Sawt Falasteen - SEA Games to open in Thailand with tightened security

The SEA Games run until December 20 in Bangkok and the nearby coastal province of Chonburi, with thousands of athletes from 11 southeast Asian countries competing in events ranging from football and fencing to skateboarding, sailing and combat sports.

They include world-class performers such as Olympic weightlifting gold medallists Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines and Rizki Juniansyah of Indonesia, and Thailand's badminton silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn.

The Thai King and Queen are scheduled to open the Games ceremony at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok Tuesday evening, with a performance South Korea–trained Thai artist BamBam.

Far from the competition, renewed combat this week over a long-standing border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia has killed six Cambodian civilians and three Thai soldiers, and wounded more than 20 others.

Citing safety concerns, Cambodia last month withdrew about half of its athletes, pulling out of eight events including football, wrestling, judo and karate.

Thailand's deputy Prime Minister Thammanat Prompao said Tuesday that Thailand will "ensure the highest level of security" for Cambodian at athletes during the ongoing border tensions.

Security personnel will be deployed to guarantee their safety, he said, though specific operational details were not disclosed.

Thailand is hosting the SEA Games, which take place every two years, for the first time since 2007. They were first held in Bangkok in 1959.

The SEA Games are known for inclusion of non-Olympic sports from the region such sepak takraw, foot volleyball played with a rattan ball and pencak silat, a martial art popular in Indonesia.

burs-sjc/jm

H.Darwish--SF-PST