Tourism and Sports Minister Atthakorn Sirilattayakorn has accepted the blame for all the dramas surrounding Thailand’s widely criticised organisation of the upcoming 33rd SEA Games but stressed that all relevant parties would do their utmost to ensure the best possible hosting of the event for the sake of the country’s reputation.
The Kingdom is due to host the region’s biennial multisport tournament for a record seventh time—and the first since 2007—between December 9–20 in Bangkok and Chon Buri.
The country’s preparations for the Games, however, have become a subject of intense public debate over the past few days following a wide range of issues, including publicity for the event that has been far less than it should have been, as many are worried that this could potentially tarnish the country’s image.
Some people have suggested that politics played a factor in the troubled preparations, but Atthakorn, who assumed his post a little more than three months ahead of the 2025 Games, dismissed the notion and insisted he would do his best to deliver the Games as well as possible.
“Since taking office, many things have yet to be done, leading to a thorough review of each part of the work to see how we could proceed and who is responsible for each job. Overall, I think we managed to get it done, but then some individual mistakes happened. And we could do nothing but accept it.
“People are concerned about the image of the country. I would like to say that since I’m now in charge, I will do all I can to make these Games happen in the best possible way,” said Atthakorn, who also serves as chair of the 33rd SEA Games organising committee.
While bemoaning being solely targeted by public criticism, the sports minister is convinced that the Games’ opening ceremony on December 9 at Rajamangala National Stadium would go a long way toward salvaging the country’s pride.
“Absolutely, the opening ceremony will turn out well (to salvage the country’s reputation). However, I guess there will be more problems coming out before then.
“Over the past few days, it seems I’m the only one on the firing line and the only one to take all the criticism. It looks odd, but we’ll take all concerns and complaints to further improve our organisation of the Games,” said Atthakorn.
The sports minister also promised there would be no repeat of the hiccups marring the competition of some sports that have already got underway, including the incident in which Laos’ and Vietnam’s national anthems went silent prior to their men’s football match, when the Games officially commence next week.
“We have already apologised to the two countries for being unable to play their national anthems. I instructed all concerned parties not to let such things happen again. It’s a matter between SAT (the Sports Authority of Thailand) and those responsible for organising each sport.”
There are a total of 574 gold medals on offer at the Thai-hosted Games, featuring 50 official sports, three demonstration disciplines (Air Sports, Flying Disc and Tug of War) and one “value-added” sport (mixed martial arts).
