Thai people shocked by the current state of the SEA Games 33 competition venue

TPO - Thai people don't even believe that the 33rd SEA Games baseball event is taking place at Queen Sirikit's 60th Anniversary Stadium, and joke that the lack of preparation makes it look like a district-level sports festival.

After football and polo, baseball took place from December 5 at the baseball field of Queen Sirikit's 60th Anniversary Stadium, Pathum Thani province. Opening with the match between Singapore and Laos, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia.

This would not be a big deal if the pitch was in bad condition. According to the owner of the Facebook account Render Thailand with nearly 100,000 followers, who was in the stands for the Indonesia vs Malaysia match, the morning rain left the pitch muddy and the concrete stands soggy. Videos showed staff at the ground trying to scrape water out of the puddles, using towels to soak it up before wringing it out into a large bucket.

In a post shortly after, Render Thailand said that when he left the stadium after the match, he saw athletes from Singapore and Laos competing on the side court. "At first I thought they were just practicing, but when I asked, I found out it was a real match. I was shocked by the state of the stadium," he wrote.

The accompanying photos show that the surrounding scene is completely unlike a major sporting event of Southeast Asian stature, or of international standards as the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) claims.

Scene at the venue for the 33rd SEA Games baseball event.

Render Thailand's post has attracted a lot of shares and comments. One person wrote, "If we (Thailand) use the stadiums of the universities in the city, the facilities will look even more beautiful and better prepared."

Others asked, "Is this the District Administration Sports Festival?", while other comments were sarcastic, saying "school sports festivals are more grand than this", "This is probably the district children's festival, I'm sure" and "Welcome to the Southeast Asian District Sports Festival".

In baseball, the Vietnam baseball team lost to host Thailand 0-15 in the opening match, then beat Malaysia 5-2 in the second match on December 6. We will meet Laos, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia in the coming days.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nguoi-thai-soc-voi-hien-trang-cua-dia-diem-thi-dau-sea-games-33-post1802442.tpo