The Thai athletes have become the SEA Games top gold medal winners for the 14th time. Their performance this time closely met the set goals, with Olympic sports led by athletics and weightlifting standing out by breaking several records.
On 20 Dec 2025, "Big Kong" Dr. Kongsak Yodmani, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, praised the overall Thai team for an impressive performance, winning 233 gold medals—the highest in the history of Southeast Asian sports up to the SEA Games, marking the 14th time. This achievement nearly matched the target set, attributed to continuous training camps and intensive use of sports science. Meanwhile, Olympic sports groups saw athletics excel and weightlifting break world records.
The 33rd SEA Games, hosted by Thailand from 9 to 20 December 2025, featured 50 sports, 3 demonstration sports, and 1 sport contributing economic value. Focusing on the 50 main sports competing for 573 gold medals, the event concluded on 20 December 2025 with the Thai athletes winning 233 golds, 154 silvers, and 108 bronzes, reclaiming the top gold medal holder status for the 14th time. This ended a 10-year gap since the last time Thailand achieved this at the 28th SEA Games in Singapore in 2015. Thailand also broke the previous record of 205 gold medals held by Vietnam at the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam in 2022.
Dr. Kongsak Yodmani, Governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand, said they were confident from the start about the gold medal target and aimed to set a record as the host country with the most gold medals in history. The gold medal count closely matched the sports associations' estimate of 241 golds. He added that everyone was determined and confident to surpass 200 gold medals.
"Overall, the Thai athletes delivered impressive results. Many sports associations exceeded expectations, though some sports fell short of targets and will need to review and improve. Generally, the year-long continuous training contributed to this medal haul, alongside intensive use of sports science in all aspects. Another factor was nutritional support from Ajinomoto, which showed positive changes," he explained.
The Governor added that in international Olympic sports, Thai athletes performed very well. Although some records did not result in gold medals, progress was evident with many records broken, such as in athletics which showed outstanding record-breaking performances, and weightlifting, Thailand's Olympic hopeful sport, which broke world records. Taekwondo and swimming also performed well, an impressive phenomenon rarely seen in SEA Games before.
The Thai national team has now topped the SEA Games gold medal count 14 times since the event was known as the Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games during the first to eighth editions, before changing to the SEA Games from the ninth edition to the present.