The 24th edition, which features 38 disciplines and offers 441 gold medals, will be staged in the Kingdom.

Ten member countries gave the nod to the host's idea to stage 32 Olympic and Asian Games standard sports and six traditional categories in a step to improve the quality of the regional sports extravaganza.

Honorary secretary of the Games Federation Charoen Wattanasin said he was relieved to have come up with a solution that satisfied all parties.

"I had been under pressure over the past four months because everybody wanted to include their traditional sports in the Games. But we finally agreed to focus on those sports and games that are competed at the Olympics and Asian Games,'' said Charoen, who is also the vice secretary-general of the Olympic Committee of Thailand.

The overall 441 gold medals are exactly the same number offered at the 2005 Games in Manila. Bodybuilding and squash will not feature in the 2007 edition.

Charoen said the bodybuilding federation failed to clarify the evaluation methods, while there is no strong local squash association or sufficient facilities to organise the squash competition. Meanwhile, a SEA Games fund will be set up to help member countries. The Olympic Council of Asia has already sent a US$150,000 (Bt5.6 million) contribution to the fund.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation

Pattaya