Thailand are left scrambling to find new venues for all ten sports scheduled to be held in Songkhla following the devastating floods that had struck the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision was made after a meeting earlier today between the Thailand SEA Games Organising Committee, member nations and the Minister of Tourism and Sports Atthakorn Sirilathayakorn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boxing, Pencak Silat, Men\u2019s football (Group B), Chess, Judo, Kabaddi, Karate, Wrestling, Petanque and Wushu will all now be relocated out of Songkhla to Bangkok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yesterday, only the shifting of the boxing event from the Southern Major City Stadium to the International Convention Centre at Prince of Songkla University was indicated while there was a likelihood that football competition would also be shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, with all 16 districts in the province in a state of disaster, due to the continuous heavy rains that has caused widespread flooding, submerging many residential areas and threatening the lives of civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ten events would account for 109 medals and would also be a logistical nightmare for several participating countries that have already made their travel arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Malaysia for instance had already indicated that they were travelling by road to Songkhla for the Games, while most others had also confirmed their flight arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hosts Thailand is said to be also considering compensation for the guest countries, as some teams have booked flights and already made made support staff arrangements in Songkhla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governing bodies of the affected sports have been asked to prepare new venues while maintaining the same competition schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With just over a week before the official start of the Games on December 9, getting some of these venues ready at the optimal level would be a big challenge for the hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the current border tension between Thailand and Cambodia, the eleventh hour changes to the venues may also need proper security arrangements to be put in place at the venues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cambodia is sending a 332-strong contingent to the Games and will be participating in pencak silat, karate, wushu, petanque, football, wrestling, all originally scheduled in Songkhla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the undercurrent of Cambodian participation negatively seen by a large group of people in both countries, security would be something that the Thai authorities need pay full attention to at the new venues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Thailand are left scrambling to find new venues for all ten sports scheduled to be held in Songkhla<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","category-sea-games"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t