2007 Southeast Asian Games

A torch relay was held across the nation prior to the hosting of the games. On 8 November 2007, Prince Vajiralongkorn, on behalf of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej presented the royal flame to the games organising committee chairman, Suvit Yodmani. Following the presentation, the flame was installed in Bangkok at the Bangkok City Hall. After that, the flame was relayed from Bangkok to provinces such as Chonburi, Samut Songkhram, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Ratchaburi, Suphanburi, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Loei, Nong Khai, Sakhon Nahkhon, Mukdahan, Ubon Ratchatthani, Surin, Roi Et and Khon Kaen before arrived in the host province, Nakhon Ratchasima on 26 November 2007. In Nakhon Ratchasima, the flame was relayed across its districts such as Phimai, Choke Chai, Pak Thong Chai, Pak Chong and Soongnern before arrived at Nakhon Ratchasima City, the host city of the games on 1 December 2007. The flame was then installed at the monument of Thao Suranari before the games' opening ceremony.[3]

"Can", Korat cat, the official mascot of the games

The logo of the 2007 Southeast Asian games is an image of row of three sailing boats in the shape of Pimai castle representing the 40th anniversary His Majesty the King, Bhumibol Adulyadej won a gold medal in a sailing competition in the 1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games and the 80th anniversary of his birthday. It was designed by Prasit Nunsung from Nonthaburi. The three boats in the logo represents the development, the blending of colours and the technology of Thailand. While the yellow colour on the largest boat represents the King itself, it along with red and blue are the colours on the flags of the Southeast Asian nations and represents the unity and friendship among the games participants and the people of Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asian Games Federation logo, the 10-circle chain represents the 10 member nations, excluding Timor-Leste and the Southeast Asian Games itself. The shape of the boats that resemble the Pimai castle, represents the host city Nakhon Ratchasima, the Northeast region of Thailand and its civilisation one thousand years ago.

The mascot of the 2007 SEA Games is a Korat cat named Can.[4] The Korat cat is a slate blue-grey shorthair domestic cat with a small to medium build and a low percentage of body fat. It is one of the oldest stable cat breeds in Thailand and named after the Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat) province. As a mascot it wears "Pha Khao Ma", a traditional Thai loincloth, and plays the khaen, a Northeastern-style mouth organ. The name of the musical instrument aforementioned, coincidentally has a similar pronunciation to the mascot's name. The mascot was created by Sa-ard Jomnagrm and its name "Can" was given by an eight-year-old girl, Piyathida Sreewimon.[5] The word "Can" in English simply means Can which is a short word that can be spoken easily and represents the attitude of the athletes in their quest to win gold medals.

Four songs were composed for the games including Rhythm of The Winner, the theme song of the games. The other songs are: We are The Water, Friendship Card and Korat SEA Games.[6]

The opening ceremony which divided into eight segments was held on 6 December 2007 at 19:00 (TST) at the 80th birthday stadium. Thai audiences clad in mostly pink and yellow as symbol of loyalty to the king, packed the stadium hours before the ceremony starts. After the Thai royal family entered the stadium, the royal anthem is first played. The ceremony began with the first segment entitled "The Amazing Great King", a 10-minute tribute to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, then the longest reigning monarch in the world at that time. This was followed by second and third segment named "The Amazing E-Saan Wonder" and "The Amazing Glorious City" respectively, highlighting the history and culture of the Isan (northeast) region and its main city, Korat which were accompanied by a dazzling laser display and incorporated replicas of colourful ancient temples and gigantic dragon boats.

After that, the fourth segment "The Amazing Sport Ceremony" was held began with the parade of the contingents from the 11 participating nations. The Thai contingent, the largest contingent among the participating nations received the warmest welcome from the audiences when they enter the stadium. After the athletes and officials had assembled on the field, Thai Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani, the Games organising chairman, delivered his speech and the Games was then officially opened by the Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. It was followed by the Thai National Anthem when the national flag of Thailand was raised and the raising of the Games flag and the oath-taking ceremony in which Suebsak Pansueb took the oath on behalf of the athletes and Paibul Srichaisawat on behalf of the judges. Later during "The Amazing Royal Flame", the fifth segment of the ceremony, a group of athletes passes the flame during the torch relay one after another before the Thai female weightlifter cum gold medalist at the Athens Olympics, Udomporn Polsak lit the Games cauldron.

The ceremony concludes with "The Amazing Spirit", "The Amazing Friendship" and "The Amazing Celebrations" segments which were performed by more than 8,000 students from 35 learning institutions. The segments were held in accordance with the Games' tagline of 'Spirit, Friendship and Celebrations'.[11][12]

The closing ceremony which was divided into seven segments was held on 15 December 2007 at 19:00 (TST) at the 80th birthday stadium and was preceded by a pre-ceremony song and dance performance entitled "A Message from the Heart", the arrival of the Thai Prime Minister and other dignitaries. The ceremony began with a four-minute "The Creation of Spirit" segment, a musical sketch showcasing Thailand's rich traditional culture. This was followed by "The Creation of Friendship" and "The Creation of Celebrations" segment, the two musical performances by school students who formed ‘human formations’ in the middle of the field. Later, "The Creation of Sport Ceremony" segment was held with the contingents from the 11 participating nations marched into the stadium to the folk music of respective nations as the fireworks lit up the skies.

After the athletes and officials assembled at the stadium, Thai Prime Minister Gen Surayud Chulanont gave his speech and declared the games closed. Prime Minister Surayud then entitled Swimmers Miguel Molina of the Philippines and Natthanan Junkajang of Thailand as the Most Valuable Athletes of the Games. With Thai national flag and the Games flag lowered, the SEA Games responsibility was handed over to Laos, host of the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in which the Deputy Prime Minister of Laos, Somsavat Lengsavad received the games flag as its symbol. A Laos segment performance was performed by Lao dancers with their traditional performances.

During "The Creation of Hope" segment, The flame of the cauldron was extinguished by a man dress as a Korat boy on two wheeled cart, symbolised the end of the games. The ceremony concluded with two Thai farewell segment performances namely "The Creation of Live World" and "The Creation of Happiness and Prosperity".[13]

Around 5282 athletes participated at the games.

Indonesia plays against Thailand in SEA Games Polo 2007

The 2007 SEA Games featured 43 sports which consists of 475 events and also 2 demonstration sports (i.e. Go and Kempo).[14][15][16][17][18]

¹ - not an official Olympic Sport
² - sport played only in the SEAG
³ - not a traditional Olympic nor SEAG Sport and introduced only by the host country.
° - a former official Olympic Sport, not applied in previous host countries and was introduced only by the host country.

A total of 1542 medals, comprising 477 gold medals, 470 silver medals, and 595 bronze medals were awarded to athletes. The Host Thailand performance was its best ever yet in Southeast Asian Games history and emerged as overall champion of the games.[19][20][21]

Key

  *   Host nation (Thailand)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Thailand (THA)*	183	123	103	409
2	Malaysia (MAS)	68	52	96	216
3	Vietnam (VIE)	64	58	82	204
4	Indonesia (INA)	56	64	83	203
5	Singapore (SIN)	43	43	41	127
6	Philippines (PHI)	41	91	96	228
7	Myanmar (MYA)	14	26	47	87
8	Laos (LAO)	5	7	32	44
9	Cambodia (CAM)	2	5	11	18
10	Brunei (BRU)	1	1	4	6
11	East Timor (TLS)	0	0	0	0
Totals (11 nations)		477	470	595	1542