BANGKOK — The capital of Thailand is the most visited city in the world. This year, 30.3 million tourists are expected to visit Bangkok. By comparison, the Philippines welcomed only six million visitors last year.
One city. One capital. Beating our entire country five times over. Surprising? No. Reversible? It should be.
Thailand and the Philippines share the same year-round tropical weather. We have Boracay to rival Phuket. Our Ayala and SM malls can stand alongside CentralWorld. We even have a major edge: an English-speaking population. Yet here in Bangkok, almost everything is inexpensive. A five-star hotel costs P6,000/night while similar hotels back home easily go double that. Food in Cebu isn’t expensive, but here a full meal — tom yum, curry, pad thai — costs P300.
Anyway, back to sports: The 33rd Southeast Asian Games is underway in Thailand. The biennial competition began last Dec. 9, 2025, and will conclude this Saturday. Nearly 10,000 athletes are competing in 574 events across 50 sports, with 10 countries participating.
Bangkok is no stranger to hosting the SEA Games. The city welcomed the event in 1959, 1967, 1975 and 1985.
I’m here with my wife Jasmin and daughter Jana. We arrived last Sunday via a direct Cebu-Bangkok flight — departing at 2:30 a.m. and landing at 6 a.m. Despite the lack of sleep, by 12 noon we were already at the Hua Mak Indoor Stadium to watch women’s volleyball.
It was semifinal day. The Philippines versus Vietnam.
With the help of Miguel de Guzman — husband of Alas Pilipinas team captain Jia Morado De Guzman — we were able to enter the venue. The arena isn’t huge, seating about 8,000, and tickets here are free. You reserve online, get a QR code, and present it at the gate. The crowd that day filled about 60 percent of the seats.
How did Alas Pilipinas do? Last Friday, the Filipinas swept Singapore 25-13, 25-8, 25-18 to reach the semis — a good achievement. But standing in their way was Vietnam, ranked world No. 28. The Philippines is ranked No. 46. In the other semifinal, host Thailand (No. 18) faced Indonesia (No. 70).
The first set gave us hope. We were toe-to-toe with Vietnam and even led 15-14. Then momentum shifted and it was difficult to stop. The match ended with us losing, 17-25, 14-25, 17-25.
After the game, we met with Jia’s family. Her parents Ariel and Hedy are good friends, as is her brother Jobok. Miguel, a close friend from my daughter Jana’s Ateneo days, was also there. Together, we held up a streamer that said it all: LABAN ALAS. LABAN PILIPINAS.
The disappointment was evident, but there was still something to play for the next day — a bronze medal.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t watch the bronze match live because we watched Alex Eala and our tennis players. I caught the Alas Pilipinas highlights later, and it was a heartbreaker. The Philippines lost to Indonesia, 26-28, 25-13, 28-30, 24-26.
And once again, our 20-year medal drought continued. Painful, yes. And hoping that in the 2027 SEAG in Malaysia, we’ll finally be celebrating a medal.