PHUKET: Officials aim to go ahead with the Asian Beach Games on Phuket in November despite the cancellation of the annual women's volleyball competition on Phuket the previous month.
''With the safety and security of players and officials of paramount importance, the FIVB have accepted the promoter's decision to cancel October's event,'' a media release said yesterday about the beach volleyball cancellation.
However, there are no ''safety and security'' concerns for volleyball players or anyone else visiting Phuket. Direct flights make it easy to avoid Bangkok. Tourists continue to come and go to Phuket without effort or concerns.
The fact is that while the volleyball's FIVB organisation in public attributed the cancellation to political unrest, it's understood government finance and other support had been more difficult to arrange. This was probably the main reason for the cancellation.
For the sponsors and FIVB to blame ''political unrest in Thailand'' for the cancellation of an international sporting event on Phuket is plainly stretching it.
Thailand has enough real concerns without frightening people unnecessarily. The situation in Bangkok is alarming but on Phuket and around Krabi and Phang Nga, the record numbers of holidaymakers are unaffected.
With considerable prestige involved in staging the Asian Beach Games on Phuket from November 14 until November 23, featuring 147 events in 23 sports, officials in Thailand will be keen to minimise any flow-on from the FIVB volleyball cancellation.
The secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, Major General Charouck Arirachakaran, told the Bangkok Post that Thailand should be able to host the Asian Beach Games in Phuket in November.
But it would be impossible for Thailand to win a bid to organise any future major international sporting events, including the 2023 Asian Games. ''We have to wait and see the new sports minister's policy,'' he said.
.Celebrations took place last month to mark 200-days-to-go until the start of Phuket's Asian Beach Games, with organisers from the Olympic Council of Asia speaking positively about preparations.
The General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees is also due to be held in Bangkok from November 5 until November 9.
Earlier this year, snooker's Players Championship Grand Finals was also moved out of Thailand due to political unrest, and the season ending tournament was instead held in Preston, England.
The Volleyball World Grand Prix in Bangkok from August 15-17 and the Asian Girls' Under 17 Volleyball Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima in October should take place as scheduled, officials said.
Golf's Thailand Open, one of Asia's oldest national championships, has been postponed from earlier this year and is likely to be cancelled because an alternative date is difficult to fit into the regional schedule of golf events.
Taekwondo officials believe the inaugural Thailand Open, to be staged in Bangkok in November, should not be affected by the political impasse.
''With five months to go, we are not worried,'' Pimol Srivikorn, President of the Taekwando Association of Thailand, told the Post. ''But if the situation becomes worse in the next few months, we may reconsider our plan.
''I hope the political crisis ends with an election.''
While sports organisations seem concerned, developers are going ahead at speed with plans for Phuket's Airport City retail-resort complex and a new 20 billion baht shopping mall in Phuket City.
''With the safety and security of players and officials of paramount importance, the FIVB have accepted the promoter's decision to cancel October's event,'' a media release said yesterday about the beach volleyball cancellation.
However, there are no ''safety and security'' concerns for volleyball players or anyone else visiting Phuket. Direct flights make it easy to avoid Bangkok. Tourists continue to come and go to Phuket without effort or concerns.
The fact is that while the volleyball's FIVB organisation in public attributed the cancellation to political unrest, it's understood government finance and other support had been more difficult to arrange. This was probably the main reason for the cancellation.
For the sponsors and FIVB to blame ''political unrest in Thailand'' for the cancellation of an international sporting event on Phuket is plainly stretching it.
Thailand has enough real concerns without frightening people unnecessarily. The situation in Bangkok is alarming but on Phuket and around Krabi and Phang Nga, the record numbers of holidaymakers are unaffected.
With considerable prestige involved in staging the Asian Beach Games on Phuket from November 14 until November 23, featuring 147 events in 23 sports, officials in Thailand will be keen to minimise any flow-on from the FIVB volleyball cancellation.
The secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, Major General Charouck Arirachakaran, told the Bangkok Post that Thailand should be able to host the Asian Beach Games in Phuket in November.
But it would be impossible for Thailand to win a bid to organise any future major international sporting events, including the 2023 Asian Games. ''We have to wait and see the new sports minister's policy,'' he said.
.Celebrations took place last month to mark 200-days-to-go until the start of Phuket's Asian Beach Games, with organisers from the Olympic Council of Asia speaking positively about preparations.
The General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees is also due to be held in Bangkok from November 5 until November 9.
Earlier this year, snooker's Players Championship Grand Finals was also moved out of Thailand due to political unrest, and the season ending tournament was instead held in Preston, England.
The Volleyball World Grand Prix in Bangkok from August 15-17 and the Asian Girls' Under 17 Volleyball Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima in October should take place as scheduled, officials said.
Golf's Thailand Open, one of Asia's oldest national championships, has been postponed from earlier this year and is likely to be cancelled because an alternative date is difficult to fit into the regional schedule of golf events.
Taekwondo officials believe the inaugural Thailand Open, to be staged in Bangkok in November, should not be affected by the political impasse.
''With five months to go, we are not worried,'' Pimol Srivikorn, President of the Taekwando Association of Thailand, told the Post. ''But if the situation becomes worse in the next few months, we may reconsider our plan.
''I hope the political crisis ends with an election.''
While sports organisations seem concerned, developers are going ahead at speed with plans for Phuket's Airport City retail-resort complex and a new 20 billion baht shopping mall in Phuket City.
