| ASEAN Para Games | |
| Formation: | 2001 ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Recurrence: | 2 years |
| Next: | 2026 ASEAN Para Games in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand |
| Purpose: | Multi sport event for disabled people of the nations on the Southeast Asian sub-continent |
| Headquarters: | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Leader Title: | President |
| Leader Name: | Osoth Bhavilai |
The ASEAN Para Games is a biennial multi-sport event held after every Southeast Asian Games involving disabled athletes from the current 11 Southeast Asia countries. Participating athletes have a variety of disabilities ranging from spastic, cerebral palsy, mobility disabilities, visual disabilities, amputated to intellectual disabilities. The ASEAN Para Games is under the regulation of the ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) with supervision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Asian Paralympic Committee and is traditionally hosted by the country where the Southeast Asian Games took place.
In May 2000, delegates from the countries in Southeast Asia attending the Malaysian Paralympiad in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had a meeting and agreed to establish a disabled sport organisation. The ASEAN Para Games was conceptualised by Zainal Abu Zarin, the founding president of the Malaysian Paralympic Council.[1] [2] [3] The proposed rationale was that a regional sports event will be held after the Southeast Asian Games and help[4] promoting friendship and solidarity among persons with disabilities in the ASEAN region and rehabilitating and integrating persons with disability into mainstream society.[5] [6]
Ten countries, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were the founding members. These countries agreed to hold the Games biennially on 28 April 2001 and ASEAN Para Sports Federation (APSF) was formed on 23 October 2001 with Pisal Wattanawongkiri, president of the Paralympic Committee of Thailand who proposed the games' name, being elected as its first president.
The first ASEAN Para Games was held in Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 29 October 2001 comprising more than 700 athletes and officials from Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participating in 2 sports.
At the 2nd ASEAN Para Games in Vietnam, East Timor was admitted into the federation as a provisional member.[7]
The logo of the ASEAN Para Games depicts the ASEAN logo positioned in the center with the symbol of the 1994–2004 Paralympic logo on top and a victory laurel surrounding the ASEAN logo. It is used on all ASEAN Para Games edition logos since 2008. Previously, an unofficial symbol resembled the red colour version of the Southeast Asian Games Federation logo depicting the 11 red rings forming a circle which was used on the logos of the 2003 ASEAN Para Games and 2005 ASEAN Para Games. Furthermore, the 1994–2004 Paralympic logo was used on the logo of the 2001 ASEAN Para Games.[8]
| Formal name | Debuted | IPC code | Other codes used | ||
| Republic of Indonesia | IDN (FIFA, ISO) | ||||
| Kingdom of Cambodia | KHM (ISO) | ||||
| Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace | BRN (ISO) | ||||
| Lao People's Democratic Republic | |||||
| Malaysia | MYS (ISO) | ||||
| Republic of the Union of Myanmar | MMR (ISO) | ||||
| Republic of the Philippines | PHL (ISO, FIBA) | ||||
| Republic of Singapore | SIN (1959–2016) | ||||
| Kingdom of Thailand | |||||
| Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste | |||||
| Socialist Republic of Vietnam | VNM (ISO) |
Seven participating countries have hosted the ASEAN Para Games. Malaysia has hosted three Para Games (2001, 2009, 2017), more than any nation. The 5th ASEAN Para Games in 2009 were to be hosted by Laos, but it begged off from hosting the games due to financial difficulty and inexperience in providing necessary support for athletes with disabilities, therefore the games was brought back to Malaysia for the second time after eight years.
The 10th ASEAN Para Games scheduled to be hosted by the Philippines were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The edition numeral still applied despite the cancellation.[9]
The 11th ASEAN Para Games scheduled to be hosted by Vietnam was to be cancelled due to postponement for the 2021 Southeast Asian Games caused by COVID-19 pandemic. However Indonesia backed the Games and they were held in Surakarta between 30 July to 6 August.[10]
Indonesia has hosted ASEAN Para Games twice (2011 and 2022). Vietnam (2003), Philippines (2005), Thailand (2008), Myanmar (2014), Singapore (2015) and Cambodia (2023) have hosted one Para Games. Laos, Brunei and East Timor have yet to host their first ASEAN Para Games.
| Edition | Year | Sports | Events | Nations | Competitors | Top-ranked team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2001 | Kuala Lumpur | King Mizan Zainal Abidin | 26–29 October | 2 | 341 | 10 | ≈600 | ||
| 2 | 2003 | Hanoi | Prime Minister Phạm Gia Khiêm | 21–27 December | 5 | 287 | 11 | ≈800 | ||
| 3 | 2005 | Manila | Mayor Lito Atienza | 14–20 December | 10 | 394 | 11 | ≈1000 | ||
| 4 | 2008 | Nakhon Ratchasima | Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont | 20–26 January | 14 | 488 | 11 | ≈1000 | ||
| 5 | 2009 | Kuala Lumpur | Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi | 15–19 August | 11 | 409 | 10 | ≈1000 | ||
| 6 | 2011 | Surakarta | Vice President Boediono | 15–20 December | 11 | 380 | 11 | ≈1000 | ||
| 7 | 2014 | Naypyidaw | Vice President Sai Mauk Kham | 14–20 January | 12 | 359 | 10 | 1482 | ||
| 8 | 2015 | Singapore | President Tony Tan | 3–9 December | 15 | 336 | 10 | 1181 | ||
| 9 | 2017 | Kuala Lumpur | Prime Minister Najib Razak | 17–23 September | 16 | 369 | 11 | 1452 | ||
| 10 | 2020 | Various | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| 11 | 2022 | Surakarta | Vice President Ma'ruf Amin | 30 July–6 August | 14 | 455 | 11 | 1248 | ||
| 12 | 2023 | Phnom Penh | Prime Minister Hun Sen | 3–9 June | 14 | 439 | 11 | 1453 | ||
| 13 | 2026 | Nakhon Ratchasima | 20-26 January 2026 | Future event | ||||||
| 14 | 2027 |  Malaysia | Future event | |||||||
| 15 | 2029 |  Singapore | Future event | |||||||
Nineteen different sports have been part of the ASEAN Para Games in one point or another. Sixteen of which comprised the schedule of the recent 2017 ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur. The games saw the return of sailing as a full medal sport once again after its debut at the 2009 ASEAN Games in Kuala Lumpur.Core sports
Target sports
Water sports
Ball and Racquet sports
The table below accounts for the total number of medals awarded to all participating National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) of ASEAN member countries as of the recent 2023 ASEAN Para Games.