Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who celebrated his 64th birthday in Paris yesterday, is the first Thai to have owned an English football club.
After his government was overthrown in a military coup in 2006, he bought Premier League side Manchester City in 2007.
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, owner of Thailand’s duty-free retailer King Power, followed in Thaksin’s footsteps by taking over Championship side Leicester City in 2010.
But unlike Thaksin who sold Manchester City to current owners Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008 and reportedly made about five billion baht in profit, Vichai seems to be there to stay.
Four years after Vichai’s investment, the Foxes are returning to the Premier League after winning the Championship last season.
Leicester chairman Vichai and his son Aiyawatt, who is club vice-chairman, seem to be loved by City fans.
Shortly after his takeover, Vichai renamed the club’s home ground King Power Stadium without protests.
Not surprisingly, many people wondered why he bought a Championship team instead one in the top flight as money is not a problem for Vichai who is ranked the 11th richest Thai by Forbes magazine.
After Leicester secured their promotion to the Premier League a few months ago, Vichai told a press conference in Bangkok that he bought the Foxes, instead of a Premier League side, because it was more challenging.
His immediate target is for the Foxes to survive in the Premier League. But critics are afraid that the Foxes will struggle in the upcoming season. While Foxes boss Nigel Pearson is considered a good manager, his squad may not be good enough to remain in the Premier League.
Leicester recently bought forward Leonardo Ulloa from Brighton for a club record £8 million — which is about one-tenths of the fee Barcelona paid Liverpool for Luis Suarez.
One bad omen for Vichai and Co is English clubs owned by Asians, other than Middle East billionaires, have not fared so well.
Malaysian Vincent Tan’s Cardiff City made a quick return to the Championship after one season in the Premier League.
While Tan guided Cardiff to the top league, he also has a lot of enemies. He upset Cardiff fans by changing the team’s colour from red to blue and its crest from one with a big bluebird and a small dragon to one with a big dragon and a small bluebird.
Worse is that he has tried to change the club’s name to Cardiff Dragons. He has shelved the plan following fierce protests by Cardiff supporters but reportedly has not completely killed off the idea.
Queens Park Rangers, owned by another Malaysian Tony Fernandes, are returning to the Premiership.
Hong Kong’s Carson Yeung stepped down as chairman of Champioship side Birmingham City in February, shortly before he was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for money laundering.
In 2010, Venky’s Group from India bought then Premiership side Blackburn Rovers. Following some controversial decisions by the Indian owners, the Rovers were relegated from the top league two years later and have since been in the second-tier league.
Vichai and Co have seen several examples and should know how to make the ‘Siamese Foxes’ strong enough to stay up in the Premier League — a task which is probably more challenging than taking the club to the top league.