It was the Kingdom’s 13th overall title at the biennial event, with more than 700 Thai athletes having travelled to Singapore, although the gold tally was down on the total won in Myanmar two years ago.
Thailand got off to a slow start at the 12-day event and only overtook the hosts for the overall lead on the eighth day of the tournament.
With a total of 403 gold medals on offer, Thailand topped the medal table with 95 golds, 11 more than host Singapore’s tally.
At the previous Games in Myanmar in 2013, Thailand took home 107 gold medals.
“We finally won the overall title after struggling at the beginning,’’ said Thailand’s delegation chief Thana Chaiprasit.
“It was a tight and entertaining race. Singapore’s athletes were well-prepared for the tournament.”
On Monday, the penultimate day of the 28th edition, Thailand hammered Myanmar 3-0 in the final to retain the men’s football title.
Following a scoreless first-half, Thailand were on fire with goals in the second half from Tanaboon Ketsarat (54th minute), Chananan Pombupha (64th) and Pinyo Inpinit (78th).
The Thais enjoyed a brilliant campaign winning all their seven matches in Singapore. They scored a total of 24 goals and conceded only one.
It was Thailand’s 15th football title at the biennial event.
Whilst on Tuesday, the final day of competitions, Thailand cemented their reputation as the region’s volleyball powerhouse after the men’s team won their third consecutive title.
Two-time defending champions Thailand beat Vietnam 25-20, 25-19, 25-23 in the final to win the country’s last gold medal of the 28th SEA Games and sixth overall in the men’s volleyball.
It was also the third successive Games where Thailand made a clean sweep in the sport.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s National Sports Development Fund will have to pay the Thai medallists a total of B145 million in bonuses.
Under the bonus scheme for the SEA Games, a gold medallist gets B200,000, a silver medallist B100,000 and a bronze medallist B50,000.
The associations and coaches of the medallists also receive separate bonuses.
The rowing team, who won 11 gold, 13 silver and four bronze medals, will get about B31 million due to each event having up to 12 athletes participating.
Phuketians will also be in for bonuses with Thanakorn Songkaew, a student at the Phuket Technical College scooping three gold medals in the Pentanque competitions, Thanachporn Wandee was part of the gold medal winning rugby team, Nitchaon Jindapon took gold in the badminton, and Tantipong Phetchaiya of the Prince of Songkhlar University Phuket Campus won a silver medal in track & field.
Held every two years since 1959, the SEA Games feature a rich mixture of sports, many that are on the Olympic programme but also a few that keep faith with the region’s unique sporting interests.
The next SEA Games will be held in Malaysia in 2017.