royal Patronage to set up their own competition management company, similar to the

English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, so that they can manage their own benefits, which will allow the clubs to receive more money than they currently receive. There is also talk about the rights holders for live broadcasting, which is currently inconclusive, adjusting the competition schedule for the 2025-26 season to not have a break for the national team during the 2025 SEA Games, and adjusting the competition regulations, especially the ranking of teams with the same score, which should not be counted from the results of their head-to-head matches, but should be measured by the goal difference. On June 2, 2025, the member clubs of Thai League 1 held the 2nd Thai League Work Shop meeting, with the important agenda being the separation of the company from the Football Association of Thailand under Royal Patronage and Thai League Company to organize the competition itself. With 11 member clubs agreeing: Buriram United, BG Pathum United, Singha Chiang Rai United, Lamphun Warriors, Ratchaburi, Kanchanaburi , Ayutthaya United, Chonburi, PT Prachuap, Uthai Thani and Sukhothai. 2 votes disagreed: Rayong and Port Authority; 2 votes abstained: True Bangkok United and Muangthong United; and 1 vote did not attend the meeting: Nakhon Ratchasima. It is scheduled to begin in the 2025–26 season, with the next step being to submit the proposal to the Football Association's board of directors for a decision on whether to approve it. If approved, all 16 clubs will have to meet to discuss how to manage the competition. But later, Lamphun, one of the clubs that agreed to split the league, changed their mind and disagreed with the resolution because the representatives who attended the meeting voted incorrectly. While Nakhon Ratchasima FC also issued a letter explaining the reason for not attending the meeting, saying that it was because they were busy and did not agree with the resolution because they had not yet studied the pros and cons clearly, leaving 10 member clubs that agreed.

Clubs

There are 16 clubs in the league, with three promoted teams from Thai League 2 replacing the three teams that were relegated from the 2023-24 season.

Police Tero Police Tero Football Club (), formerly known as BEC-Tero Sasana, is a Thai professional football club based in Lak Si, Bangkok. The club finished runners-up in the inaugural AFC Champions League competition in 2003. BEC-Tero Sasana Football Club ...

and Trat were relegated at the end of the 2023–24 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the table. They were replaced by 2023-24 Thai League 2 champions

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima (, ) is the capital of Nakhon Ratchasima province, the largest city in Isan, Northeastern Thailand and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, third-largest city in Thailand. It is 250 km (1 ...

. They were joined by runners-up Nongbua Pitchaya, who also got promoted back after relegated two season before, and Rayong, promotion plays-off winner.

Current clubs

:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.''

Stadiums and locations (2024–25)

Champions

The Invincibles

Unbeatable champions: * Muangthong United in

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 ...

* Buriram United in

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Titles by clubs

Records

All-time top scorers

Figures for active players (in bold).

Most appearances

Figures for active players (in bold).

Player statistics

* Youngest player: Suphanat Mueanta ( Buriram United) – 15 years, 8 months and 22 days (25 April 2018, Buriram United 2–1

, 2018 Thai League 1) * Oldest player: Somchai Subpherm ( TOT) – 51 years, 7 months and 25 days (3 November 2013, Buriram United 2–1 TOT, 2013 Thai Premier League) * Youngest scorer: Suphanat Mueanta ( Buriram United) – 15 years, 9 months and 25 days (26 May 2018, Buriram United 5–0 Air Force Central, 2018 Thai League 1) * Oldest scorer: Hiromichi Katano ( Rayong) – 42 years, 6 months and 15 days (21 October 2024, Rayong 3–1 Nongbua Pitchaya, 2024–25 Thai League 1) * Fastest scorer: Nirut Kamsawad (

Port Authority A port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. ...

) – 9 seconds ( 2001–02 Thai League) * Most consecutive matches scored: 10 games –

Diogo Luís Santo Diogo Luís Santo (born 26 May 1987), known simply as Diogo, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a striker. After starting out at Portuguesa, he spent most of his career in the Super League Greece with Olympiacos � ...

( Buriram United) (24 September 2017 – 2 March 2018, 2018 Thai League 1) * Most consecutive unconceded matches: 6 games ** Siwarak Tedsungnoen ( Buriram United,

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 ...

) ** Kawin Thamsatchanan ( Muangthong United,

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 ...

) ** Kawin Thamsatchanan ( Muangthong United,

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 ...

