It was an impressive rebound for the 13-time champions, who proceeded through the opening week with a mere 18 gold medals, nowhere the target of 120 golds.

But the tide did eventually turn as the Kingdom moved past Malaysia and Singapore in the medal tally with a haul of 41 golds to land in fourth place. With three more days to go, host the Philippines, who have won 89 golds overall, remain in the lead and are the heavy favourites to win the 30th edition while Indonesia, with 50 golds, and Vietnam with 46, come in second and third.

The sailing team proved the most productive on Saturday, earning five medals from men’s and women’s optimist, men’s and women’s international and laser radial.

Four golds were captured in athletics: women’s triple jump, men’s hammer throw, men’s 1,000m and men’s 200m.

Thai breaststroke king Nuttapong Ketin won his fifth Games gold medal after touching the pool first in the men’s 200m category. He also won this event in 2009, 2001, 2013 and 2017.

Thai women’s table tennis medallists.

In table tennis, Suthasini Sawettabut and Orawan Paranang won the first women’s doubles gold medal for Thailand in 34 years in an all-Thai affair opposite Nanthana Kamwong and Jinnipa Sawettabut.

In rhythmic gymnastics, Benjaporn Limpanich put an end to the long eight-year drought of gold medals for Thailand after reigning supreme in the clubs competition.

The other six gold medals came from traditional boat race – 22-seaters 200m, men’s judo team, women’s taekwondo poomsae team, men’s cycling time trial team, men’s shooting air pistol and men’s Asean chess.

The three-time Asian Tour No. 1 and eight-time European Tour winner entered the last day outside the top-five which rewards players with full playing rights on the Champions and Thongchai, the first Thai player to play in the Presidents Cup in 2015,  made the biggest final-round jump as he improved from T11 overnight to second with a 16-under total. He carded five birdies and two eagles on the ninth and 17^th holes in his final 18 holes. He had carded earlier scores of 67, 71 and 68.

“Very excited. I worked well with my coach and caddie this week. The course is in great shape. When you have a good tee shot, you have a chance. Very proud with this 62 and I played well. Putted a lot better today. I attacked and targeted five or six under today as I was outside the top-five and managed to attack the par fives. Turned 50 this year and I’ll try to enjoy it although I’ll have to do things differently now. Finally I’ve got in and hopefully I’ll enjoy next year,” said Thongchai.

Shane Bertsch made a six-foot par putt on the 18th hole to complete a final-round 65 and pip Thongchai by one stroke with a 17-under total. Apart from Bertsch and Thongchai, the next three players on the leaderboard are Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, Robin Byrd and Australia’s Stephen Leaney.

Karlsson was the 54-hole leader and earned one of the five cards after a final-round 69 gave him a third-place finish at 14-under. An 11-time winner on the European Tour, Karlsson was selected by Padraig Harrington to be a vice captain at the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Thongchai, the leading career money earner on the Asian Tour, won First Stage in California by three shots with a four-day score of 13-under. He turned in rounds of 61-73-71-66, making eight birdies and an eagle to turn in the opening round 61. He has been a staple on the Asian Tour for a long time, collecting 13 wins, second most all-time behind countryman Thaworn Wiratchant. He also has eight career wins on the European Tour. The Thai legend turned 50 in November.

Despite some serious competition from Thailand’s former world Optimist champion and two-time Asian Games gold medalist Noppakao Poonpat, who was at the helm of the Thai-registered boat THA 72, Roberts and his crew finished the regatta in overall first place. THA 72 finished a close second with six second-place finishes from the eight races contested.

The Hong Kong-registered boat WindSikher of Sarab Singh and Nick Burns finished third overall, despite not starting in the final race, which was held in strong winds.

“Before the start of racing today the wind was at 24 knots and gusting up to 30 knots,” said race officer Simon James. “At the start of racing the wind was averaging 17 knots, then it went up to 22. The wind was all over the place. Safety is the most important thing and on Friday we cancelled some racing. But today the conditions were better and we were able to hold the races.”

Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk, a personal representative of His Majesty the King, presided over the Royal Awards Ceremony and presented the trophies to the winners on Saturday afternoon.

Russia’s Alexey Mashkin steered MegaZip to first place overall in the IRC 1 class after three wins from eight races. Hot on his heels were two Japanese skippers, with Kazuki Kihara on Char Chan in second place and Nanamori Yasuo on Emagine in third.

Proving that size doesn’t matter was Danish sailor Morten Jakobsen, who steered his small boat Over Here to victory in the IRC 2 class. Jakobsen was at the helm of the smallest boat in the class and won four of the eight races contested, just managing to get the better of two Chinese skippers.

Finishing second overall in the IRC 2 class was Shen Sheng on Bigboys Sailing Team, followed by Minzhi Feng on Highlead Encoragers.

Overall honours in the Premier class went to Hong Kong’s Geoff Hill on Antipodes, who won two of the seven races contested. Australian Peter Cremers finished a narrow second overall on Shahtoosh, just pipping Thailand’s Inthinai Yingsiri, who had to settle for third.

Australian Dan Fidock won six of the seven races to finish on top in the Multihull Racing class, with Dan Moore and Nigel Cross on Frankenstein in second place and Hong Kong’s Gaeten Verhegge skippering Team Red Blood into third.

The Firefly 850 Sports class, for mostly locally-built racing catamarans, saw Phuket-based sailor Hans Rahmann score four wins from eight races for a narrow overall victory on Voodoo, with Great Britain’s John Newnham a close second on Twin Sharks and fellow Brit Neil Ayre third on Mamba.

The International Dinghy Fleet races were held close to Kata Beach on Saturday in a bid to avoid the stronger winds further out to sea. The strong winds on Friday had caused some problems for the mostly young dinghy sailors, with the Royal Thai Navy’s inflatable boats as well as some of the boats from the main fleet coming to lend a hand and towing some dinghies to shore.

A total of 120 sailors contested six classes of dinghies during the regatta, encouraged by the organisers who are keen to promote the sport among the young generation.

“For 2019 and in past years, we have had a special focus on growing the dinghy components of our overall regatta, as we in the sailing community in Thailand can feel the positive effect this is having over the years as the sport of sailing continues to grow in popularity here,” said Kevin Whitcraft, President of the Organising Committee. “The International Dinghy fleet is a fast-growing racing programme designed to promote and encourage youth sailing in Thailand.”

In Saturday’s blustery conditions, experienced Thai sailor ML Weka Bhanubandh took the honours in the Optimist boys’ class after a near flawless series of races. Thorfun Boonak, another rising Thai star, won the Optimist girls’ class.

The Laser 4.7 class went to Paliga Poonpat, while the Laser Radial honors were taken by Suchakree Detthotsapol. Jarupong Meeusamsen won the Laser Standard class, while the 420 class was won by Thanawan Aiam-mi and Nattapon Yuang-ngam.

There has also been an ongoing Phuket Dinghy Series, which concluded on Saturday and that was won by Nammapat Pooltong.

The IOM class for one-metre radio-controlled boats, which made their debut at this year’s Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, was won by China’s Gong Qunxing.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is organised by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organising Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the RTN 3 and Phuket province.

There were five days of racing for the keelboats and multihulls.For the International Dinghy Classes and IOMC, four consecutive days of racing were scheduled from Wednesday.

The 29-year-old from Nonthaburi, on loan from Muangthong United, scored the first goal for Yokohama before the home team accomplished their J-League trophy status with a 3-0 win. With 70 points, six ahead of second-placed Tokyo, Yokohama won the 2019 League title, their fourth time after 1995, 2003 and 2004.

The former Thailand’s skipper registered himself as the first Thai international to win a J-League, one of leading top flights in Asia. He has produced three goals for Marinos in the entire season.

“This success did not come easily,” said Theerathon. “It’s a team effort. So, I have to give credits to all team members,” added the first Asean player to win the league.

“I’m really honoured to achieve this. Thank you all my fans for support,” he said.

However, he is the second Thai to win a major league in Asia after Piyapong Pue-on, then representing Lucky-Goldstar, won K League (South Korea) in 1985.