The 2025 SEA Games football opener was chaotic again! The national anthems of Vietnam and Laos failed to play, forcing the players to sing live themselves.
On 3 Dec 2025, Suradet Apaiwong, a reporter for TNN, reported problems that occurred before the start of the 2025 SEA Games hosted by Thailand. Today featured two men's football matches at Rajamangala Stadium, but several stadium lights were found to be faulty. Critically, there were no spare bulbs available, prompting urgent coordination to borrow bulbs from the 80th Birthday Stadium in Nakhon Ratchasima Province to address the problem temporarily.
Moreover, a new issue arose when the national anthems of Vietnam and Laos failed to play, causing the players to stand and sing their anthems live on the field, much to the surprise of fans in attendance.
Meanwhile, the Thai national team is scheduled to play Timor-Leste in the group stage, Group A, with live broadcasts on One 31 and TrueVisions NOW at 19:00 local time.