Football
Paul Murphy 8y

Leicester mania in Bangkok as stars visit Srivaddhanaprabha's homeland

BANGKOK -- Leicester City fever hit Thailand on Wednesday as the newly crowned Premier League champions arrived in the home country of club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha for a flying visit.

The "Siamese Foxes" touched down at Suvarnabhumi Airport at 6am and were welcomed by fans and a huge media presence. Manager Claudio Ranieri and his players, including captain Wes Morgan, goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and striker Shinji Okazaki, were presented with garlands before being whisked off to their hotel in downtown Bangkok.

Some big-name players did not make the trip, including three of the most popular stars of the triumphant campaign. Missing were striker Jamie Vardy, and midfielders N'Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez. Vardy (England) and Kante (France) are preparing for Euro 2016 while Mahrez has been given leave.

Leicester City bunting had been hung outside the King Power complex, the base of the club sponsors and the venue for the recent screenings of Leicester games for increasing numbers of fans. It was there that the club presented the Premier League trophy to the assembled media.

Thailand national team head coach Kiatisuk Senamuang attended the event and told ESPN FC, "As Leicester have a Thai owner, of course, we are very proud of the team. It's good for the future as the club president Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha doesn't just want to improve Leicester but also Thai football in general and the Thai national team."

Vichai reinforced Kiatisuk's views when he told the media, "I have two dreams -- one is for Leciester City to reach the top and the other is for Thailand to reach the World Cup. Over the next 10 years, we hope to send 100 Thai kids to Leicester to use their facilities."

Ranieri and Morgan were warm in their praise of the club owners and looked forward to continuing the relationship for years. But Ranieri was careful not to promise too much when asked about the club's prospects in next year's UEFA Champions League. "We will be underdogs again," he responded.

Fans were disappointed that some of their heroes did not make the trip east but they were excited to see other big names present.

"I especially wanted to meet Jamie Vardy but I'm also looking forward to meeting Andy King and Okazaki and hope they can sign my shirts," Suwatchai Supatanaset, a civil servant from Bangkok, told ESPN FC.

The location of the media conference may have helped Leicester gain more fans regionally as Guangyu Zhao from Shenyang in China stumbled across the event while on his honeymoon.

Guangyu said, "I was just doing some duty-free shopping when I heard about it. I wanted to see Vardy, Kante and Mahrez but I'll be happy to see the coach Ranieri."

A visit to Bangkok's famous Grand Palace is scheduled for Thursday, followed by an open-top bus parade through central Bangkok, at rush hour.

While plenty of fans will be expected to line the streets en route, the city's motorists may not be quite so happy with any extension to their journey home.

Either way, the visit is helping reinforce the connection between the new English champions and Thailand.

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