Indonesians like athletes' village
Indonesians like athletes' village
By Robert Soelistyo
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (JP): Seeing is believing. This saying expresses what the Indonesian team of sports officials visiting the athletes village for the Dec. 9 to Dec. 17, 18th Southeast Asian Games feel.
1993 SEA Games champion Indonesia, in its efforts to retain the title, has sent ahead a six-member Games advanced team to submit the names of its athletes and to inspect the athletes' village.
"We find it satisfying to see the boarding facilities at the athletes village provided by the committee," Mohammad Sarengat, the head of the team told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
The athletes village, located a walk away from the main stadium and sports venues, is now undergoing the final touches before the bulk of the region's best athletes gather at the village for the Games.
More than 4,000 athletes and officials from Indonesia, Malaysian, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar are expected to take part. They will vie for 334 gold medals up for grabs in the 26 sports.
According to Sarengat, himself dubbed Asia's fastest man in the 1960s when he won gold medals in the men's 100m and 200m at the 1962 Asian Games, the SEA Games committee will provide food prepared by the best hotels in Thailand.
"Food for athletes and officials will be prepared by Thailand's best hotels and every day change from one hotel catering to another," he said.
"I think," he added "this is a good example for Indonesia to follow as the food will not be provided from a single contractor."
He said his mission had been successful due to the full assistance provided by the Indonesian Embassy staff in Bangkok, who are keen to see their country retain the SEA Games title it won in Singapore two years ago.
Yesterday the team also visited all the sport venues for the Games in Chiang Mai, located some 700km north of the capital.
Modest profit
Thailand is doing its utmost to reclaim the overall title it won 10 years ago in Bangkok. It sent all its athletes for the Games abroad for a series of training stint.
The Games financing committee has predicted a profit of between 20 million ($869,565) and 40 million baht would be earned.
The Games finance committee deputy chairman Vanchak Voradik said yesterday that he expected to collect total revenues of Bt450 million.
Vanchak also said the Sport Authority of Thailand is planning to add 300 to 400 extra seats in the 20,000-seat main stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies.
The authority is now evaluating the amount of extra seats needed.
The SEA Games finance committee had budgeted Bt380 million for expenses, with additional expenses expected to reach Bt20 million. So the committee expects a profit of between Bt30 million to Bt40 million from the biennial sports extravaganza.