Ice Hockey in Bangkok, Thailand

The Thai National Team

The word “Thailand” is often thought of in connection with hot weather and muay thai, but did you know that you can also join other activities that don’t necessary have to involve smoldering heat and two sweaty bodies punching, kicking and elbowing each other? Although the average temperature in central Thailand is in the 30 degrees Celsius, there are places in Bangkok where you can also go for a game of ice hockey.

Obviously, ice hockey is not that popular with the local population, but they do have an Ice Hockey Association of Thailand which is also a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the IHHF is in charge of keeping the world rankings constantly updated but, unfortunately, Thailand is not yet in the top tier level of the sport to even have a world rank.

Last month, between March 16 and 24, Thailand hosted the IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia, which gives countries that are not in the World Championships program a chance to compete and improve their game. A record of ten countries from the region competed in this year’s men’s Cup, with Chinese Taipei taking the gold, Hong Kong the silver and Mongolia the bronze.

Thailand put on a good performance, but lost 4-5 in the quarterfinals against Mongolia. But things are looking good for the future of ice hockey in the Land of Smiles as in the U18 edition of the same event held in 2012 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Thailand took home the gold.

And I do believe that great times are awaiting the Thai national ice hockey team as they are in good hands. Their new head coach, Likit Neimwan-Andersson, was the one that brought the team to the top of the podium in the 2012 IIHF U18 Challenge Cup of Asia and, before that, acting as both coach and player, succeeded in winning a silver medal in the 7th Asian Winter Games 2011 in Kazakhstan.

Likit was born in Thailand but moved to Sweden with his family when he was young and started playing ice hockey there at the age of seven. He kept at it and, at 21, he became a recognized professional ice hockey player with Team Modo Hockey of the Swedish Elite League, counting as teammates great players like Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund.

Currently, Likit is also the only Thai hockey player who has played in professional ice hockey leagues in North America and Europe. He answered the call of his motherland in 2009, when he moved back to Thailand in order to help and take the local ice hockey players to the next level, at the same time becoming a national team member.

The ‘Flying Farangs’ of Bangkok

But ice hockey is not only for the national team. On the contrary, it is a great community game which is not lacking support from Bangkok-based expatriates with a love for the game. One such business is JOG Sports, owned by Scott Whitcomb, a 39-year-old American ice hockey player who calls Thailand home.

Scott grew up in Wisconsin where he started playing at the young age of five and has joined the ‘Bangkok Flying Farangs’, a local ice hockey team, in 2003. “I currently run the Thai World Hockey League (TWHL), a league which has been running since 2004. It consists of expats, local Thai players and players from the Thai national team,” said Scott.

In addition, his company runs two ice hockey tournaments a year: the Land of Smiles Ice Hockey Classic which takes place in late October and is an event that offers four divisions (Open, Recreational, Asian, and Women’s); and the City of Angels Old Timers Classic which is geared towards players over 35 years of age and is held in late March. This year, the games will be held between March 28-30.

In Scott Whitcomb opinion, “the ice hockey movement in Thailand continues to grow. There are two full size ice rinks in Bangkok and seven studio size rinks. The Thais just recently started their own league which consists of ten teams and they will be starting a local youth Thai league soon as well. The Thai National Team continues to improve and this really has helped build the sport up as well. So, overall, the ice hockey movement in Thailand continues to grow, but there is still room for improvement. It is very important that we reach out to the expat community as well to build a solid youth hockey program for the expat kids; this would only help push the ice hockey movement to another level.”

Speaking of the difference between ice hockey back home and in Thailand, Scott confessed that “in the USA there are strong well-organized youth programs. It is crucial to build these youth programs in order to grow the sport.”

The yearly membership fees for the Flying Farangs is only 1,200 baht, but there are also individual fees for shinny games (500 baht) and for TWHL league games (600 baht). “I believe we have roughly 50 active members, but over 125 if we include retirees,” added Scot.  

The ‘Flying Farangs’ was founded in 1994 by a group of expat ice hockey players who were coaching some of the Thai hockey teams. Currently, they play at two rinks in Bangkok. The first one is the “Rink” on the 7^th floor of Grand Central Rama IX Mall, located near BTS Asoke or MRT Phra Ram 9 stations. The second one, at the Imperial Samrong Mall Ice Rink, is the only Olympic-size rink complete with skating facilities in Thailand. This mall is about 15 minutes outside of Bangkok and can be reached by skytrain to BTS Bearing and then a short ride by taxi.

According to Scott, ice hockey is “a great team sport, it’s fast-paced, and is a excellent way to fight the Bangkok heat; it’s just a very active and entertaining game.”

For information on joining the TWHL contact Scott Whitcomb at swhitcomb[at]jogsports[dot]com, and for information on joining the ‘Flying Farangs’ contact Scott Murray at flyingfarang[at]yahoo[dot]com.

You can stay in touch with the ice hockey movement in Thailand via the Unofficial Ice Hockey Facebook Page and via Twitter @thaiicehockey.