Bidding and election

On 11 October 2022, Dato Seri Chaipak Siriwat, the vice president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT) revealed the framework of the bidding process that the host cities/provinces should expend for the games at a budget-friendly cost, and they don't have a requirement to build venues anymore. Unlike 2019 and 2021 editions that their competition venues were spread over 23 and 12 cities/provinces respectively, the possible number of host cities/provinces for the games should be limited to 3 or 4.^[1]

Eight bidding parties from twelve cities/provinces interested in hosting the games were nominated by Prachum Boontiem, the vice governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), in October 2022. Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, and Songkhla were submitted as sole bids, while Bangkok/Chonburi, Bangkok/Chonburi/Songkhla, Krabi/Phuket/Trang, and Amnat Charoen/Sisaket/Ubon Ratchathani/Yasothon were submitted as cross-province bids.^[2][3][4] Although the bidding process was started in October 2022, some bidding parties were revealed their bidding campaigns earlier: Ubon Ratchathani in April 2016,^[5][6] Chonburi in January 2019,^[7] and Krabi/Phuket/Trang in February 2021.^[8]

The joint bid from Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Chonburi Province, and Songkhla Province and the single bid from Nakhon Ratchasima were awarded to host 33rd Southeast Asian Games and 13th ASEAN Para Games respectively by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) on 13 January 2023 and approved by the Cabinet of Thailand in February 2023.^[9][10][11] The joint cities/provinces will become the first host cities/provinces to be selected to host the Southeast Asian Games through the bidding process.