Thailand's miserable campaign in the men's soccer competition of the SEA Games ended in humiliation with a 2-0 loss to Singapore in their final Group A match at Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday.

The early exit is a repeat of the embarrassment suffered in Laos two years ago, when Thailand failed to reach the Games knockout stage for the first time in 36 years, ending their run of eight successive titles.

The Vientiane debacle marked one of the lowest ebbs in recent history for Thai football, and the players arrived in Jakarta seeking redemption.

Instead, they ended up with their pride further bruised after tumbling out at the group stage for a second consecutive Games.

More embarrassingly, while the Thai side's fate wasn't sealed until the final group game in Laos, this time they were eliminated even earlier, after going down 3-1 to hosts Indonesia on Sunday.

The Thai team's display in the first half yesterday gave some evidence to back up coach Prapol Pongpanich's remarks before the game that his charges would take the game seriously despite having nothing left to play for.

But they made little use of the lion's share of possession they enjoyed.

The Thais had a good chance to open the scoring midway through the half when Isarapong Lilakorn burst into the right side of the area, evading a sliding challenge from a Singapore defender before firing from a tight angle straight at the keeper.

The teams traded freekicks in dangerous areas around the penalty box, but neither could make the most of their chances.

The sides looked to be heading into the interval on level terms but Singapore, who still had a mathematical chance of securing a birth in the semifinals, broke the deadlock on the stroke of halftime.

A half-hearted challenge to clear a searching ball allowed Quak Jun Yi to run clear into the area before calmly steering his shot past the advancing keeper.

The Thais began more purposefully after the break, but they barely threatened the Singapore goal and were restricted to trying their luck from long range.

They nearly found themselves two goals down when Muhammad Fazli sprang the offside trap to race clean through on goal before dragging his shot harmlessly wide of the far post.

But the Singaporeans then sealed Thai misery by adding a second goal in the closing stages.

The result ensured Thailand ended their campaign with a humbling record of only one win (over lowly Cambodia) against three losses.