Thailand confident of keeping Asiad, but worries remain

Thailand confident of keeping Asiad, but worries remain

BANGKOK (AFP): Thailand hopes to save next year's Asian Games
despite warnings it could lose them because of inadequate
preparations and internal bickering, a top official said
yesterday.

Bangkok remained confident of staging the event although the
Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) was concerned that economic and
political turmoil could hamper plans for the Games, said Chareuk
Arirajkaran, the managing director of the Bangkok Asian Games
Organizing Committee (BAGOC).

"The OCA is concerned about the facilities for the competition
site, and how the economic and political situation in Thailand
could affect the organization of the Games," he said.

"I think we'll get the Games because the president of the OCA
understands everything very well," Chareuk said.

"If General Chettha (Thailand's army chief and chairman of the
Olympic Committee of Thailand) explains about the political
situation, I think we'll have no problem," he said.

The government this week reappointed two BAGOC chiefs in a bid
to shore up Bangkok's bid. The pair will travel to Kuwait on
Sept. 23 with the chairman of the Olympic Committee of Thailand
(OCT) to show that Bangkok is serious.

The OCA has come up with 13 questions on BAGOC's preparations,
amid reports that the OCA had sounded out other countries about
staging Asia's biggest sports event.

No change

BAGOC was preparing a response to the OCA's questions, which
would be ready within a week and sent to the OCA before the Sept.
23 meeting, Chareuk said.

He downplayed a report that Thailand could lose the Games to
Shanghai, New Delhi or Pusan in South Korea, saying he had met a
Chinese OCA representative in Bangkok this week, who reassured
him that change was not afoot.

"He asked me why are the newspapers saying there will be a
change? He said that the OCA were not threatening to change,"
Chareuk said.

The OCA has accused the Thai capital of inadequate
preparations for the Games after reports of internal bickering
among BAGOC officials.

OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah last month
blasted the "lack of tangible progress" in areas of the Games
preparations ranging from transportation to event scheduling.

New Delhi and Shanghai have been promised a grant of US$100
million by the OCA in case one of them is asked to host the games
in December 1998, an OCA official told AFP in the Indian capital
Tuesday.

The loss of the Games would be a major blow for Thailand,
currently grappling with a major economic crisis, and pressure
has grown for BAGOC to resolve its internal differences.

This week the Thai cabinet approved the reappointment of
Chareuk and the BAGOC marketing director Santiparb Tejavanija,
who resigned last month from BAGOC amid wrangling over
sponsorship deals for the games.

The Nation daily reported that a key sponsor, Swiss Timing,
was considering withdrawing its US$10 million backing to provide
timing and scoreboard equipment.

"They have lost confidence in the Games being held in
Bangkok," the paper quoted Santiparb as saying, adding that he
would meet Swiss Timing and other sponsors "to restore confidence
before it is too late".