By Suchada Tupchai
During the past week in Pattaya a large meeting of
organisers for the inaugural Asian Indoor Games 2005 gathered to discuss
progress on the event that will bring 2,880 athletes from 33 countries to
Thailand to compete.
One thing that is of great concern, and from which we
can’t escape, is the process of building the new indoor sports stadium.
Pattaya will play host to many of the events, in conjunction with Bangkok,
Supanburi and Phuket. Wei Jizhong, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) vice
president stated after inspecting the venues in Thailand, who will be
hosting the event from November 12-19, that the as yet uncompleted stadium
could lay claim to being the largest of its kind in Asia. The centre will
feature the latest technology available to enable 4,000 people to enjoy
the sports. The only concern is – will it be completed on time?
Those who venture to Soi Chaiyapruek 2 will see the new
400 million baht project steadily underway as construction teams work
feverishly to complete the construction by the July 30 deadline. The
building, once complete, is supposed to exhibit the beauty of Thai
architecture and functionality of a modern day sports complex, as laid out
in the plans by the Sports Authority of Thailand. At this point in time,
the building and grounds are far from attaining this idealistic goal.
Pattaya’s mayor, voicing concern over the project not
being completed in time, said we only have until the end of the month.
“If the building is not complete there will be huge
losses,” said Niran. The meeting also saw a call to aid from the Tourism
Authority of Thailand and concerned parties to soften the impact and help
speed up the construction process as there is less than five months to the
event.
Similar snafus have occurred in the past and the
problem is now giving rise to panic and desperation within the ranks of
the Sports Authority of Thailand. The latest excuses of “it may not be
as we had planned but it is a new event and we must focus on the quality
of organisation and competition standards first” could well push the
limits on PR for the country.
The lead up to 1st Asian Indoor Games 2005 is like a
sporting event itself, with Thais competing against themselves, as many
might be just using the event to improve their own standards.
If this attitude prevails, and the stadium is not ready
on time, the tarnished image for Thailand will remain, no matter how many
gold medals we may win.
