Bangkok’s yearly school sporting event, also known as “Chang Noi Games”, kicked off at the Bangkok Youth Centre in Din Daeng district on Monday.

While presiding over the opening of the 34th edition of the games, Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has been promoting sports for residents of all ages – from preschoolers to seniors.

“Sport is an efficient tool in personal development, especially in terms of physical ability, intelligence, emotion, and social interactions,” he said. “Having children develop an interest in sports from a young age will also teach them about sportsmanship, patience, forgiveness and discipline.”

Chadchart also believes that sport helps strengthen people’s character and spirit while keeping them away from drugs and crime. Participating in team sports also helps promote unity, team-working skills and friendship – all necessary for life as a member of society, he said.

“The motto of Chang Noi Games is ‘friendship, kindness and discipline’, and every participant should try to follow it,” the governor said.

“Winning or losing should not be more important than making friends, being kind towards one another and following the rules of the game.”

The 34th Chang Noi Games, which run until August 11, will feature tournaments in 18 sports, namely track and field, sepak takraw, taekwondo, table tennis, basketball, badminton, petong, futsal, football, amateur Thai boxing, volleyball, beach volleyball, Thai chess, Thai checkers, Go, korfball, woodball and swimming. It will also include one demonstration sport – rope jumping.

Competitions will be held at the Bangkok Youth Centre and 14 stadiums across the city.

For more information, visit https://sites.google.com/view/changnoigames/Home or call (02) 437 6631–5 extension 3465.