Leading Thai sports officials have expressed confidence in Brazil's ability to stage the next month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in a befitting manner.
They are optimistic that the host country, despite facing a myriad of obstacles in the build-up to the Games, will be ready to welcome the international athletes.
Brazil's city of Rio de Janeiro is still trying to resolve the last-minute problems with only two weeks to go before the official opening of the Games on Aug 5.
After grappling with economic issues, a hike in its already-alarming crime rate and the threat of Zika virus, the host city has now been put on high alert after the local police arrested 10 people suspected of plotting acts of terrorism yesterday.
Dr Nat Indarapana, the Thai member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), admitted that unpleasant incidents and problems had scared the participants but believed the hosts would be able to run the Games in an apt manner.
"All the stadiums and infrastructure are in place so they will not have any problems with that," said Nat.
"However, the participants must be extra careful during their stay in Rio because of the high crime rate in the city."
Four Thai police officials will be in Rio to assist the national athletes and officials but they will not be allowed to enter different sporting venues.
Nat said that the main reason for Rio to be chosen as the host city at the 2009 IOC meeting in Copenhagen was that Brazil, at the time, was among the world's top 10 fastest growing economies and even moved inside the top five over the next three years. However, it failed to live up to expectations because of internal conflicts.
"At that time, it seemed that everyone wanted to grant the first Olympic Games to South America," he said.
"Unfortunately, their [Brazil's] development was short-lived due to many internal issues.
"However, I think they can deliver the Games."
According to Nat, there will be 10,500 athletes and 4,500 officials at the Games where 28 sports will be contested.
Thana Chaiprasit, chief of the Thai delegation to the Olympics, said that the hosts' preparations for the Games have not been on par with past hosts like London, Beijing and Athens.
However, Thana expected everything to be in place for each competition because individual sports are handled by their own world governing body.
Thana, who has been leading the Thai contingents since the 2014 Athens Games, added that the country stands a better chance of winning medals than at London 2012, with at least one gold medal expected from either weightlifting, boxing or taekwondo.
"We have more athletes at the Games this time because we prepared better after the disappointment in London.
"We have many athletes ranked among the top in the world and some of them are in good form, which should improve our chances.
"With a time difference of about 10 hours between Bangkok and Rio, our athletes would need more time to adapt. I hope they will be in good shape when the competitions start."
Thana disclosed that the selection of the Thai flag-bearer for the opening ceremony was still pending.
Former world champion Ratchanok Intanon was initially nominated to carry the Thai flag but later withdrew following a doping scandal, while golfer Thongchai Jaidee has cited a busy schedule.
Meanwhile, Thana led the Thai athletes to seek blessings from Chao Khun Thongchai at Bangkok's Wat Trai Mit Witthayaram on Thursday.