English clubs to go Thai?

Bangkok - The highway leading from downtown Bangkok to the northern reaches of the metropolis and the home of Thai Premier League club Bangkok Glass is strewn with billboards featuring English teams. Thailand has long loved English football and is increasingly backing that affection with investment.

When Dejphon Chansiri, whose family owns major canned tuna producer Thai Union Group, bought Sheffield Wednesday in January, he became the latest in a succession of Thai club owners. Leicester City, a Premier League team, is owned by duty free retail giant King Power while in 2014, a consortium led by Sasima Srivikorn took control of second-tier Reading. The first and most famous Thai owner was Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand who bought Manchester City in 2007 before selling a year later.

As well as owning a football club, Bangkok Glass is a large glass container manufacturer and a subsidiary of Boon Rawd brewery, producers of Singha beer, which has sponsorship and signage deals with several Premier League clubs.