Thailand plans to bid for 2016 Olympics

30 Aug, 2004

Flushed with success after its most successful Olympics with three gold medals in the bag, Thailand plans to bid to host the Games in 2016, according to a newspaper report on Sunday.
"The plan will cost many billions of baht but the price is worth paying, "tourism and sports minister, Sontaya Kunplome, was quoted as saying in The Nation newspaper.
Two Thai women have won weightlifting gold in Athens - sparking an immediate boom at health clubs across the country - and boxer Manus Boonjumnong added another gold on Saturday.
A parade will be held in Bangkok for its returning athletes with medal winners awarded handsome cash prizes.
But any bid by Thailand to host the games in 2016 would be fraught with difficulty - notably because of traffic problems in the capital Bangkok - despite the kingdom's growing confidence through surging economic growth and its increasing role on the regional stage.
Thailand hosted the Asian Games in 1998 but its latest attempt for a major sporting coup, a government-backed bid to invest in English Premier-ship football club Liverpool, has failed to bear fruit.

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