The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) governor, Dr Gongsak Yodmani, allayed growing public concerns over the opening ceremony of the upcoming 33rd SEA Games, promising it would not be “inferior” to that of any country in the region.
Thailand’s organisation of next week’s Games has come under intense scrutiny in recent days following the emergence of many problems, which raise serious questions about the country’s preparedness to host the region’s biennial sporting event for a record seventh time.
Among the issues that have drawn widespread public criticism is a mistake-ridden poster promoting the SEA Games Virtual Run 2025 event, which included glaring errors such as the wrong date of the Games itself.
While clarifying that hosting the Games is collective work involving several agencies, not only his organisation, Dr Gongsak has no qualms about accepting the blame for what people fear could potentially deal a major blow to the country’s reputation.
“We’ve learnt many lessons, most of which are complaints by the public or suggestions from the press. We’ve tried to make improvements. Some stories may not be true, prompting us to offer clarification.
“SAT does not organise everything. There’s also the organising committee to jointly consider all matters. Some of the mistakes that happened are not our fault as we didn’t proceed with the implementation ourselves. But, since we’re the body that delegates the work, we’re ready to accept responsibility for any mistakes,” said the SAT governor.
Given all the dramas, there is mounting concern among the public that the opening ceremony, typically a highlight of any sporting event, might not be as good as those of previous hosts. The governor, however, thought otherwise.
“I myself watched the rehearsal (of the opening ceremony), involving more than 500 school and university students. As for the performances, they will reflect our country’s sporting potential.
“I won’t go further than this, as I don’t want to make it less exciting for everyone. But I can give you my word that, judging from my own experience of watching opening ceremonies of countless events, ours will be second to none.”
The 33rd SEA Games, running between December 9–20, will be held in Bangkok and Chon Buri, with a total of 574 gold medals on offer from 50 official sports, three demonstration disciplines (Air Sports, Flying Disc and Tug of War) and one “value-added” sport (mixed martial arts).
