How will the 33rd SEA Games and a series of international tournaments fare after the Thailand-Cambodia conflict?

The sudden outbreak of military conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is raising concerns about the security of a series of international sporting events scheduled to take place in Thailand between now and the end of the year.

The World Volleyball Championship is scheduled to take place in Thailand in 1 month - Photo: NATION

The 33rd SEA Games (taking place in December), the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship (late August), the Taekwondo Grand Prix (September)... and many other large-scale events are facing the risk of cancellation or postponement if the Thailand-Cambodia conflict continues to escalate.

According to Reuters, attacks from Cambodia on July 24 killed at least 11 civilians and one Thai soldier. Sisaket and Surin provinces were the places that suffered direct damage.

A series of major events in Thailand

For the regional and global sports community, this conflict has led to many concerns. The most immediate is the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Cup, taking place from August 22 to September 7, with four host cities: Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima.

Among them, Nakhon Ratchasima is located only about 180km from the Cambodian border, considered a sensitive area in the context of escalating conflicts. The distance between Nakhon Ratchasima and Surin - the place that was just attacked - is only more than 150km.

The group stage and second round matches of groups C and D will be held here, bringing together many strong teams such as the US, Serbia, China, Poland...

Not long after the volleyball tournament, Thailand also hosted the Taekwondo Grand Prix from September 9 to 13 in Bangkok, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Figure Skating Championship, the Betong Trail Run in Yala province, and a series of marathons such as the Bangkok Double Bridge Run, Rayong Scenic Half Marathon, etc.

But the most notable is the 33rd Southeast Asian Games - SEA Games taking place from December 9 to 20, 2025 in the three provinces of Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla.

This is the first SEA Games Thailand has hosted since 2007, with 50 sports and more than 10,000 athletes and officials expected to attend.

Bangkok and Chonburi are quite far from the Cambodian border, but Songkhla province in the south has a history of unrest due to separatist conflicts.

Past precedents

Regional experts have expressed concern. In an analysis published on AsiaNews.Network a few days ago, many experts warned that extreme media and rising nationalism in both countries could make the 33rd SEA Games tense.

The Diplomat also warned that since the “Muay Thai and Kun Khmer” controversy at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, regional sports are becoming more and more sensitive to national conflicts.

Even if the current conflict ends, the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand will still face many political and security risks, revolving around the presence of the Cambodian sports delegation.

In the history of international sports, there have been many major events affected by armed conflicts. Most notably, three Olympic Games were cancelled: Berlin 1916 due to World War I, Tokyo 1940 and London 1944 due to World War II.

Thailand is a powerhouse on the continent in terms of its ability to organize sports tournaments - Photo: NT

The 2022 men's volleyball world championship was moved from Russia to Poland-Slovenia due to the war in Ukraine.

In football, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) was banned from the 1994 World Cup because of the Balkan war; and Russia was eliminated from the 2022 World Cup qualifiers because of its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

With such a series of precedents, the regional and world sports community has reason to worry about the possibility of canceling or postponing major events taking place in Thailand in the remaining 5 months of 2025.

However, up to now, Thailand has not made any statement about the risk of canceling or postponing the above sporting events. Over the past few days, they have still organized events to welcome the Women's Volleyball World Championship as scheduled.

Previously, at the end of June, Secretary General of the Cambodian Olympic Committee, Mr. Vath Chamroeun, affirmed that sports are a symbol of peace and solidarity and should not be affected by political conflicts.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sea-games-33-va-hang-loat-giai-quoc-te-ra-sao-sau-xung-dot-thai-lan-camuchia-20250724173410093.htm