The Floating Football Island

Spot Cool Stuff first visited Koh Panyee on a trip to Thailand a few years after the story of the YouTube video below takes place. “Koh” in Thai means “island.” But Koh Panyee is an island more in name than reality. The place is more accurately described as a floating village, built around steep karst mounds and upon bits of rock that stick out from the sea. To walk around the inhabited areas of Panyee—the inhabited areas being virtually the only parts of the “island” one can walk around—is like exploring a scene from Waterworld come to life (minus Kevin Costner).

We mention all that by way of explaining just how unlikely it is that Koh Panyee could have a football/soccer field. And how doubly unlikely it is that the sport could thrive there such as it has.

The story of soccer on Koh Panyee is told in the video below. Yes it was made as a sort of advertisement—part of a campaign by TMB bank called “Make THE Difference”—but it’s still very cool.

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