A Constitutional Court ruling last Friday removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and her Cabinet from office and there were concerns whether it would affect the organisation of the December tournament, reports the Bangkok Post.
Concerns over cancellation were raised by some member sports associations during a meeting of the Games’ technical committee, fearing a repeat of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games debacle last year, which severely damaged the country’s reputation.
Sorawong insisted that the Games, which runs from Dec 9-20, would go ahead and that the competition will be fully supported by the government. He also urged the national athletes to perform at their best and create a good reputation for the country.
Meanwhile Preecha Lalun, the deputy governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, confirmed that there will be live coverage of only 29 sports during the Games.
The decision has upset many sport associations such as floorball, fencing and polo, which are all medal hopefuls.
“It is unfortunate that many sports have been left out. I know that many countries would like to handle the live broadcast of some sports that are not covered by the Thai organisers. I hope the SAT will reconsider this matter,” said Chaiyapak Siriwat, president of the SEA Games Federation.
In another development, it has been confirmed that the number of Cambodian athletes will be cut to 300 due to security reasons.
The tournament will have 11,677 athletes, with hosts Thailand fielding the biggest contingent of 1,813 athletes. Indonesia will send 1,640 athletes while Malaysia will have 1,578 athletes at the tournament.
The 33rd SEA Games will take place between Dec 9-20 in Bangkok, Chon Buri and Songkhla. A total of 574 gold medals in 50 sports will be up for grabs in the tournament.
The 2025 SEA Games will be the seventh time Thailand has hosted the event, with Bangkok having previously hosted in 1959, 1967, 1975, and 1985. It will be the first time Chon Buri and Songkhla will serve as the co-main host cities of the biennial tournament.
Medal winners will have a bigger payday after the recent approval of a new cash incentive scheme under which a gold medal winner will receive B500,000, silver B250,000 and bronze B125,000.