Thailand slams ‘chaotic’ Asian Games organisation

Accommodation bookings exceed available rooms, forcing teams to scramble for alternatives

NAGOYA — Thailand is the latest country to speak out about the organisation at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan, likening it to a “chaotic” game of “musical chairs”.

Athletes have complained of poor accommodation, long delays at airports and in boarding cruise ship housing.

Erratic transport services have seen competitors’ buses to training and venues turning up late, or in some cases not at all.

The continent’s biggest sporting showpiece, with more than 17,000 athletes and officials, has faced multiple issues during its first full week.

Some teams said there was a shortage of rooms and others complained about the quality of accommodation provided by organisers.

No traditional athletes’ village has been built, as a cost-cutting measure, with participants instead staying in temporary container-style huts, hotels and the Costa Serena cruise ship moored in Nagoya port.

“It remains a problem, from the beginning until now,” Chalitrat Chandrubeksa, deputy secretary general of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) late on Wednesday.

“The number of (rooms available on) cruise ships and hotels does not match our actual number of athletes,” he added.

“On the peak day, we required 201 beds on the cruise ship but they provided only 170.

“When athletes checked in and found their names missing from the list, they had to be placed somewhere else and when the new athletes arrived, the previous ones had to move out and look for other hotels.

“It’s like musical chairs.”

Frustrated athletes have made their feelings known online, with complaints also about some of the food.

More than 4,000 people are staying on the ship in Nagoya’s port and 2,000 in the cramped wooden container huts, called “villas” by the organisers without a hint of irony.

“We are solving the problem by finding replacement accommodations ourselves,” said Mr Chalitrat. “We had to book our own and make advance payments for food out of our pockets.”

The shortages have meant the Thailand team having to put some staff far away from the games epicentre in the city of Nagoya.

“Our medical team has to stay about one hour 30 minutes from Nagoya. We had to rent additional vehicles from Tokyo so they could travel to look after the athletes,” Mr Chalitrat said. “It has been chaotic.”

“We just hope to fulfil and complete this mission as successfully as possible.”

Games organisers said on Thursday they were working constantly to improve services for athletes.

“We have already increased shuttle buses as much as possible to satisfy atheletes’ needs,” Asian Games organising committee spokesman Hiroshi Koshizuka told AFP on Thursday.

He admitted issues with transport had occurred but said “there had been no significant impact on the Games and no event has been delayed”.

“We have set up a system to respond to complaints and we will address them in a sincere manner going forward.”