Following New York (2014) and Shanghai (2017), FC Bayern is opening its third overseas office in Bangkok. The Thai metropolis is a hub for the Southeast Asia region, which the German record champions plan to develop as their next focus market outside of Germany after the USA and China. FC Bayern intends to use its local office to intensify direct contact with people who love football, to develop partnerships and to expand existing partnerships for the promotion of youth football. From Bangkok, numerous supporters in Southeast Asia, as well as fans in India and Oceania, can be reached with greater ease. The office will be led by Maximilian Haschke in his position of head of Southeast Asia.
FC Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn: "Football is the number one sport in Thailand and the whole of Southeast Asia. Around a quarter of the entire global population lives in the region, and we would like to inspire these people even more for FC Bayern. Our aim is to achieve a sustainable and lasting interaction with the local fans. We are very much looking forward to many joint projects with the millions of football-loving supporters in the region of Southeast Asia."
FC Bayern board member for marketing Andreas Jung: "We are happy to be opening another international FC Bayern office in Bangkok. Through our offices in New York and Shanghai, we know how important personal, direct contact with the local population is. FC Bayern is already represented in Thailand through events in youth football, with sponsors and by its legends, and we are now looking forward to gradually expanding this interaction."
FC Bayern head of Southeast Asia Maximilian Haschke: "I am very excited about our new Bangkok office in this rapidly growing region. We want to bring Mia san mia to Southeast Asia. Locally, we will exploit all opportunities to expand FC Bayern's presence, strengthen our partnerships and support the young players in the region with our footballing programmes. All this will be done through continuous and direct dialogue with our terrific Asian fan community."
There are currently 39 FC Bayern fan clubs in Southeast Asia. Throughout the region, the German record champions have so far organised, among other things, the FC Bayern Youth Cup on three occasions (with Thailand winning twice), the FC Bayern World Squad, several Allianz Junior Football Camps, various training courses for boys and girls, as well as numerous partner and legend events. In the summer of 2017, the Audi Summer Tour stopped off in Singapore for a friendly involving the first team, and FC Bayern previously played a friendly against the Thailand national team in 2000.
Oliver Kahn, Andreas Jung and Maximilian Haschke talk about FC Bayern's new overseas office in Bangkok:
Topics of this article