In December 2025 and January 2026, Thailand will once again step into the regional spotlight when it hosts the 33rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in the provinces of Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla, and ASEAN Para Games 2025 in Nakhon Ratchasima.
The 2025 SEA Games marks the seventh time Thailand will serve as host country since the games were first championed by Thai officials during the Asian Games in Tokyo in 1958. Since then, Thailand has participated in every edition of the SEA Games, helping shape it to the important regional sporting event it is today. The decision to bring the Games to Thailand reflects not just sporting ambition, but also Thailand’s desire to emphasise cultural identity, regional unity and inclusivity.
The 2025 SEA Games will run from 9 to 20 December 2025. The event will span three host zones: the Bangkok metropolitan region, where many of the highlights will take place, coastal Chonburi, and Songkhla in the south. The multi-venue format allows Thailand to showcase both its urban infrastructure and its more relaxed resort and southern-territory settings.
The planning is ambitious. Thailand is not simply repeating past events, rather it is looking to leverage the 2025 SEA Games to deepen cultural resonance, regional connectivity, and sporting professionalism. The branding draws heavily on Thai art and folklore, and the country is sticking with the tradition of the host country including a traditional or culturally significant sport.
Beyond the SEA Games, Thailand’s commitment to inclusion is also evident in its hosting of the 13th ASEAN Para Games, slated for 20 to 26 January 2026 in Nakhon Ratchasima province. By hosting both events, Thailand signals that sport is not only about elite competition, but about broad participation, accessibility and the transcending of barriers.
The hosting of the two events are in line with a long-standing strategy of promoting Thailand as a chosen destination for large-scale sporting and mass participation events. By choosing three distinct regional clusters (Bangkok, Chonburi, Songkhla) Thailand aims to distribute benefits, spread audience engagement and showcase tourism, sport and culture in tandem.
The staging of large events of this scale comes with a price. The cabinet recently approved a combined budget of THB456 million for the organising of the SEA Games and the ASEAN Para Games. The budget will cover opening and closing ceremonies, public relations, and accommodation, meals, transportation and laundry for athletes, officials and international participants.
The events also offer many opportunities. They boost tourism – combined, the events are expected to create economic value of THB5,285 million – and showcase Thailand’s great potential and readiness for tourism and sports industries, while promoting a favorable image of Thailand as a regional leader in tourism and sports.
Although we enjoy a close working relationship with the Sports Authority of Thailand and many of the Thai National Sports Associations we would like to make clear that we have NO contractual or commercial relationship with the SEA Games or the ASEAN Para Games or suggest any such relationship.
Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. is an independent marketing consultancy based in Bangkok, Thailand specialising in commercial sponsorship and partnership marketing, working with both rights holders and brands - acting as a catalyst by bringing them together and maximising the relationship.
We have packaged, sold and managed sponsorship and partnership opportunities for a wide range of rights holders and worked with many of the world’s leading brands to source and engage the right sponsorships and partnerships for them to maximise.
