The Thailand national rugby union team represents Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 in international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

. Thailand have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

, but have been playing in qualifying tournaments since the 1999 Rugby World Cup

1999 Rugby World Cup

The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...

 in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

History

Thailand played their first ever rugby international in 1970. Thailand first attempted to qualify for a World Cup in 1999 when Wales was the host. They competed in Round 1 of the Asia qualifying tournament, winning and losing one match; seeing them finish second in the final standings, and knocking them out of contention to qualify. For the 2003 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Thailand participated in Pool B of the Asia qualification tournament, but finished third in the standings after losing both of their fixtures.

Thailand attempted to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 as well, and were grouped with Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka national rugby union team

The Sri Lanka national rugby union team represents Sri Lanka in international rugby union competitions. Sri Lanka have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. They have the longest tradition of organised club rugby in Asia, dating back to 1879, which was just 8 years after the founding of...

 and Singapore

Singapore national rugby union team

The Singapore national rugby union team represents Singapore in international rugby union. They have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup, though since the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Singapore have been participating in qualification competitions....

. However they lost both of their fixtures and did not advance to the next stage.

Within the Asian Five Nations

Asian Five Nations

The Asian Five Nations, known as the HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, is an annual international rugby union competition held between the top five Asian national rugby sides...

, they competed in the inaugural 2008 HSBC Asian Five Nations

2008 HSBC Asian Five Nations

The 2008 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2008 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, was the inaugural series of the rugby union Asian Five Nations which is the flagship competition devised by the International Rugby Board to develop the sport in the Asian region...

 in Division Two. After winning all their matches, they will play in the First Division for the 2009 event, taking the place of the Chinese team

China national rugby union team

The China national rugby union team represents the People's Republic of China in international rugby union. China have yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup, but attempted to qualify in both 2003 and 2007.They are currently ranked 66th in the world....

, (which withdrew due to visa problems) Sri Lanka who finished last stay in Division One because of this.

Rugby World Cup Record

• 1987 - No qualifying tournament held
• 1991 - 1995 - Did not enter
• 1999 - 2011 - Did not qualify

External links

• Thailand on IRB.com
• Thailand on rugbydata.com
• ThaiRugbyUnion.com (in Thai)