The Chaba Kaew landed at Suvarnabhumi airport amid some amazing scenes yesterday following their impressive AFC Women's Asian Cup campaign in Jordan.
The Thai women's team were welcomed by a sizeable crowd, with banners and scarfs in their hands, who queued up to catch a glimpse of their heroes at the arrival hall.
The players held aloft portraits of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit as they made their way to a makeshift platform to take part in a press conference.
Coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian's team claimed fourth place in Amman after losing to China 3-1 in a play-off on Friday. It was Thailand's best result in 32 years in the regional championship. They also won their second straight trip to the Women's World Cup.
It was also a huge payday for the players, with reportedly 35 million baht bonuses coming from the Football Association of Thailand and private companies.
Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmuang was on hand to give the team a warm welcome yesterday.
"The team played a warm-up game against Australia and lost 5-0. But we nearly beat them in Jordan and that showed this lot is improving. So we will do anything to help this team develop," he said.
By reaching the semi-finals in Amman, the Chaba Kaew have earned their ticket to next year's World Cup in France.
Thailand had made their debut in the event for women in 2015 in Canada where they were eliminated in the first round.
Team manager Nualphan Lamsam said the team will try to do better at the World Cup in France.
"Before going to Jordan, we were under a lot of pressure because our goal was to qualify for the World Cup and we knew we had to make it through the group stage," said Nualphan.
"People may say that our opponents like Jordan and the Philippines weren't that strong, but we showed against Australia how good we are."
"Our next goal is to do better at the World Cup. To say that we will try to make it to the last 16 [there are 24 teams in the World Cup] may seem like a bold statement at this point but that's what we are aiming for," she added.
The team had a sensational tournament in Amman. After coming through the group stage, they were minutes away from knocking out one of the tournament's favourites Australia in the semi-finals.
They twice lost to China -- in the group stage and in the third-place play-off -- but their performance over the course of the tournament in Amman won over a lot of admirers.
"We bow down to you... the Thai women's team," wrote a fan on popular website pantip.com.
"Not only they made history by qualifying for the World Cup for the second time, but also the team, with only 10 players in the second half, played their hearts out against Australia."
"They lost the game, but they won our hearts," wrote another pantip user.
The Chaba Kaew have two more major tournaments this year -- the AFF Women's Championship in June and the Asian Games in August. Both events will be held in Indonesia.