Asiad organizers get venue on time<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Agencies): Asian Games organizers on Thursday
\ndefinitively abandoned emergency plans to switch events after
\ntaking charge of the main sports complex for the event.<\/p>\n
The Muang Thong Thani complex was not completely finished for
\nThursday's deadline for a handover.<\/p>\n
\"It's not 100 percent complete, but it's 99 percent with 1
\npercent... to be fixed later,\" Sakchye Tapsuwan of the Resort
\nAuthority of Thailand told AFP.<\/p>\n
And organizers of the Bangkok Games, which start on Dec. 6,
\nbreathed a sigh of relief to get the keys to Muang Thong Thani.
\nThe delay-plagued project by Bangkok Land Plc. has caused more
\nthan a few sleepless nights.<\/p>\n
Jurin Laksanavisit, a minister in the prime minister's office,
\nand a host of top Thai and Asian sports officials were on hand to
\nreceive the complex.<\/p>\n
The delays had so worried officials that they were forced to
\nmake back-up plans to switch events to the northern city of
\nChiang Mai and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Sakchye said the Bangkok Asian Games Organizing Committee
\n(BAGOC) had now abandoned those plans. \"Nothing will be changed,
\nthe program is on schedule,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The facility will be used for the billiards, snooker, boxing,
\ngymnastics, rugby, tennis, volleyball and weightlifting.<\/p>\n
It is also being used for tennis, boxing and gymnastics for
\nthe pre-games events which began Wednesday at Hua Mark stadium in
\neastern Bangkok.<\/p>\n
In addition to the Bangkok Land site and Hua Mark complex, the
\nother main venue for the 14 day Games is at Thammasat University
\nnorth of Bangkok.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Sports Authority of Thailand began drug
\ntests on local athletes ahead of the Games in December.<\/p>\n
\"The team will test 50 athletes from 10 sports that are known
\nto lure athletes to use dope,\" Dr. Chaturaporn na Nakorn, head of
\nthe Sports Science Center of Thailand, said.<\/p>\n
The testing is intended as a preventive measure to keep some
\n800 Thai athletes away from doping, said Chaturaporn. It will
\nalso serve as a test run for procedures to be used during the
\ngames.<\/p>\n
The Sports Authority of Thailand specifically requested that
\n1994 Olympic boxing gold medalist Somluck Khamsingh be tested,
\nsaid Chaturaporn.<\/p>\n
No suspicions have been raised about Somluck. But ensuring
\nthat he is drug-free now would avoid any possible embarrassment
\nat the games.<\/p>\n
The inspection team will drop by training centers without
\nnotifying athletes ahead of time, he added.<\/p>\n
Test results will be submitted to the Olympic Committee of
\nThailand, the body that makes the final decision on which
\nathletes will represent the country.<\/p>",
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