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| Host city | Bangkok, Thailand |
|---|---|
| Motto | Friendship Beyond Frontiers (Thai: มิตรภาพไร้พรมแดน) Mitrp̣hāph rị̂ phrmdæn |
| Nations | 41 |
| Athletes | 6,554 (4,454 men, 2,100 women) |
| Events | 377 in 36 sports |
| Opening | 6 December 1998 |
| Closing | 20 December 1998 |
| Opened by | Bhumibol Adulyadej King of Thailand |
| Closed by | Vajiralongkorn Crown Prince of Thailand |
| Athlete's Oath | Preeda Chulamonthol |
| Judge's Oath | Songsak Charoenpong |
| Torch lighter | Somluck Kamsing |
| Main venue | Rajamangala National Stadium |
| Website | asiangames.th (archived) |
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| Part of a series on |
| 1998 Asian Games |
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The1998Asian Games (Thai:เอเชียนเกมส์ 2541 or เอเชียนเกมส์ 1998), officially known as the13th Asian Games (Thai:กีฬาเอเชียนเกมส์ครั้งที่ 13) and theXIII Asiad,[citation needed], or simplyBangkok 1998 (Thai:กรุงเทพมหานคร 1998), were an Asianmulti-sport event celebrated inBangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 athletes across the continent. The sporting events commenced on 30 November 1998, a week earlier than the opening ceremony. It is a last time that themulti-sport event would be held inBangkok until the2007 Summer Universiade.
Bangkok was awarded the right on September 26, 1990, defeatingTaipei,Taiwan andJakarta,Indonesia to host the Games. It was the first city to hosted the Asian Games for four times,but was the first time that the city make a bid to host. The last three editions it hosted were in 1966, 1970 and 1978 (in the latter two cases stepping in to prevent the Games from being cancelled due to problems with the elected hosts). The event was opened byBhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand, at the Rajamangala Stadium.[1]
The final medal tally was led byChina, followed bySouth Korea,Japan and the hostThailand. Thailand set a new record with 24 gold medals. Japanese AthleticsKoji Ito was announced as themost valuable player (MVP) of the Games. For Thailand, it was considered one of its remarkable achievement in sports development throughout the country's modern history.
Three cities placed a bid for the Games. All three,Taipei (Chinese Taipei),Jakarta (Indonesia) andBangkok (Thailand) submitted their formal bid in 1989. It was the first time that Thailand has presented a bid for host the Asian Games, as Bangkok was the default host of previous three games.
The vote was held on September 27, 1990, at the China Palace Tower Hotel inBeijing, China, during the 9thOlympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly held during the1990 Asian Games. All 37 members voted, with voting held in secret ballot. It was announced that Bangkok won an Asian Games bid process for the first time. Though the vote results were not released, was leaked to the press that Bangkok won by 20–10–7.
Bangkok became the first city to have staged the Asian Games for four editions, following1966,1970 and1978, and this was the first time that the city had put a bid for the event.[2][3]
19 votes were needed for selection.
| City | Country | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Bangkok |  Thailand | 20 |
| Taipei |  Chinese Taipei | 10 |
| Jakarta |  Indonesia | 7 |
According toUnited Press International news report, preparations for the games including the construction and renovation of three main stadiums and an athletes' village, cost an estimated 6 billionThai baht (US$167 million).
The official emblem of the games combines elements from Thaistupas andpagodas, the letter "A", which means either "Asia" or "Athletes", and the logo of theOlympic Council of Asia. It symbolises the knowledge, intelligence and athletic prowess of Thailand.[6]
The officialmascot of the games is anelephant namedChai-Yo (ไชโย),the equivalent of "hurrah" in Thai. Elephants are known and admired among Thais for their strength and nobility.[7][8]
The opening ceremony started at 17:00local time on December 6, 1998. It was attended byKing of Thailand,Bhumibol Adulyadej,President of the International Olympic CommitteeJuan Antonio Samaranch and President of theOCASheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah. The nations entered in alphabetic order of theircountry names inThai during the parade of nations.
