14th Sports and Recreation Competition for the Elderly, “Thung Fa Games” to be organized in Krabi in May 2022

Krabi is hosting the 14th Sports and Recreation Competition for the Elderly of Thailand, “Thung Fa Games”, between May 2-5, 2022, to promote good health for the elderly.

The sports will cover 9 types: athletics, golf, Thai chess, aerobics, Muay Thai (boxing). There are 3,394 athletes participating in the competition from all over the country. The objective of the event is to promote the elderly to have good health and be mentally strong through exercises and sports, under the slogan “Sports Games for Friendship and Brotherhood”. 

The event still strictly complies with the COVID-19 measures. For example, the participants are required to have at least 3 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, show an RT-PCR or an ATK test result up to 72 hours prior to the event day. 

The competition is believed to help stimulate income for the people in the local community as there are souvenirs such as T-shirts available for sale, and the city tourism as during the same time there is another event, the 150th Anniversary Krabi City Arts.

Thailand has reached an aging society, with more than 20% of the total population aged over 60. There are increasingly new trends for the elderly across many industries such as health gadgets, residences, automobiles, events, etc. Another famous sports event for the elderly is Thailand Open Master Games, which is a collaboration between the Thai Elderly Sports Association and 14 sports associations with the objectives to not only encourage good well-being but also to push the event to go international as well as to increase social and economic value for the sports industry.