BANGKOK, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Some 1,500 disabled athletes from the Association of the Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) countries will start competing at the 4th ASEAN Para Games on Sunday in Thailand's northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

    The athletes from Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei and Timor Leste will flex their expertise in a myriad of sports.

    Dubbed the biggest ever games for the disabled in southeast Asia, the event will be held at the King's 80th Birthday Anniversary Stadium sports complex in the main town of Nakhon Ratchasima province.

    The theme of the biennial event is "Friendship, Equality and Opportunity". Its main objectives are promotion of friendship and sports development, and integrating them into society. The games end on Jan. 27.

    Athletes will competing in athletics, badminton, chess, goal ball, judo, power lifting, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, archery, boccia, fencing and shooting. At stake are 935 gold medals.

    Meant for the physically disabled, the games are organized just after the SEA Games by the same host nation, like other multi-sports tournaments like the Olympics and the Asian Games.

    The first ASEAN Para Games was held in Kuala Lumpur in 2001, with just athletics and swimming. Two years later, the number of sports increased to five during its second edition in Hanoi, Vietnam.