The country held the first Inas Asia Regional Championships in any sport last year, when they successfully staged the Asia Swimming Championships.

Having showcased their ability to host major competitions, Inas - the International Federation for sport for Para-athletes with an intellectual disability – have opted to award their Athletics Championships to the country.

The body said they are excited to be bringing the World Championships to Asia for the first time, with the competition the biggest athletics event for elite intellectually disabled athletes globally.

Competition will be held in the country's capital Bangkok from May 12 to 17, with the Sport Association for Intellectual Disability of Thailand acting as hosts.

“This is Asia’s first opportunity to host an Inas World Athletics Championships and thus a great step forward in allowing Asian athletics athletes to go further into world-class competitions,” said Paul Charnvit, President of Inas Asia.

“We hope that the international athletes will have the opportunity to visit the beautiful country of Thailand and take part in developing disabled sports here – the Land of Smiles.”

The ninth edition of the Championships took place in Prague in 2013, with previous hosts including Italy, Brazil, Australia and Tunisia.

Inas hope that by awarding Thailand their largest single sport event, they will be able to engage and showcase athletes with an intellectual disability to a new audience.

Over 150 athletes from 20 countries are expected to compete in the athletics programme at the Championships.

The announcement follows confirmation last month that this year’s Inas World Cycling Championships will take place at the Racice Sportcentrum in Štětí in the Czech Republic from June 12 to 16.

The organisation also revealed in March that the 2017 World Tennis Championships will be held in Bolton, England.