The announcement was made at a press conference held at the club’s Republic Training Ground following a 0-1 defeat to bottom-positioned Trat FC on Saturday (Dec 12), a game which also cemented Ronin’s relegation to Division 2.
Speaking at the press conference, Mr Pramook said, “I am proud to have played a part in Phuket FC for three and a half years.
“When I took over the club in 2012, the team was in trouble and many people wanted me to help. I appreciate and admire all the club’s previous managers who worked so hard in managing to get the club into Division One even though they themselves were having big financial problems at that time.
“Managing the team requires a lot of money and almost never generated any income. To build and manage a football team you must truly love football, and perhaps be a bit crazy.
“I believe that if there isn’t a businessman who puts his own financial support into a club, that club will not survive,” he said.
Mr Pramook went on to say that he and his family often felt low because of posts which were put on Facebook by some fans.
“They would curse our team when we lost or didn’t play well,” he said.
“I wanted to ask them why they had to be so mean to us at a time when we needed them the most.
“However, there are still many fans that support us no matter whether we lose or win, they often lifted mine and the team’s spirits,” he added.
He also stated that although the team was relegated to Division 2 this season, he hoped that in his time as president, he had proved to Phuket FC’s fans what his true intentions for the club were.
“We were not involved with the club to achieve political gain, we became involved with a sincere heart and did it for the fans who clearly are as passionate about football as we are as a family.
“We invested so much money in the club and were happy when we won. However, we felt sad when we were condemned by our fans on Facebook when we lost. The latter hurts me the most, and this actually makes me understand what those managers who came before me had to endure,” he said.
Mr Pramook added that he put his heart and soul into Phuket FC because he wanted to return happiness to the people of Phuket, “as they are the people who gave me my many opportunities in life, he said.
“After reviewing my position and my duty with the club, I think I am now done with Phuket FC. My family and I officially announce the end of [our] Phuket FC team.
“We want to apologise that our team slipped down to Division 2. All our players gave it their best throughout the season. I hope that a better person can come in and support Phuket FC after me.
“Thank you to all our sponsors that have helped us through our seasons,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Pramook’s wife and former Phuket senator Thanyaluck Achariyachai went on to say, “We came to manage and own Phuket FC because a number of people had asked us to become involved. This was because the team was in deep trouble at the time and the team needed a lot of money in order to help them survive.”
She also stated that in the past three years the family had spent more than B200 million on the club. “In the first six months we were in charge we spent B25mn, in the second year B60mn, the third B75mn and this year B65mn.
“Even though club sponsors gave us B10mn, we still had to dip into our business money to support the team,” she said.
“We do want to continue to help support Phuket, but not manage Phuket FC. I think we can do other things to support the island.
“When we were managing the team we became very depressed because people would condemn and put us down if we lost, and that has to stop,” she added.
Ms Thanyaluck also said that the person she felt most sorry for was her son Pariyawit, whom she always went around the country with to support him and the team and was always ready to stand by should the team lose.
“I admire my son, he is only 24 years old and has been helping his father manage the team and do his best for Phuket.
“However, we are now done with Phuket FC so I beg you all to stop breaking our spirit,” she concluded.
Mr Pariyawit concluded the press conference by saying, “I am happy that I had the chance to help my father for the last two years. Every time I saw the team win I was happy.
“I am not going to take negative comments seriously as I understand people got upset when we lost. If we did lose some people would condemn us, but if we won they would admire and be happy for us. But that is normal,” he said.
“We invested a lot of money bringing in the best strikers and making our team the best. We really hoped that we would take the team to the Thai Premier League but that didn’t happen.
“Today we are stepping down from the club, but we hope that someone better and stronger will take our place.
“We are not going anywhere and we will continue to support Phuket FC forever because Phuket FC is in our hearts,” he said.
It is still unknown whether anyone will step in to take over the helm at Phuket FC, or in fact whether there will still be a team to play in Division 2 come the 2016 season.
The club is now in complete limbo with not only the fans, but also the Thai players still unsure of their and the club’s future.