Thailand regained the SEA Games overall title for the first time in a decade in record-breaking style after concluding an impressive, if not spectacular, campaign at the 33rd edition of the region’s biennial sporting extravaganza with 233 gold medals — a new record for the most titles won at a single Games.
After 12 days of action at the 2025 Games on home soil, the Kingdom’s 14th overall crown was never in doubt once the Thai contingent won its first gold medal through taekwondo poomsae exponent Watcharakul Limjittrakul.
The runaway nature of the triumph was best summed up by the vast gap Thailand established at the top of the medal standings. Neither Indonesia nor defending champions Vietnam mounted a serious challenge after the competition got under way, finishing a distant second and third with just 91 and 87 gold medals respectively.
Thailand’s total haul of 233 golds smashed the previous record of 205 set by Vietnam when they hosted the Covid-delayed Games three years ago and ended a barren run since the Kingdom last claimed the overall crown at the 2015 Games in Singapore.
The final gold medal Thailand won on the last day of competition on Saturday came from the women’s sepak takraw team, who secured the regu team title with a 2-0 victory over Vietnam in their concluding round-robin match.
While the hosts reclaimed the overall crown as intended, what appeared an impressive campaign was also blotted by several lows that threatened to take the shine off their success and reinforced their status as the region’s leading sporting nation.
The most glaring failure came in football disciplines, marking the first time Thailand failed to win a single gold medal in both football and futsal competitions.
The Young War Elephants’ bid to reclaim the men’s football gold medal — the most coveted prize among Thai fans — collapsed dramatically against old rivals Vietnam. Thailand squandered a 2-0 half-time lead before losing 3-2 in extra time.
Their woes were compounded on the penultimate day of the tournament when the national men’s futsal team suffered a shock 6-1 defeat to Indonesia, ending Thailand’s dominance of the event after winning gold at the 2007, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2021 Games when men’s futsal was included.
Humiliation of equal measure, if not worse, came in men’s sepak takraw. Thailand’s decades-long reign in the team regu event came to a shuddering halt at the hands of perennial rivals Malaysia in the final last Sunday, marking the first time the Kingdom failed to win the title in 34 years.
The faltering campaign of the Thai men’s team reached new depths following a 2-1 semi-final loss to Vietnam in the regu team category on Saturday, meaning they failed to reach the final for the first time in 32 years.
Thailand’s cause was further undermined by a much-publicised scandal surrounding the team’s controversial withdrawal from the Arena of Valor (AOV) women’s category in the e-sports competition.
The withdrawal came shortly after a Thai player was expelled for cheating after being caught using “unauthorised third-party software” during a match against Vietnam, which the Thai women lost 3-0.
The implications of the withdrawal went beyond the competition itself, dealing a significant blow to the country’s reputation on the international stage.
As the curtain came down on the 2025 Games and the SEA Games flag was handed over to next hosts Malaysia during the closing ceremony at the Rajamangala National Stadium last evening, Thailand has plenty to ponder if it hopes to remain on top of the medal table in two years’ time.
