Chang International Circuit: How Buriram Became Thailand's Motorsport Capital
Roughly 400 kilometres northeast of Bangkok, in a province better known for rice farming and Khmer temple ruins than for horsepower, sits one of the most surprising success stories in modern motorsport. Chang International Circuit in Buriram opened in 2014 as Thailand's first purpose-built permanent racing facility of international standard, and within a few years it had hosted the Superbike World Championship, Japan's Super GT series and, from 2018, the pinnacle of two-wheeled racing: MotoGP. This is the story of how a quiet corner of the Isan region became the beating heart of Thai motorsport.
A politician, a football club and a racetrack
The circuit cannot be separated from the man behind it: Newin Chidchob, a former politician who reinvented himself as the driving force of Buriram's transformation into a sports city. He had already turned Buriram United into one of Thailand's most successful football clubs, complete with a modern stadium, before turning his attention to motorsport. The racetrack was built directly alongside the football ground, creating a compact sporting district in a town that few international visitors could previously have placed on a map. The naming rights went to Chang, the famous Thai beer brand whose name means elephant in Thai, a fitting symbol for a project of this scale. The circuit is also commonly referred to as Buriram International Circuit, and both names appear in official series communications.
Tilke's stop-and-go blueprint
The layout was drawn by Hermann Tilke, the German architect responsible for a large share of the world's modern Grand Prix venues. At 4.554 kilometres with 12 corners, Buriram is not a long lap, and its character is unapologetically stop-and-go. The opening sector strings together two enormous full-throttle blasts separated by heavy braking zones, which means top speed and braking stability matter more here than almost anywhere else on the MotoGP calendar. The middle sector tightens into a sequence of medium-speed corners before the lap closes with a flowing left-right combination onto the front straight. Riders often describe the track as simple to learn but difficult to perfect, because the hard braking zones punish the smallest error in stability and the long straights make slipstreaming a decisive weapon. The facility holds the FIA Grade 1 and FIM Grade A homologations, meaning it is certified for the highest categories of both car and motorcycle racing.
World Superbike opens the doors
Before MotoGP ever arrived, it was the Superbike World Championship that put Buriram on the international calendar. WSBK visited for the first time in March 2015, only months after the circuit's inauguration, and returned every year through 2019. Those seasons coincided with the era of Jonathan Rea's dominance, and the Kawasaki rider celebrated repeatedly in Thailand, making the circuit something of a personal stronghold. The Thai round quickly earned a reputation for enthusiastic crowds and brutal heat, a combination that would later define the MotoGP event as well. When the world championship for production-based bikes eventually left the calendar after 2019, it had done its job: it had proven that Thailand could organise a world-class motorcycle race and that the fans would come.
October 2018: MotoGP arrives with a bang
The first Thai Grand Prix in October 2018 delivered one of the races of the season. Marc Márquez and Andrea Dovizioso, the two title protagonists of that era, fought a breathless last-lap duel that was settled only in the final corners, with Márquez making the decisive move and holding on to win by the smallest of margins. It was a dream debut for the event. The grandstands were packed, the atmosphere was carnival-like, and Thailand instantly established itself as one of the best-attended and most passionately supported rounds of the world championship. For a country with a deep motorcycling culture, where small-displacement bikes are woven into everyday life and Thai riders were beginning to break into Grand Prix racing, the arrival of MotoGP felt like a homecoming rather than an experiment.
The pandemic pause and a rain-soaked return
The momentum was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which wiped the Thai Grand Prix off the calendar in both 2020 and 2021. When MotoGP finally returned to Buriram in October 2022, the weather provided the drama: a monsoon downpour delayed proceedings and turned the race into a test of wet-weather courage. Miguel Oliveira, at the time riding for KTM, mastered the conditions to take a memorable victory, confirming his reputation as one of the finest rain riders of his generation. A year later, in 2023, Jorge Martín produced a commanding weekend to win in Thailand during his fierce title fight, underlining how the circuit's braking-heavy layout rewards aggressive, precise riding.
Season opener status and a new era
From the 2025 season, Buriram received an honour that few would have predicted a decade earlier: hosting the opening round of the MotoGP world championship. The season traditionally began elsewhere, but the switch to Thailand reflected both the commercial importance of Southeast Asia to the sport and the consistently spectacular attendance figures the Thai round generates. That 2025 opener was won by Marc Márquez, now in Ducati factory colours, in dominant style, opening the campaign that would carry him back to the summit of the sport. For Buriram, staging the first race of the year meant global attention in a way even a mid-season round cannot provide, with every pre-season storyline converging on the Isan plateau.
Heat, crowds and the Isan experience
Ask any rider about Buriram and the conversation quickly turns to the heat. Races in Thailand are routinely run in tropical conditions where track temperatures soar and humidity drains the body, making physical preparation as important as bike setup. Yet it is precisely this intensity, on and off the track, that gives the event its identity. Thai fans arrive in enormous numbers, many on the very scooters and small motorcycles that make the country one of the world's great motorcycling nations, and the atmosphere around the circuit blends a race weekend with a festival. Beyond the gates, Buriram province offers a side of Thailand far removed from the beaches of the south: ancient Khmer sanctuaries such as Phanom Rung stand on extinct volcanoes nearby, and the local food culture of Isan is celebrated across the country. A race trip here doubles as a journey into rural Thailand.
More than MotoGP
Although MotoGP is the headline act, Chang International Circuit has always maintained a broad portfolio. Japan's Super GT series raced in Buriram from 2015, bringing its spectacular GT500 machinery to Southeast Asia, and the circuit regularly hosts regional touring car, endurance and national motorcycle championships. The venue's Grade 1 licence keeps the theoretical door open for top-level car racing, and its role as a testing and event facility makes it active year-round rather than just for one headline weekend. In a region where several ambitious circuit projects have struggled for sustainability, Buriram's combination of political will, local ownership and a genuine fan base has proven to be a durable formula.
Explore on the map
Chang International Circuit is just one pin among thousands of racing venues you can discover on our interactive map. Zoom in on Buriram to see how the track sits beside the football stadium in the heart of Isan, then pan across Southeast Asia to compare it with the region's other Grand Prix venues. Whether you are planning a trip to the Thai round of MotoGP or simply exploring the global geography of motorsport, the map is the best place to start.