Thailand went down to France 3-0 in their World Cup warm-up in Orleans on Saturday.
France are among the favourites for the June 7-July 7 tournament given the number of their players that play for Europe's best club side Lyon -- who hammered Barcelona 4-1 to win their fourth straight Women's Champions League last week.
They dominated from the kick-off but it was Thailand captain Kanjana Sung-ngoen who nearly put the Chaba Kaew ahead on 14 minutes but her shot went wide.
Thailand goalkeeper Sukanya Chor Charoenying made some fine saves to hold off the fourth-ranked France and kept it goalless at half-time.
It took the 'Les Bleues' until the 61st minute to open the scoring, Elise Bussaglia slotting home nicely from the left.
France were awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute when Natthakan Chinwong handled the ball in the area but Grace Geyoro crashed her spot-kick against the bar.
Substitute Kadidiatou Diani then made it 2-0 after cheekily pinching the ball off Sudarat Chuchuen and rolled home her first with 12 minutes left.
Five minutes later Geyoro won the second penalty, which Eve Perisset saw saved well by Sukanya.
However Perisset made up for that mistake by laying on Diani to score her second goal and make the scoreline more respectable for a team gunning to emulate the exploits of France's male World Cup winners in Russia last year.
Thailand, 34th in Fifa's world rankings, will play Belgium in another warm-up match in Leuven on June 1.
The Chaba Kaew are in Group F alongside defending champions United States, Chile and Sweden. bangkok post/afp
