Today, 29 Thai athletes will board a plane to Los Angeles in the US. For most, this will be a first on a jet plane. Some have no clue where the US is but have been told it takes a day or so to get there. The one thing they all know is that their destination is the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, which will begin on Saturday.
While the Special Olympics — the world's biggest sports organisation that orchestrates training and competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities — sees more than 70,000 events under its umbrella across the world yearly, the flagship Special Olympic World Games only takes place biennially, taking turns between summer and winter games.
The nine-day World Games is set to be the biggest sports and humanitarian event in 2015 with more than 6,500 athletes from 165 countries engaging in 25 Olympic-style sports.
Thailand, which became a member of Special Olympics in 1987, will have 29 athletes to root for according to the quota received. All of the athletes, between the ages of 12 and 21, will be competing in six sports, with eight partaking in football, two in badminton, three in swimming, eight in track and field, four in table tennis, and the rest in bocce.
Bocce, which resembles petanque, will be a discipline that the athletes from Thailand will be participating in under the concept of "Unified Sports" which allows players with and without intellectual disabilities to compete together.
Each sport also employs the "divisioning" process, which enables athletes to compete with others whose gender, age and competitive ability are in parallel.
"Thailand Represent" athletes were selected through a series of lead-up sports events in national, regional and provincial levels organised by Special Olympic Thailand, an NGO registered under the Sports Authority of Thailand. Through a series of sports events hosted all-year-long, the organisation makes sure that more than 18,000 individuals with intellectual disabilities from participating schools have enough access to be involved.
Before departure, the athletes spent 17 days at Thammasat University in Rangsit for rigorous training, tended by 11 licensed coaches and provided with a nutritional diet course developed by Herbalife. The daily training regimen is split for a morning practice from 6.30-8.30am, and an evening practice from 4-6pm.
Recreational activities were provided at night and classes were also arranged for them to learn about sports rules.
Sumran Chamchoi, the national sports director of Special Olympic Thailand who was in charge of the overall training, said that while the training principles he employed are not much different from the ones he uses to train athletes with no intellectual disabilities, some adjustments were necessary for allowing the training to accommodate athletes who have limitations in their physical ability, memory and understanding.
"For an athlete who learns slowly, for example, to assign him to run for 50m, you may need to speak twice," Sumran explained. "Communication needs to be clear."
However, Sumran believes that training is never effective without acceptance from the athletes.
"If I can make them smile, play, or even tease me, they can sail through other things," Sumran said. "It's like if you have little brothers and you can make them happy, they will want to learn from you. You need to understand them, give them opportunities and also have faith in them. So that if you ever reproach them, they will trust you.
"If they can't take what you reproach them for, how can they want to practice with you or even believe anything you have to say?"
Recently admonished for sneaking into a swimming pool at night during training is Thiratham Tansuan, a 15-year-old runner from the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. He started running in kindergarten and became a sprinter for his school. He will be competing in three track and field events, including a 100m race, a 200m race, and a 4x100 relay race.
"I'm proud of myself," Thiratham said. "I never thought I would be selected. Now that I have the chance, I will have to do it the fullest."
Kanokporn Laohang, 13-year-old runner from Chiang Mai, is enraptured to be flying for the first time in her life. She will be taking part in the same races as Thiratham. Apart from hoping to meet Justin Bieber, she has unflinchingly set her sight on going for gold.
"I couldn't be more confident," Kanokporn said. "I run a lot faster than before. I never believed in myself. But now I do. I never thought that I would get to represent the country. I want to be successful for the country. I want the world to know that my country can compete with others."
While it's quite reassuring for Thailand to win some medals, as the country has never missed the chance to take home a handful from past events, carrying the day or not is rarely what Rachaniwan Bulakul, the national director of Special Olympic Thailand, worries about.
What she actually focuses on is the importance of the message communicated from the event to the watching public.
"Without them competing, nobody would care," Rachaniwan said. "This is a really vital point for people to see that these children have abilities. We are communicating that practice can make them better. We are communicating to parents out there who have children with intellectual disabilities that we don't draw a line and decide that they can't do something. Because if we offer them an opportunity to practice doing something, they may be able to do it eventually."
With the media coverage expected to reach millions of households around the world, the upcoming World Summer Games will definitely be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many with intellectual challenges to shine. The public will once again get to watch these people grace the opening ceremony parade under the bright stadium spotlights of Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, brave the competitions with flair and panache, and most importantly show the world their abilities. It's this kind of opportunity that Rachaniwan would like to have throughout their lives.
"Society owes them more opportunities," Rachaniwan said. "Opportunities to speak out and we listen, to try new things, to be part of our society, as well as an opportunity to be counted for something in society. The life we have is something that people with intellectual disabilities have never tasted because society doesn't accept them. But if we accept them, for them, it may offer a new life."
What is intellectual disability?
According to the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, a person is considered to have intellectual disability, if he/she falls into three criteria.
1. Having an IQ that is under 70-75.
2. Having significant limitations in adaptive behaviour including conceptual skills (e.g. language, literacy), social skills (e.g. self-esteem, social responsibility), and practical skills (e.g. personal care, occupational skills)
3. Having the condition that displays itself before they turn 18.
What are the causes of intellectual disabilities?
According to Special Olympics, some of the most common causes of intellectual disabilities are genetic conditions, complications during pregnancy and problems during birth, as well as disease and toxic exposure.
How many individuals with intellectual disabilities are there?
According to Special Olympics, approximately, 1-3% of the world population has an intellectual disability, or about 200 million people.
According to Special Olympics Thailand, Thailand has an estimated number of 2 million people who have an intellectual disability.
Intellectual disability is significantly more common in low-income countries. The United Nations Development Programme estimates that 80% of all people with disabilities live in low-income countries.
Athletes at a training session at Thammasat University in Rangsit.
Athletes practising bocce.
Athletes at a training session at Thammasat University in Rangsit.
