Thailand Golf Holidays, Phuket Golf Packages, Hua Hin Golf Vacations

Golfing in Thailand: A Personal Short Story (Part 1 of 4)

Yesterday Mr. Shankar Balan sent me this short story about his personal golf experiences last week in Bangkok. The full story will be published in next month's Golfline Magzine, India. However, after reading the story, I fell in love with Shankar's writing style and I immediately asked him if I could use it on the site. He graciously agreed and thus I decided to devote the next 4 days to  the world's first posting of the best parts Shankar's story, another Thailandgolfzone exclusive!

Golfing in Thailand: A Personal Short Story (Part 1 of 4)
By Shankar Balan

Recently a good friend and I were happily able to take a short Golfing holiday in the picturesque and tourist friendly Kingdom of Thailand.

We had fixed up our Golf via the world-wide-web and I had zeroed in particularly on two beautifully manicured golf courses, one located roughly North East and the other, North of Bangkok town. Most importantly, in the primary interests of our game, we carried with us a half set each, made up from our own golf clubs.

Alighting in the Land of the Royal Orchid, we were struck at first by the orderly chaos of the traffic and the man-made splendour of the buildings surrounding us.

Thailand Golf Etiquette – Special Do’s and Don’t’s (Part 2 of 2)

Here is the final part of the unique points to consider when playing golf in Thailand. I hope you find this interesting and useful.

Caddies are a unique feature of Thai golf, and predominantly female, they perform a great task in very tiring conditions. Always be polite and courteous to your caddy, and you are sure to get a great service. Although the language can be a problem, there are ways to get around this. Tips are greatly appreciated by the caddies and I recommend 300 baht (around 7 US) or more if you are pleased with her service. 

Call holes at par 3’s are also a fairly unique feature. When all of your group’s balls are on the green, simply have your caddy mark the ball, then stand aside and let the group behind play their tee shots. You then proceed onto the green and complete the hole. The concept of this is to speed up play but I am not convinced that it works at all. However, it is a rule on many of the courses and must be adhered to.

Thailand Golf Etiquette – Special Do’s and Don’t’s (Part 1 of 2)

Thailand has no doubt become one of the leading destinations in the world for visiting tourists. There are now over 200 courses with new one’s appearing on a regular basis to accommodate the large numbers of visiting tourists. Over the next 2 posts I will provide some special information that is unique to Thai golf and if well understood will ensure that you have an excellent time on the links here.

Golf in Thailand can be a bit different to what you are used to, and certain aspects of etiquette must be strictly adhered to. You must remember that you are in a country that has completely different culture and customs, and you must adapt to this as a visitor.

The Thai style is certainly a bit more relaxed when organizing things, and although this can lead to great frustration, it is very impolite to show this, and certainly will not lead to any great assistance. A simple smile and show of courtesy goes a very long way in Thailand.

Beach or Bunker and the Wedge

Thailand golf courses are generally laid out on flat terrain as most of the resorts and courses are located close to the sea. To compensate for the lack of elevation change, the famous course designers here have resorted to heavy use of sand traps, both in the fairways and also guarding the greens. Therefore, I thought I would cover here a topic that has helped me tremendously excel at this aspect of play in Thailand.

No that is not me at the left, but if you look close you can see another ball in the trap, that was mine!

There are many tips on bunker play all of which seem to repeat themselves. However, being an engineer I like to understand the "why" of everything I learn. Therefore, this brief history of the modern day sand wedge design goes a long way to understanding design principles and makes the sand play tips that I reed that much easier to implement. Let me know what you think.

Thailand Golf Holiday: High and Low Seasons (Part 2 of 2)

So much for the "rainy" season. As you can see at left is today's satellite radar image from Thailand and not a snippet of rain to be seen over the region! Actually, this is kind of an anomaly as this time of year is usually the rainiest month (see rain chart in part 1 of this post). Well "This is Thailand" as they say and anything goes. Now for the final part of this post.

