Four months before the start of their AFF Suzuki Cup defence, Thailand have laid out bold plans for a youth development system that they hope will help future War Elephants qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
August will see the implementation of national youth leagues at U13, U15, U17 and U19 levels and the stated goal is "The World Cup for Thailand starts here!"
The country's ongoing bid to reach Russia 2018 resumes in September when they face Saudi Arabia and Japan in the final qualifying round. But the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) may be acknowledging that there is more hope than expectation in a campaign that sees them go up against established regional superpowers.
With a nationwide professional league just 10 years old, Thailand have been playing catch up with their Asian rivals. But the plan for a youth league is another step in the right direction for the football crazy nation.
While 2018, or even 2022, may be seen as too early for the national team to be gate crashing football's biggest party, the FAT have identified 2026 as a more realistic target. FIFA are considering expanding the tournament to include 40 teams and Thailand will hope that this creates extra places for teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Former AFC administrator Benjamin Tan became Deputy CEO for the Premier League of Thailand this year. The Singaporean believes the vision for 2026 provides further evidence of the ambition of the FAT to make Thailand one of the top teams in Asia.
Tan told ESPN FC, "With this important national project, it creates excitement and a vibrant scene of youth football in the country. There will be more than 300 participating teams, including youth teams from the Premier League of Thailand. There will be lots of youths playing regular football which means that we will have a wider talent pool. The technical team will have more players to select from and monitor for the future.
"The continuous support of the government and ministry will be crucial to achieving the goal of this project and to ensure that it's sustainable. Keen participation from teams is also key and we believe that the investments that the authorities and stakeholders put in will be worthwhile in the near future."
Tan recognises that such an ambitious project will run into some barriers along the way but is confident that they can be overcome.
"Team budget could be an issue, so they may require some financial support to help them with transportation and logistical costs," said Tan.
"It will also be a challenge for players to be coached by trained or quality coaches. We will require more quality youth coaches to identify talent and follow the national football philosophy set by the FA Technical Director. But this is also something that the FA Thailand is already addressing in order to increase the number of coaching courses.
"We will also need the continuous support level from the fans, media and football clubs."
While the vision looks 10 years into the future and the 2026 World Cup, Tan is adamant the qualification for 2018 is not impossible.
"We are already in the final round of the World Cup qualification with the other 11 best countries, so our chances are as good as the others," said Tan.
"But we believe that this is the right way to go with the national youth competition and with a strong foundation, this project will bear fruits in years to come and achieve our World Cup dream."
The champions of Southeast Asia at all levels are desperate to take another important step towards joining Asia's elite and moving further ahead of their neighbours in the ASEAN region.