BANGKOK/SINGAPORE: With two clinical strikes in Buriram United FC’s successful defence of their Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup title, Suphanat Mueanta’s stock continues to rise for the livewire Thai forward.
For the player known as ‘Bank’ to his teammates, a goal in each leg of the 3-1 aggregate win over Selangor FC underlined both his existing talent and potential for more to come from the golden boy of Thai football.
An opportunistic header in the first leg in Malaysia was followed by a goal in Buriram that showed the best of his predatory instincts, the 23-year-old latching onto Theerathon Bunmathan’s exquisite pass over the defence to guide the ball beyond goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel.
Suphanat’s predatory knack for goals propelled Buriram United to another Shopee Cup title as the club continued their domination of Thai and Asean football.
“It’s an honour for both myself and Buriram United because this is the Asean Club Championship,” said Suphanat. “This is only the second year of the competition, but it’s already a very good tournament because it helps clubs from different countries get to know each other more.”
Suphanat’s back-to-back title successes are among the highlights of a burgeoning career that has already yielded considerable silverware and achievements of note.
He was the youngest scorer in Thai League 1 when, as a 15-year-old, he netted against Air Force United in May 2018. That season provided Suphanat his first league title, with further winners’ medals earned in 2021/22, 2022/23, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
He has won four Thai FA Cup titles and three Thai League Cup crowns while also finishing as runners-up with Thailand at the 2024 Asean Championship, where he was named the tournament’s best young player.
Suphanat’s success is the reward of the work done by Buriram United’s academy, which honed the youngster’s talent after he moved 185 kilometres west from his hometown of Sisaket to join the club.
“Everything happened very quickly for me,” he says. “I came here, performed well in a short period of time, and was promoted to the first team very quickly. It was a surprise that my performances caught the attention of the coaches and club president Newin Chidchob.”
While his rapid rise was unexpected, the sport has been central throughout Suphanat’s life, having grown up in a footballing family.
His elder brother, Supachok Sarachat played 150 times in Thai League 1 for Buriram United before moving to Japan to join Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo in 2022 while his younger brother, Chotika Mueanta, is a member of the club’s academy.
“It was a very fun family to grow up in,” says Suphanat. “Everyone in the family saw everything as a football — anything on the ground could become a ball for us.
“When we were kids, we were always competing with each other. We used to play one-on-one games, and whoever won would move on to face the next person.”
While Suphanat and Supachok are no longer together at Buriram United, the pair still meet when called up for Thailand, and the brothers should be in line for appearances in the Asean Hyundai Cup 2026, the region’s biggest sporting event, in July and August.
“It’s the most enjoyable feeling,” Suphanat says of playing alongside his brother. “We understand each other very well. We don’t even need to talk much because we already know how each other plays.
“Most of the time, we talk about life outside football because there are already plenty of match clips for us to watch. I always watch his games, and my brother watches my matches. After that, we discuss different situations and talk about what we could improve in each moment.”
Sporting a huge diamond stud in each earlobe might suggest brashness, but Suphanat’s softly spoken demeanour sits in contrast to that initial impression. Coach Mark Jackson is a huge fan of the talented forward.
“We’ve missed him when he’s been out,” says the Englishman. “What he brings to the team is something different to what we have; speed, power, directness and quality as well. He’s a young man we’ve enjoyed working with immensely.
“The thing I speak about all the time is ability, but it’s also character. He’s someone who wants to learn, get better and I think over the two ties, even though he scored two goals, I think the key one for me was the recovery run in the first leg to stop a certain goal.
“That was a benchmark for me, a striker doing that for the team. It doesn’t happen often, so we’ve got someone who wants to work for the team but he’s an exceptional talent as well. We’ll keep working on him, we’ll keep pushing him. The sky is the limit for this kid.”
Possessing that ability will undoubtedly mark Suphanat out as a transfer target for clubs beyond Thailand and the Asean region, but Jackson is determined to retain his services for as long as possible.
“I’ll get a set of handcuffs so he has to stay,” Jackson says. “Of course there will be interest, he’s a good player and there are many good players in the team. He’ll keep performing for us.”
Having seen his brother excel in Japan, Suphanat is keen for another taste of life beyond Thailand following a loan spell overseas in Belgium with OH Leuven two seasons ago.
“As a footballer, it made me realise there are still many players who are better than me, which motivates me to keep improving,” he says of his season-long stint in Europe.
“As a person, it helped me mature and taught me who I could trust and how to take care of myself. I think everyone needs new challenges all the time. Otherwise, life would probably become too boring.”
The draw for the 2026/27 Asean Club Championship Shopee Cup will take place in Jakarta on Friday with Buriram United returning for a third season as defending champions.
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