The rainy season is from June through to September, when the south west winds from the Indian Ocean bring in rain laden clouds. Most days there are downpours, and the timing is a bit unpredictable, but they tend to last not more than an hour. There is less sunshine during this period, and temperatures are moderated. However, for the real golfing enthusiast, the rain very rarely leads to abandonment of your game, and after taking some shelter, the courses dry out remarkably quick. The major advantage about visiting Thailand during this time of year, is the very cheap accommodation with some bargain deals to be had, together with much quieter  golf courses, giving you more flexibility to choose when you play. October can be an ideal month for golf as prices are still at their lowest levels and often times the rains have cleared and the cooler season temperatures start to roll in.

Thailand Golf Holiday: High and Low Seasons (Part 1 of 2)

I have written before about this subject, but no matter, still this is the most frequently asked topic on which I continue to receive many questions. Therefore, I thought I would repost some of my prior recommendations as well as add some new content. As there is a significant amount of important information here, I will cover this topic in two parts over the next two days. (Yes, I will be posting on Thusday this week as well.)

When planning your Thailand golf holiday, it is very important to take into account the time of year you travel.

There are 2 very important aspects to this, the first being the weather, and the second being the cost of accommodation, with huge variations in price between the ‘high’ season and the ‘low’ season.

Presidential Golf Thai Style

Bush, Regan, Ford, and Carter: they all played the game, but I bet they never were on the links or entered the club house at Bangkok's President's Country Club.

I on the other hand had the good fortune to play at this semi-private course last Friday. Upon driving up to the front gates I was greeted by a horde of smiling caddies dressed in pink caddie uniforms. After being assigned (actually I selected) an able and most cheerful caddie, I entered the cavernous club house, its size and layout fit for a presidential party’s reception for sure. Look at the picture at left taken inside the club house and I think you will get the point!

The course is a 36 hole, Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed layout in a large park like setting. The South and West courses boast some of the fastest greens around, although the condition, to me, looked a little bare. Also, the tee boxes were uneven on many of the holes, making a potentially great design, very disappointing.

Nighttime activities, will they influence my golf in Thailand? (Part 2 of 2)

Here is the second and final part of my post. Hope you enjoy and please do comment on anything shown or mentioned.

Whether you want to play pool, sit and joke with the girls in the many beer bars, enjoy the numerous go- go bars and shows on offer, or sample a special type of massage, then it is all readily and openly available.

On many occasions I have witnessed both first time visitors, and many people who know Thailand well, caught up in the amazing atmosphere which certainly adds to an additional handicap whilst playing golf the next day. Golf in Thailand is difficult enough with the challenging courses and hot climate, but add a hangover and only a few hours sleep - well I don’t need to say anymore.

That is not to say I do not recommend it. Heck,  I came here myself as a single golfer for almost 15 years  until meeting and marrying my beautiful Thai wife 4 years ago and even now once in a while I can be persuaded to join some friends for a night out on the town. I appreciate that the main purpose many people come is to combine the nightlife and golf, and I am just trying to make the first time visitor more aware of what to expect.

Nighttime activities, will they influence my golf in Thailand? (Part 1 of 2)

For anyone who has not visited Thailand previously, then the simple answer to this question is a definite yes! For those that are familiar with Thailand then you will know exactly what I am talking about.

There is no hiding the fact that Thailand is popular with many visiting tourists, primarily male, for the unbelievable nightlife and availability of beautiful Thai girls for company. This is something that is unique to Thailand, and whilst variations occur in other Asian destinations, you will certainly not find anything like it outside Thailand.

Thailand Mother's Day golf

It was Mothers Day here last Saturday and to celebrate I had to play golf at one of the better Pattaya courses, Burapha Country Club. (What a way to celebrate, huh? Well someone has to do it!)

Although not especially my favorite (see below), this 36 hole course is always nice and windy as it is located along a small mountain ridge that overlooks the city of Chunburi and with views of Pattaya Bay possible from the higher elevated holes. The 2 courses are of a split design, one being a resort course (A-B) with wider fairways and a large park like setting. The second 18 is the championship course with tighter holes and more obstacles guarding the greens. Both 18’s were in average playing conditions, the greens were especially fast though as they were rolling a speedy 9.5. On holes where your ball landed above the pin it was nearly impossible to par, unless your first putt found the exact center of the hole. That is because all of the downhill putts picked up so much speed on the way to the hole, that they just seemed to zip by ending up 10 feet or more past the hole. This necessitated a steady comeback long uphill par putt.