Muaythai (Muay) is one of the main sports in the 31st SEA Games held in Hanoi, Vietnam in May. The National Federation of Vietnam is fully recognised by their National Olympic Committee and is looking forward to hosting the leading South-East Asian countries which will see the top athletes from Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Timor Leste.
At the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines, muaythai was one of the most popular sports and had packed crowds at the venue each day. Many of the national teams have already been preparing for the last 3 months and the referee and judge seminar was held in Vietnam via the IFMA technical commission under the chairmanship of Ajarn Somchai Sripiew.
Muaythai is not just a competition sport, Wai Kru and Mae Mai are also fully recognised medal sports and Ajarn Chao did a detailed seminar and workshop on the scoring techniques and how to end up at the podium.
The General Secretary of the Vietnamese Muaythai Federation, Mr Giap Bao Long welcomed all the delegates on behalf of Vietnam muaythai telling them that Vietnam is very proud that the last event was the Asian Beach Games in which the IOC president Doctor Thomas Bach was in attendance when Vietnam beat Thailand with overall gold medals.
