THE “STADIUM OVERFLOW” PHENOMENON AND SAFETY GOVERNANCE IN THAI FOOTBALL COMPETITIONS: A STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
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Abstract
This academic article aims to analyze safety governance and crowd management systems within Thai football competitions. Utilizing a comparative historical approach, this study examines five critical historical milestones: the 14th (1981) and 24th (1993) King’s Cup tournaments, the 2010 Kor Royal Cup disturbances, the 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy in Indonesia, and the 2025 7HD Youth Football Tournament. The analytical framework synthesizes integrated crowd management principles and international safety standards established by FIFA, AFC, and SGSA through qualitative content analysis.
The findings reveal that the "stadium overflow" phenomenon (Sanam Taek) vividly reflects structural governance challenges across three primary dimensions: 1) physical architecture and access control vulnerabilities susceptible to perimeter breaches under temporal crowd pressure, 2) fragmented governance and budgets allocations among state facility owners, local law enforcement, and private organizers, compounded by third-party staff integrity issues, and 3) legal limitations regarding stewards' lack of statutory enforcement powers.
This article proposes a strategic transition toward "preventive investment," driven by four core policy mechanisms: 1) statutory authorization for stadium stewards, 2) Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) for Smart Stadium technological upgrades, 3) a Unified Command Structure for inter-agency coordination alongside national implementation of Football Banning Orders (FBOs), and 4) the cultivation of a safe spectator culture within youth and student football, ensuring sustainable safety standards benchmarked against international practices.
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