1998 Asian Games

The 1998 Asian Games (Thai: เอเชียนเกมส์ 2541 or เอเชียนเกมส์ 1998), officially known as the 13th Asian Games (Thai: กีฬาเอเชียนเกมส์ครั้งที่ 13) and the XIII Asiad,, or simply Bangkok 1998 (Thai: กรุงเทพมหานคร 1998), were an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 athletes across the continent. The sporting events commenced on 30 November 1998, a week earlier than the opening ceremony. It is a last time that the multi-sport event would be held in Bangkok until the 2007 Summer Universiade.

Bangkok was awarded the right on September 26, 1990, defeating Taipei, Taiwan and Jakarta, Indonesia to host the Games. It was the first city to hosted the Asian Games for four times, but was the first time that the city make a bid to host. The last three editions it hosted were in 1966, 1970 and 1978 (in the latter two cases stepping in to prevent the Games from being cancelled due to problems with the elected hosts). The event was opened by Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand, at the Rajamangala Stadium.