The Thai sports community is outraged because athletes have been owed money for four months.

With the 33rd SEA Games, hosted by Thailand, fast approaching, the country's sports community is outraged by reports that athletes have been owed their allowances since May.

Track and field star Puripol Boonson - Photo: BP

A wave of outrage is rising in Thai sports circles as athletes preparing for the 33rd SEA Games have yet to receive their living allowances since May. This has dragged on for four tense months.

According to Thai media, this situation stems from the fact that the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) has not yet submitted the budget approval request worth 480 million baht to the Comptroller General's Department.

Although the National Sports Development Fund was allocated funding on June 18th, as of July 22nd, the auditing agency had still not received the official expenditure request from SAT. This has left the disbursement process in limbo.

Over the past three days, Thairath Online has continued to report on this serious situation, emphasizing that the delay has disrupted the athletes' training plans and severely impacted their morale.

Consequently, many sports associations, such as badminton, volleyball, and racing, have had to advance or borrow money from public funds to support athletes while awaiting subsidies.

The reaction from the authorities was equally decisive. According to sources from the Thai government , the Audit Office is urging SAT to expedite the completion of paperwork to process the subsidy payments before the upcoming SEA Games.

From an expert perspective, although not many personal opinions from coaches or athletes have been directly quoted in recent news reports, some indirect warnings have been raised.

Sports associations assert that this not only creates financial pressure but also impacts the SEA Games goals – as Thailand aims to win many gold medals as the host nation.

The delayed payments not only undermine morale but also raise questions about the team's ability to achieve medal targets on home soil.

"This affects the mental health of the athletes, who have dedicated time and effort to training for the SEA Games."

I contacted Mr. Surawong Thienthong, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, and he promised to expedite the process. However, as far as I know, many associations are dealing with urgent issues and trying to find ways to pay their athletes.

Some association leaders have even borrowed money from the civil service to provide contingency funds for their athletes. This is unacceptable in this day and age," Khaosod newspaper quoted Chaiphak Siriwat, vice president of the Thai Olympic Committee, as saying.

There are no specific figures on how many athletes are currently owed subsidies. However, this is a systemic problem, directly affecting many sports and hundreds of athletes participating in national training.

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/lang-the-thao-thai-lan-phan-no-vi-vdv-bi-no-tien-suot-4-thang-20250808074313868.htm