National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are named according to their official IOC designations and arranged according to their officialIOC country codes in 1998.
| ParticipatingNational Olympic Committees |
|---|
|
Saudi Arabia boycotted using the argument that the event was being held duringRamadan, but latter was discovered that the real motive of the action the tense diplomatic relations between Thailand who were deteriorated by theBlue Diamond Affair.[9] However, a Saudi representative still paraded in the Opening Ceremony.[10]
| IOC Letter Code | Country | Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| THA | Thailand | 1055 |
| JPN |  Japan | 965 |
| CHN |  China | 828 |
| KOR |  South Korea | 754 |
| TPE | Chinese Taipei | 508 |
| KAZ |  Kazakhstan | 462 |
| PHI |  Philippines | 386 |
| IND |  India | 328 |
| IRI |  Iran | 318 |
| PRK |  North Korea | 299 |
| HKG |  Hong Kong | 290 |
| UZB |  Uzbekistan | 275 |
| MAS |  Malaysia | 229 |
| INA | Indonesia | 213 |
| KUW |  Kuwait | 209 |
| QAT |  Qatar | 206 |
| MGL |  Mongolia | 198 |
| SIN |  Singapore | 194 |
| VIE |  Vietnam | 188 |
| TJK |  Tajikistan | 163 |
| KGZ |  Kyrgyzstan | 147 |
| PAK |  Pakistan | 139 |
| UAE |  United Arab Emirates | 119 |
| SRI |  Sri Lanka | 116 |
| LAO |  Laos | 113 |
| CAM |  Cambodia | 104 |
| MAC |  Macau | 97 |
| NEP |  Nepal | 93 |
| LIB |  Lebanon | 79 |
| TKM |  Turkmenistan | 77 |
| MYA |  Myanmar | 76 |
| SYR |  Syria | 58 |
| BRU |  Brunei | 57 |
| JOR |  Jordan | 55 |
| OMA |  Oman | 52 |
| MDV |  Maldives | 50 |
| BAN |  Bangladesh | 44 |
| PLE |  Palestine | 37 |
| YEM |  Yemen | 32 |
| BHU |  Bhutan | 21 |
| BRN |  Bahrain | 15 |
Diving (details) (4)
Swimming (details) (32)
Synchronized swimming (details) (2)
Water polo (details) (1)
Archery (details) (4)
Athletics (details) (45)
Badminton (details) (7)
Baseball (details) (1)
Basketball (details) (2)
Bowling (details) (10)
Boxing (details) (12)
Canoeing (details) (12)
Cue sports (details) (10)
Cycling (details) (15)
Equestrian (details) (6)
Fencing (details) (10)
Field hockey (details) (2)
Football (details) (2)
Golf (details) (4)
Gymnastics (details) (16)
Handball (details) (2)
Judo (details) (14)
Kabaddi (details) (1)
Karate (details) (11)
Rowing (details) (11)
Rugby union (details) (2)
Sailing (details) (16)
Sepak takraw (details) (6)
Shooting (details) (34)
Softball (details) (1)
Soft tennis (details) (4)
Squash (details) (2)
Table tennis (details) (7)
Taekwondo (details) (16)
Tennis (details) (7)
Volleyball (details) (2)
Beach volleyball (details) (2)
Weightlifting (details) (15)
Wrestling (details) (16)
Wushu (details) (11)Demonstration
Dancesport (details) (2)
Muaythai (details) (11)The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Thailand, is highlighted.
* Host nation (Thailand)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China (CHN) | 129 | 78 | 67 | 274 |
| 2 | South Korea (KOR) | 65 | 46 | 53 | 164 |
| 3 | Japan (JPN) | 52 | 61 | 68 | 181 |
| 4 | Thailand (THA)* | 24 | 26 | 40 | 90 |
| 5 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 24 | 24 | 30 | 78 |
| 6 | Chinese Taipei (TPE) | 19 | 17 | 41 | 77 |
| 7 | Iran (IRI) | 10 | 11 | 13 | 34 |
| 8 | North Korea (PRK) | 7 | 14 | 12 | 33 |
| 9 | India (IND) | 7 | 11 | 17 | 35 |
| 10 | Uzbekistan (UZB) | 6 | 22 | 12 | 40 |
| 11–33 | Remaining | 35 | 70 | 114 | 219 |
| Totals (33 entries) | 378 | 380 | 467 | 1,225 | |
| Preceded by | Asian Games Bangkok XIII Asian Games (1998) | Succeeded by |
| Summer Games |  | |
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| Winter Games | ||
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