National team coach Akira Nishino has called upon domestic league clubs to grant more playing time to the Thai strikers.
Of late, the War Elephants have had trouble finding the net as veteran forward Teerasil Dangda and his SCG Muang Thong United striking partner Adisak Kraisorn were absent from the Thai roster for their first two 2022 World Cup Asian zone qualifiers, reportedly due to injuries.
The Thais began their campaign with a scoreless home draw against Vietnam last week.
The goal drought continued until Buriram United midfielder Supachok Sarachat caught fire on Tuesday night in Jakarta, grabbing a second-half brace beside delivering a penalty to mastermind a 3-0 away victory for the Thais against Indonesia.
Nishino faced the ire of the Thai fans when he first selected Supachai Chaided as the only specialist striker in his 23-man squad and then again for benching the Buriram striker for the goalless draw with Vietnam last week.
Nishino on Thursday said the solution to the Thai striking conundrum lies with clubs in the domestic leagues.
"The reason behind selecting only one striker in the team is that Thai forwards do not see much action in the leagues," said the veteran coach, who guided Japan to the last 16 round of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He added: "I urge the domestic clubs to give more playing time to the Thai strikers. If this happens, then there could be more strikers in the Thai team.
"I want the Thai strikers to fight for places in the starting line-ups of their respective teams, but the clubs should also be open to giving them more chances.
"It's all for the sake of the future national teams."
Nishino added that he was also keen to help the Thai coaches improve.
"By sending my assistant coaches to observe other teams our [World Cup qualifying] Group G, I am helping them gain experience and learn new things.
"Coach Ban [Totchtawan Sripan] was sent to Malaysia to watch their game with the UAE, while Issara Sritaro witnessed the game between Indonesia and Malaysia.
"However, the most important thing is to focus on ourselves. After playing two matches, we have to improve by learning from our mistakes. At the same time, we also have to study how the UAE play."
Nishino's first win in an official match since taking over as coach of the War Elephants in July in Jakarta has put Thailand on top of Group G with four points from two matches.
The UAE, the top seeded team in the group, are second on three points but have a game in hand. Malaysia are third with three points from two games, while Vietnam, who were idle on Tuesday, are fourth with one point. Indonesia are bottom after two straight home defeats.
Stadium setback
The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) has informed the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that Chiang Mai 700th Anniversary Stadium will not be available to stage the 2020 AFC U23 Championship games.
"The contractor has officially conveyed to us that the renovation work on the stadium will not finish in time for the AFC tournament in January next year," said SAT governor Gongsak Yodmani.
Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thammasat Stadium in Rangsit and Tinsulanonda Stadium in Songkhla are the other venues to be used for AFC U23 Championship. An AFC inspection team is due to visit Thailand soon.