Yesterday I didn't have much opportunity to rest, and by evening I was feeling the effects. My blood pressure was higher than it has been since I left the hospital in Pak Chong. It seemed as if I was in for an uncomfortable night, and so it proved. It took some medicine that I've never used for a long time outside the hospital to get to sleep. There were compounding issues too. I mentioned the room we were offered, which has modern features and furnishings the like of which you expect in the show house. Yet, in so many ways, it lacked practicality.
With the extra medication, I sleep till 8:00 AM and feel better. For breakfast, we have the food we brought from the market yesterday, and that will suffice for now. Today, we have over a three-hour journey ahead of us and something of a treat in the evening, but seriously, I have to continue to rest after my recent spell in the hospital. Today is Christmas Eve, and I see a pathway to get that rest over the next few days, but let's just complete another day of travel first.
We're on our way in good time and have a comfortable window to work with. My rest period arrives early as I get some sleep in the passenger seat, and we arrive in Sukhothai at around 1.00 PM. There is but one priority as we head for the Sukhothai FC club shop. This evening, Sukhothai FC are playing the nation's club leaders, Buriram Utd. Such is the following of Buriram that it is hard to get tickets for away games. Knowing this, we have to arrive early, and even with 5 hours remaining before kickoff, the tickets are nearly sold out. It's a close one.
Now we can wind things down a bit, stopping at BIG 'C' in the city for lunch. Trying to keep some semblance of Christmas here, I find a bakery. We now have a cake. That's Christmas sorted! We can now check in at our accommodation nearby.
Chansawan Boutique lies on the road from the city to the Sukhothai Historical Park. The latter we don't need, due to previous visits here, but a chance to take a break is most certainly needed with the need to rest my legs.
Locating our room, my first observation is that the bed has an all-too-common, one-foot skirt around it for what reason I don't know because getting out of bed means your legs are caught on the skirt before touching the floor. This needs a quick fix. I pull the mattress to the edge. In all other respects, the room is excellent, especially the bathroom. I will have no trouble spending the extra Christmas Day here. After a short rest at 4:30 PM, we make a move.
Sukhothai play their games at Talay Luang Stadium, in a rural location north of the city. It won't be the first time we've been there. We leave nothing to chance for such an important game and arrive a good hour before kickoff. This gives us plenty of time to order food and find seats. Compared with many other stadiums, this one is more spectator-friendly, with wider aisles and less clambering over seats. As the sun sets, we're in a good location and ready for excitement.
Buriram are the in-form team and have been for years. Other teams try to topple them, but most fail; they are that good. It's obvious then that Sukhothai will have their work cut out to get anything from the game despite holding their own in this league.
The game starts predictably with Buriram producing their customary free-flowing football, yet there are few scoring opportunities and the game remains tight. Then late in the first half there is an incident in the goal area. While waiting for a free kick, a Sukhothai player is flattened in a ruck of players. It's a straight red card for Buriram's #7 Bissoli. Now that makes life interesting. Can the home team capitalise? It's 0 : 0 at halftime.
Now, can the Bats use the man advantage in the second half? The answer comes soon. Instead of trying to counter Buriram's strong midfield, Sukhothai won't take a chance and sit back in defense, giving their forwards little chance against Buriram's solid wall. The 10 men of the visitors are rampant, throwing in wave upon wave of attacks. Then the inevitable happens. Austrian-born Robert Žulj receives a lovely cutback pass from Sasalak Haiprakhon on the wing and fires in a shot in a central position, and Buriram are in front to no one's surprise. The league leaders are a well-oiled machine with smooth, neat passes and neat footwork. They are just in another league. Sukhothai seem to have no answer, yet in injury time they have their best chance of the game when the Ram's keeper pulls off a remarkable point-blank fingertip save. That would have brought the Batcave down, but the Buriram juggernaut goes rumbling on. They are looking like league champions again, even at the halfway point in the season. They've won this game by skill and tactics, while Sukhothai had a couple of clear-cut chances to have rescued something from the game. They remain in mid-table.
This rearranged game is one of the last before the winter break, and it's been great for me to have made it here after recent difficulties. Most of all, I return to the Chansawan none the worse for wear.

Source: Visit