The region's dominant side under German coach Siegfried Held at the time suffered an early exit in Malaysia two years ago despite being drawn in a group which should have been manageable with Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines and East Timor.

Yesterday the draw for the biennial competition previously known as Tiger Cup was held at the Radison hotel, with Vijit Getkaew, the president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), as the official guest of honour.

Only the absence of East Timor, which failed to get past the qualifying round, deprived Thailand of a chance to face exactly the same group in the finals this time, which will be co-hosted by Thailand and Singapore next year.

Worawi Makudi the FAT secretary-general, warned his side not to be overly confident as their bitter disappointment in Malaysia served as a costly lesson.

"I'm satisfied with the draw, but I would like to remind everyone that things have changed as we now cannot overlook anyone in the region," said Worawi. "Many countries have progressed very quickly and that forces us not to stand still in order to keep being ahead. We cannot underestimate whomever we meet in this tournament.

"Malaysia and Burma should be our main rivals in qualifying for the next round," added the FAT secretary-general, who said he would leave all the work of finding the best squad to Chanwit Pholchivin, the national team's head coach.