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Japan had a meeting
and agreed to establish a sport organization. The
SEAP Games was conceptualized by Laung
Sukhumnaipradit, then Vice-President of the
Thailand Olympic Committee. The proposed rationale
was that a regional sports event will help promote
cooperation, understanding and relations among
countries in the Southeast Asian region.
Thailand, Burma (now
Myanmar), Malaya (now Malaysia), Laos, South
Vietnam and Cambodia (with Singapore included
thereafter) were the founding members. These
countries agreed to hold the Games biannually. The
SEAP Games Federation Committee was formed.
The first SEAP Games
were held in Bangkok from 12-17 December, 1959
comprising more than 527 athletes and officials
from Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, South
Vietnam and Laos participating in 12 sports.
At the 8th SEAP Games
in 1975, the SEAP Federation considered the
inclusion of Indonesia and the Philippines. The
two countries were formally admitted in 1977, the
same year when SEAP Federation changed their name
to Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF), and
the games were known as the Southeast Asian Games.
Brunei was admitted
at the 10th SEA Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in
1979, and East Timor at the 22nd SEA Games in
Hanoi, Vietnam, year 2003.
Since Philippines was
included in this biannual event, Philippines has
hosted the South East Asian Games 3 times : 1981,
1991 and 2005.
The following are the
hosting history of SEA Games: |
