4 Feb, 2007

Hundreds of Thai football fans queued up Saturday morning to snap up tickets for Sunday's predictably tempestuous Thai-Singapore ASEAN Cup showdown, which comes at a time when bilateral ties between the two nations are already sorely strained.

A 1-kilometre line of the fans stood outside the Supachalasai Stadium to purchase tickets before booths opened at 9:00 am Saturday, said the Bangkok Post website.

Some 600 police officers have been assigned to keep the peace at the match Sunday evening, which may prove explosive.

"Only 30,000 fans will be allowed in the stadium for security reasons," said the Bangkok Post.

Concerns have risen over the safety of Singapore's team and fans in Bangkok at Sunday's match.

In a statement, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs advised fans to stay together, keep alert and calm at all times.

Thai fans were outraged by the first leg of the regional championship in Singapore on Wednesday which Singapore won 2-1 with a controversial penalty shot.

The Thai team stormed off the field after a Malaysian referee called the penalty, and only returned after 15 minutes of pouting.

The Singapore-Thai football showdown comes at a time when diplomatic relations between Thailand and the city-state have hit a historic low.

Thailand's junta-appointed government was outraged when Singapore gave ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra royal treatment last month, allowing its deputy prime minister to host a "private lunch" for Thaksin at Singapore's Government House.

Singapore has been a pivotal player in Thailand's volatile political scene since January last year, when its financial arm Temasek Holdings bought the Shinawatra's 49 per cent holding in Shin Corp, a tax-free deal that earned Thaksin's fmaily 1.9 billion dollars.

Many Thais were outraged that Thaksin had sold his family-held Shin Corp, which has made billions off sensitive government concessions to operate the country's largest mobile phone service, a national satellite network and a TV station, to a foreign company.

The sale sparked anti-Thaksin and anti-Singapore protests and ultimately led to Thaksin's demise on September 19, when he was ousted by a military coup.

Asean, or the Association of South-east Asian Nations, groups Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma).