The Athletes' Village is Open!
August 1st, 2007
The Athletes' Village was officially opened today during a very official ceremony. Indeed Mr. Wijit Srisa-arn, OC President and Minister of Education of Thailand was very pleased to welcome the first delegations in this superb Village. FISU President, George E. Killian made also a welcoming speech. He took this opportunity to thank all the people who worked hard to prepare a warm welcome for the delegations. He also wished all the best to the Mayor of the Village, Mr. Surapon Nitikraipot and to the two vice-mayors Mr. Choopong Kiangsiri and Mr. Santiparb Tejavanija. Finally Mr. Killian congratulated Mr. Pornchai Matangkasombut, President of the Thaï University Sport Federation for his continuous support.
The Athletes' Village located in the centre of the Rangsit campus of Thammasat University had to be enlarged to house the 10,000 participants expected. The village consists of housing units (with a capacity of 10,025 beds in 3,129 rooms located in 20 buildings) that now accommodate students enrolled in university courses. All of the rooms are air-conditioned and offer every comfort that one is entitled to expect for this kind of event. The village will close on 23 August at midnight. Thai Airways has been chosen to take charge of supplying meals and drinks to the Athletes' Village. A large selection of different meals will be available to satisfy the needs of all. The cafeteria has been transformed to seat 3,000. The campus also includes an international zone, the main press centre and the international TV-broadcasting centre. An information scheme, referred to as Uninet, covering all aspects of the Universiade has been developed, installed and tested as from June 2007.
Thanks to the capacity of Thammasat University, the largest university in the country, the Organizing Committee has a magnificent tool. Many infrastructures are located here and there on the Rangsit campus, and one main advantage of the set up is that the sports installations and accommodations are very close together, which means that transport problems will be reduced. This campus will group sports such as athletics, swimming, diving, basketball, judo, volleyball, badminton and taekwondo.
The Village is open!
