The curtain has officially fallen.
On the Southeast Asian Games 2025, the regional sports festival where Thailand served as host once again after 18 years.
Applause is due for the Thai athletes who united to reclaim the title of "top gold medal winner."
They swept a total of 233 gold medals, 154 silver, and 112 bronze.
Competing across 50 main sports, with 573 gold medals contested in total.
This marks Thailand's return to the SEA Games throne after a decade since the 2015 Games in Singapore.
It also decisively broke the previous highest gold medal record of 205 set by Vietnam in 2022.
This success underscores that Thai athletes truly stand as a leading nation in the ASEAN region.
From the era of the Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games to today's SEA Games.
Claiming the top gold medal tally 14 times confirms Thailand's status as the "sports powerhouse of Southeast Asia" most clearly on this regional stage.
At the same time, the encouraging news is in the realm of international "Olympic sports," where Thai athletes performed remarkably well.
Considering the statistics, even in events without gold medals, there was notable progress and many records broken.
For example, in athletics, there were standout performances breaking multiple records.
Weightlifting, an Olympic hopeful sport, also set new world records.
Additionally, taekwondo and swimming did well, which is less common in SEA Games history.
This time, however, they produced an impressive phenomenon.
This achievement has led the National Sports Development Fund and the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) to prepare generous prize money as encouragement for medal-winning athletes.
According to the fund's criteria, gold medalists receive 300,000 baht, silver 150,000 baht, and bronze 75,000 baht.
This is combined with 30% of prize money awarded to sports associations from athlete rewards,
and another 20% given to coaches from the athletes' prize money.
A preliminary calculation totals approximately 482 million baht.
The government will organize a ceremony to award this prize money to the Thai SEA Games athletes' team soon.
Overall, despite some disappointments, the Thai athletes' performance was commendable.
For example, football surprisingly missed out on all four gold medals.
Men's sepak takraw failed to win any gold for the first time in 20 years.
Not to mention the scandal involving cheating in esports competitions.
Nevertheless, every medal Thailand earned is a source of pride.
They deserve loud applause for their perseverance.
Athletes endured nearly a year of hard training amid various challenges and lack of readiness.
Especially regarding delayed and inconsistent allowance payments, which nearly caused some associations to give up during training preparations.
If I were to rate the Thai athletes' fighting spirit at these SEA Games, out of 10, I'd give them over 100.
In stark contrast, the event organizers earn a strongly negative score for their management.
Almost nothing was ready or commendable.
It became a SEA Games organized with minimal effort.
There were many weaknesses and flaws that foreign media encountering them widely reported and criticized harshly.
This is arguably the most forgettable SEA Games in history in terms of event organization.
This SEA Games made me and the people realize exactly how to judge the upcoming election.
Who to choose to govern the country remains uncertain now.
But I have firmly decided that I will "choose no one" for sure.
That decision is 100% settled in my mind.
B Bangpakong.
joggingboy_be@yahoo.com