Thailand likens Nagoya Asian Games chaos to 'musical chairs'

Thailand's Olympic officials have criticised accommodation and transport arrangements at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan, saying their team has been caught in a chaotic game of "musical chairs".

The National Olympic Committee of Thailand says shortages of rooms have forced it to arrange replacement accommodation, pay food costs in advance and house some staff far from Nagoya, where the Games are taking place.

Thailand team reports room shortages

More than 17,000 athletes and officials are involved in the continent's biggest sporting event, which has faced a series of problems during its first full week.

Athletes have reported poor accommodation, airport delays and difficulties boarding cruise-ship housing. Transport has also been unreliable, with buses to training sessions and competition venues arriving late or, in some cases, failing to turn up.

Rather than building a traditional athletes' village, organisers adopted a cost-cutting approach. Participants are staying in hotels, temporary container-style wooden huts described by organisers as "villas", and the Costa Serena cruise ship moored in Nagoya port.

More than 4,000 people are staying on the ship, while 2,000 are housed in the cramped container huts. Some athletes have also complained online about food.

"It remains a problem, from the beginning until now," Chalitrat Chandrubeksa, deputy secretary general of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, told AFP late on Wednesday 23 September 2026.

"The number of rooms available on cruise ships and hotels does not match our actual number of athletes," he said.

Thai officials book alternatives themselves

Chalitrat said Thailand needed 201 beds on the cruise ship on its busiest day, but was provided with only 170.

"When athletes checked in and found their names missing from the list, they had to be placed somewhere else and when the new athletes arrived, the previous ones had to move out and look for other hotels," he said. "It's like musical chairs."

"We are solving the problem by finding replacement accommodations ourselves," Chalitrat added. "We had to book our own and make advanced payments for food out of our pockets."

The shortage has left Thailand's medical team staying about one hour and 30 minutes from Nagoya. The team has rented additional vehicles from Tokyo so medical staff can travel to care for athletes.

"It has been chaotic," Chalitrat said. "We just hope to fulfil and complete this mission as successfully as possible."

Organisers promise improvements

Asian Games organising committee spokesman Hiroshi Koshizuka said on Thursday that officials were working continuously to improve services.

"We have already increased shuttle buses as much as possible to satisfy athletes' needs," he told AFP. He acknowledged transport issues, but said there had been "no significant impact on the Games and no event has been delayed".

Koshizuka said a complaint-response system had been established and organisers would address issues "in a sincere manner going forward".

Picture courtesy of AFP - Temporary container huts being used to house athletes for the 2026 Asian Games at the Garden Pier in Nagoya

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25 September 2026