SE Asian Games end in style

Mon, 18 Dec 1995

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (Agencies): Thailand crowned its dominating athletic performance with a stunning display of pomp and pageantry yesterday to officially close the 18th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Watched by Privy Councillor and former Prime Minister Prem Tinnsulanonda, the SEA Games flag -- hoisted during the opening ceremony nine days earlier -- was lowered and handed to sports officials from Indonesia, where the 19th SEA Games will be staged in two years.

The Games torch that had burned throughout the competition was also extinguished.

The carefully orchestrated closing ceremony began at dusk in the packed, 20,000-seat main stadium at the new sports complex outside Chiang Mai, 700 kilometers (450 miles) north of Bangkok.

It embodied the past, the present and the future, with hundreds of costumed Thais performing traditional dances, a precision performance by a marching band, and large groups of youngsters in colored outfits representing the "next generation" of each of the 10 nations.

Then the 3,266 athletes from Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam marched past the stands grouped by sport rather than by nation. Most wore warmup suits rather than blazers or traditional dress.

"Now they are no longer competitors, but friends," the stadium announcer said.

After the Games flag was lowered, Prem, the official representative of King Adulyadej Bhumibol, declared the Games over.

Indonesian dancers staged a brief performance to mark the country's acceptance of the flag and to welcome visitors to Jakarta.

Indonesia has world-class athletes in badminton stars Joko Suprianto, Ardy Wiranata and women's champion Susi Susanti, world-rated tennis player Yayuk Basuki and their women's archery team.

But they grudgingly admitted that Thailand are the best in the 10-nation contest, though they are already planning to get back on top when the event is held in Jakarta in two years.

"We are not satisfied with our performance because we had set ourselves a target of winning 45 percent of the golds here," Mohammad Sarengat, a senior member of the Indonesian delegation told AFP.

Indonesia's failure to retain the overall title it won in Singapore two years ago has prompted chef de mission Arie Sudewo to resign from his post as vice chairman of the National Sports Council.

Then participants on the by-then darkened field and thousands of people in the stands lit flashlights to form a Royal Thai barge, a symbol of Thai royalty.

Finally, thousands of balloons with lighted candles dangling from them were released to float gently up into the night air, and a spectacular fireworks display ended the ceremony with a bang.

The message on the scoreboard read: "See You in Jakarta."

Only minutes before the elaborate ceremony started, the last event of the nine-day competition ended in a nearby gymnasium. Fittingly, it was won by Thailand, as was the first.

On Dec 9, cyclist Chalerm Chaemchuen began the Games by winning the women's 25-kilometer road race. Boxer Narong Klahan outpointed Ernesto Coronel of the Philippines in the men's 91- kilogram (200-pound) heavyweight match late Sunday to claim the last gold.

Thailand fielded the largest team -- 754 athletes -- in an effort to topple powerful Indonesia, the overall medals champion in eight of the last nine Games.

The Thais won 157 of the 334 gold medals awarded, more than twice as many as Indonesia, which collected 77.

The rivalry will be renewed when the Games move to Jakarta in 1997.

Editorial -- Page 4