The Football Association of Thailand (FAT) had initially planned to make this year's event, which kicks off on Sunday at Suphachalasai Stadium, the biggest one in terms of teams participating - to celebrate the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne.

But due to financial constraints the FAT had to revert to a primary format with four teams vying for the coveted trophy in a round-robin system. However, given the quality of the opponents, local fans can still expect some exciting football from the country's top tournament, being held from December 24-30.

Tawatchai Sajjakul, the King's Cup team manager, said: "I had heard some claim that the three participating teams are easy meat. It's absolutely not true, as there are no weak teams in the tournament - they are all quality sides.

"Some might overlook Vietnam, as they lost in their den to our Asian Games side in the Agribank Cup. [But] that team trained together only for a few weeks ahead of the event and they will certainly be stronger this time.

"Singapore are also a team that we cannot underestimate, given the results they got against China in the Asian Cup qualifying round. They drew with the Chinese at home before losing 1-0 on a penalty in an away match.

"Considering that we were beaten 4-0 by China, those results illustrated how strong the Singaporeans are."

Thailand will open their campaign against Vietnam at 6.30pm on Sunday at Suphachalasai stadium, and that will be followed by a match between Singapore and Kazakhstan.

Kitinan Sanguansak

 The Nation