The Football Association of Thailand has officially named Nuengrutai Srathongvian as head coach of the Thai women's national football team. She will immediately begin her duties to prepare for the crucial mission at the 33rd SEA Games, hosted by Thailand from December 9–20, 2025.
The Thai women's national team last secured the SEA Games gold medal in 2013 in Myanmar, also under Nuengrutai Srathongvian’s leadership. This return marks her responsibility to lead the team back to the championship after a 12-year gap.
Coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian, aged 53, is the first and only female coach in Thailand to hold the AFC Pro License. She has vast coaching experience and made history by guiding Thailand’s women’s team to two consecutive World Cups, in 2015 in Canada and 2019 in France, during the time when Nualphan Lamsam (Madame Pang) was the team manager.
The official announcement was released by the Football Association of Thailand this morning, September 9.
She has also coached Thai women's teams at various youth levels including U12, U13, U14, U15, and U16. Most recently, in 2025, she led the Thai U20 women's team to win the Southeast Asian U20 Women's Championship in Vietnam. Moreover, she served as assistant coach for the Thai men's national team under Mano Polking in 2021.
At the club level, Nuengrutai helped BGC-Bundit Asia secure five Thai Women’s League Division 1 titles (in 2011, 2013, 2019, 2020/21, and 2022), and recently guided the team to compete in the AFC Women’s Champions League 2025/26 qualifying stage.
In her new position, Nuengrutai Srathongvian will simultaneously manage both the senior and U20 Thai women's national teams to maintain continuity between generations and unify the playing style. Her first match with the senior team will take place at home against Bangladesh (ranked 104th globally) with two friendly matches scheduled during FIFA Days on October 24 and 27, 2025; the venue and timing will be announced later.
It is remembered that during the 2025 Southeast Asian Women's Football Championship (ASEAN Cup), the Thai women's team was defeated twice by Vietnam in the group stage and the third-place match. These losses, combined with poor results in the 2026 Asian Cup qualifiers, led the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) to dismiss Japanese coach Futoshi Ikeda.
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