) ** Chatchai Budprom ( BG Pathum United, 2020–21) * All-time most clean sheets: 815 minutes – Siwarak Tedsungnoen * Most goals in a season: 38 goals – Dragan Bošković (

) * Most assists in a season: 19 assists – Theerathon Bunmathan ( Buriram United,

) * Most titles won: 9 times – Siwarak Tedsungnoen * Most seasons appeared: 20 seasons – Siwarak Tedsungnoen (2003/04–2023/24) * All-time record for highest football transfer fee Thai players: 68 million baht – Chanathip Songkrasin (2023)

Awards

Prize money

* Champion: 10,000,000

Baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

* Runner-up: 3,000,000 * Third place: 1,500,000 * Fourth place: 800,000 * Fifth place: 700,000 * Sixth place: 600,000 * Seventh place: 500,000 * Eighth place : 400,000

Trophy

* 2011 – 2016 trophy: In 2010, Football Association of Thailand and Thai Premier League Co. Ltd considered to improve the image of Thai Premier League Trophy. The trophy itself was designed by Glue Creative from England and produced by British Silverware of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. The trophy was crafted by silver with the European style of a crown. Three divas are holding up the trophy and three golden elephants are standing on the base. The trophy is 75 cm tall and weighs more than 30 kg. The production used 250-man hours of work and the finished trophy worth 2 million baht. * 2017 – current trophy: In 2017, Football Association of Thailand order the trophy produced from England that was created by Royal Jewellers Asprey of London to be new champions trophy. The trophy reflecting Thai identity by the use of Kranok pattern mixed with modern pattern and sculpt it pieces by piece.

Top scorers

Most Valuable Player

Coach of the Year

Competition format and sponsorship

Competition

There are 16 clubs in the Thai League. During the course of a season, which lasts from August to May, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head, then

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the head-to-head, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. The three lowest placed teams are relegated into the Thai League 2 and the top three teams from the Thai League 2 are promoted in their place.

Qualification for Asian competitions

In the past the champions played in

playoffs and

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

for the champions of

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 ...

. Due to reforms from the AFC for the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup format, there is no more a direct qualification spot for the

for that Thai Champion, for the time being. From 2012 Thai clubs has 1 automatic spot to the group stage and 1 playoff spot for the

Winners and 1 playoff spot for the thai league runner-up. However, since

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 ...

, Thai clubs have two group stage spots for League Champion and FA Cup winner, and two teams in play-off spots for runner-up and third in the league.

Ranking

To be used for allocating slots in the 2024–25 season. ''Updated on 5 December 2024''

Thai League All-Star Exhibition game

Sponsorship

The Thai League has been sponsored since 1996 until 2003 and has been sponsored again since 2010. The sponsor has been able to determine the league's sponsorship name. The list below details who the sponsors have been and what they called the competition: * 1996–1997:

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

(Johnnie Walker Thailand Soccer League) * 1998–2000:

Caltex Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa. Headquartered in Singapore, it is also the brand name of non-Chevron petroleum companies in some countries (such as ...

(Caltex Premier League) * 2001–2003: Advanced Info Service (GSM Thai League) * 2003–2005: ''None'' (Thai League) * 2006–2008: ''None'' (Thailand Premier League) * 2009: ''None'' (Thai Premier League) * 2010–2012: Sponsor Energy Drink (Sponsor Thai Premier League) * 2013–''Present'':

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

(Toyota Thai Premier League in 2013–2015, Toyota Thai League in 2016–2020/21, Hilux Revo Thai League in 2021/22–''Present'')

Match balls

The 2021–2028 season uses the Molten match balls.ลูกฟุตบอลใช้ในไทยลีก Molten ปี 2023
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Youth League

Like the reserve league, the youth league is open to all the youth teams of all professional clubs in Thailand.

Other tournaments

;Domestic tournaments * Chang FA Cup (1974–1999, 2009–present) * Toyota League Cup (1987–1994, 2010–present) * Thailand Champions Cup (as Kor Royal Cup 1996–2016) (2017–present) ;International tournaments *

AFC Champions League Elite 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 ...

(1967–1971, 1985–present) * AFC Champions League Two (2004–present) * ASEAN Club Championship (2003–2005, 2024–present) ;Defunct tournaments * Kor Royal Cup (1916–2016) * Khǒr Royal Cup (1916–2015) * Khor Royal Cup (1962–2015) * Ngor Royal Cup (1962–2015) *

Toyota Premier Cup The Toyota Premier Cup was a single-game cup competition organized by the Toyota and Football Association of Thailand and was first played in 2011. It features the winners of the Thai League Cup and an invited team from the J1 League. The compet ...

(2011–2017) *

Mekong Club Championship The Toyota Mekong Club Championship was an ASEAN Football Federation, ASEAN club competition for men's association football clubs. Five teams entered as respective domestic league winners from ''Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam''. ...

(2015–2017)

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

Official Website

Football Association of Thailand

Thai League Football

The Football History Association of Thailand

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Thai League

Thai League.com

Thai League 1
standings, results & fixtures {{AFC Leagues 1

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 ...

1996 establishments in Thailand Sports leagues established in 1996 Professional sports leagues in Thailand