History
The team's first international tournament outside of Asian Cricket Council regional events was the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier, in which they placed fifth out of eight teams. The team was less successful at the 2015 edition of the tournament, which it hosted, winning only one match (against the Netherlands) to finish seventh.
In May 2016, Sri Lankan fast bowler Janak Gamage was named as a head coach of the team. [9] In February 2017, Thailand played their first 50-over match, when they faced India in the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka. [10] India won the match by 9 wickets. [11] In August 2017, Thailand won the gold medal in the women's tournament at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, going undefeated from four matches.
In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Thailand women and another international side since 1 July 2018 have been full WT20Is. [12]
On 9 June 2018, during the 2018 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup, Thailand beat Sri Lanka by four wickets to register their first ever win against a Full Member side. [13] In February 2019, they won the 2019 ICC Women's Qualifier Asia, therefore progressing to both the 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and the 2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournaments. [14] In August 2019, during the 2019 Netherlands Women's Quadrangular Series, they won their 17th win in a row, breaking the previous record of 16 consecutive wins in WT20I cricket set by Australia. [15] Thailand qualified to 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia after finished in top two in 2019 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier.
On 3 March 2020 at the Sydney Showground Stadium, Thailand scored 150 runs for three wickets against Pakistan, the highest total for the team in Women's T20 World Cup and at that ground, before the match was abandoned due to rain. [16] Natthakan Chantam scored 56 to register Thailand's first Women's T20 World Cup half-century; she and Nattaya Boochatham, who scored 44, combined for an opening partnership of 93. [17] [18] Ironically, this would be Thailand's highest WT20 score until the following year, and was Thailand's only no-result until 2023. [19]
In 2021, the Thai team embarked on a 15-match tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa to prepare for the Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, held November 2021 in Harare, Zimbabwe. [20] At the qualifier, the team was leading Group B with three wins from four matches, when the tournament was called off, due to concerns about a new COVID variant and travel restrictions. [21] [22] As a consequence, the three remaining places in the World Cup were handed to Bangladesh, Pakistan and the West Indies on the basis of their Women's One Day International rankings, and Thailand, which had beaten Bangladesh but did not have such a ranking, missed out, not only on the World Cup, but also on the next round of the ICC Women's Championship. [22] Prior to this, no team had ever won at least 3 of their first 4 matches of a qualifier without ultimately qualifying for the World Cup, and at the point the qualifiers were abandoned, Thailand would have had at least two points carried forward to the unplayed Super Six round from the aforementioned win over Bangladesh, and would only have needed to not finish last in that round to qualify for the Women's Championship. [23] According to women's cricket historian Raf Nicholson, of Bournemouth University in England, that outcome set back women's cricket in Thailand by three years. [22] As the use of ODI rankings meant that Thailand (and other associate member nations) would never have been able to qualify for either event, regardless of their results, in light of the cancellation, this decision has been criticized as "utterly disgraceful (and) utterly farcical". [24]
As a result of the controversial circumstances of Thailand's failure to qualify for either event, Cricket Association of Thailand president Ravi Sehgal was reported in April 2022 as saying "We should have been given a fair chance to qualify", and it was also reported that he had petitioned the ICC and board directors in December with an impassioned plea for Thailand to be granted ODI status. [25] In May 2022, the ICC announced Thailand as one of five women's sides to gain Women's One Day International (ODI) status. [26] Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland and the United States are the other four teams. [27]
In October 2022, Thailand qualified for the semifinals of the 2022 Women's Twenty20 Asia Cup, aided by their first-ever win over Pakistan, in their first encounter since the abandoned match in Sydney. In November, it was announced that the Netherlands would play 8 matches against the Thai team in Chiang Mai that month, 4 each of ODIs (Thailand's first since earning status) and WT20Is. [28] Thailand won all four of the ODIs, and three of the four WT20Is, with the Netherlands earning their first-ever win over Thailand in the 2nd WT20I.
In February 2023, it was reported that the Thai women's team were set for their first tour of Ireland, to play three 50-over ODI matches and two T20Is in June; [29] however, it would later be reported that the series "was cancelled due to date clashes with the Asia Cup", as Thailand was scheduled to complete in the 2023 ACC Womens T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup in June; [30] however, just days before the Emerging Teams Asia Cup, Thailand withdrew from the event, citing visa issues. [31] In March, it was reported that Thailand was to host Zimbabwe for 3 ODIs in April, later amended to 3 ODIs and 4 WT20Is. [32] In May, it was announced that Thailand would tour the Netherlands in July for a second ODI series with the Netherlands, and a trilateral T20 series with both teams and Scotland. [33]
In February 2024, the team participated in the 2024 ACC Premier Cup, [34] which served as a qualification pathway for the 2024 Women's Asia Cup. According to the ACC pathway structure and calendar, revised in 2022, the two finalists of the ACC Premier Cup would qualify for the Women's Asia Cup. [35] As a result, upon their loss to the United Arab Emirates in the Premier Cup semi-final, [36] it was reported that Thailand would not qualify for the 2024 Asia Cup. [37] However, at the end of March 2024, the ACC retroactively awarded the semi-finalists of the 2024 Premier Cup qualification to the expanded eight-team 2024 Women's Asia Cup. This confirmed Nepal and Thailand as additional participants, and will mark Thailand's fifth appearance in the tournament.
Naruemol Chaiwai [1] 
Harshal Pathak
Netherlands at Royal Chiangmai Golf Club, Chiang Mai; 20 November 2022
Pakistan at Kinrara Academy Oval, Bandar Kinrara; 3 June 2018
Scotland at Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi; 3 May 2024
