Jaturamitr Samakkee football tournament
The Jaturamitr Samakkee Tournament ( Thai : จตุรมิตร สามัคคี , spelling according to RTGS : Chaturamit Samakkhi , pronunciation: [ ʨà.tùʔrá.mít săː.mákkʰīː ]) is a traditional football tournament in Bangkok , Thailand . The name of the tournament is derived from the Sanskrit language. The words catu and mitra together make up Jaturamitr and means "4 friends". Samakkee can be translated as "harmony" or "unity". The harmony was always the central theme of the competition.
It is held between the four oldest boys' schools in Bangkok: the Suankularb-Wittayalai School , the Debsirin School (Thepsirin), the Assumption College and the Bangkok Christian College . It takes place every two years in November at the Suphachalasai Stadium in Bangkok. The schools take turns as hosts, and great attention is also paid to the schools' choreographies .
The first tournament in history took place from October 16 to November 18, 1964. The competition was held annually until 1985, and in 1987 it was changed to a two-year cycle. The very popular event is televised. The games can also be watched live via Internet stream on the official website . Some of the former contestants played or are still playing in the Thai Premier League of football. Among others, Teerathep Winothai and Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul.
Despite the motto of unity , a great deal of rivalry has developed among schools in recent years. So there are the rivalries between the Suankularb and Debsirin as well as the Assumption and the Bangkok Christian College. In many cases, this also led to violent clashes between schools during the tournament. This leads to the fact that the hostile groups are strictly separated in the stadium.
The last edition of the tournament took place from November 17 to November 24, 2007. The host school was Bangkok Christian College. Assumption College emerged victorious from the tournament.