The 2020-21 Thai League 2 regular season has come to a close, with Lamphun Warriors and Sukhothai FC sealing automatic promotion into the top tier, with the former promoted as champions.

The sides finish the season just two points apart, but have had very different histories and fortunes leading to this moment. Lamphun become the fourth team in Thai League history to win Thai League 3 and Thai League 2 in back-to-back seasons, after Muangthong (2008), Buriram FC (2011) and Ratchaburi (2012). Very few observers considered them candidates for promotion before the season began, but investment in the playing squad and an excellent run during the second half of the season saw the Northern side earn their ticket to the big time.

Meanwhile, Sukhothai saw a five-year spell in the top flight come to an end with their relegation last season, and were among the favourites to return to T1 from the outset. Consistently in the race for automatic promotion, they failed to make the most of Trat’s faltering and saw a title that could have been theirs slip away during the home stretch.

Four sides are set to face off for the final promotion slot over the course of this month.

Among them are Trat FC, also relegated from T1 last season, who spent 25 of the 34 game-weeks on top of the table before slipping down to third after a poor run in 2022. They will be joined by Phrae United and Chainat Hornbill, who were the losing semi-finalists in last years’ playoffs. Lampang FC completes the quartet after finishing fourth.

Relegated from T2 are Siam Navy FC, Khon Kaen FC and Rajpracha FC, and they will be replaced by Uthai Thani FC, Krabi FC and Nakhonsi United.