While title-chasing SCG Muang Thong United and Bangkok United continue to hog the limelight, Nakhon Ratchasima have quietly steered five points clear of the Thai League danger zone.
Nakhon Ratchasima produced a major upset when they defeated defending champions Buriram United 2-0 at His Majesty the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary Stadium in the Isan derby.
Also on Saturday night, second-place Bangkok United were held to a 1-1 draw by Chonburi, while in yesterday evening's early games Si Sa Ket trounced Pattaya United 4-0 and Ratchaburi hammered Samut Prakan 3-0.
Nakhon Ratchasima netted their first goal in the 30th minute when Marco Tagbajumi chipped the ball over Buriram goalkeeper Sivarak Tedsungnern and the second came in injury time with German Bjorn Lindermann scoring on a counter-attack.
In between the two Nakhon Ratchasima strikes, Buriram's Bruno Moreira fired a spot-kick wide to spoil their best scoring opportunity.
Milos Josic, under whose reign Nakhon Ratchasima's fortunes have improved a great deal, said: "It was an important game for us and we wanted to get three points because we want to survive in the Thai League.
"The way we played, I guess everyone at the venue would have expected us to beat Buriram. It is a big win for us."
Ranko Popovic, the new Buriram United coach, said: "We committed quite a few mistakes today and missing that penalty was the worst of them. It proved to be the turning point of the match."
In other matches, Army United lost 4-2 to Chainat, BEC Tero Sasana beat Sukhothai 1-0 and Navy and Chiang Rai United played to a goalless draw.