Golf in Thailand

Filed in archive Golf Travel on March 31, 2007

Courtesy: Blue Canyon, Thailand

A little over two years ago, while on a flight from Vancouver to Toronto, I struck up a conversation with a passenger in the seat next to me.

He was a Canadian whose home base was in Bangkok, Thailand. I asked him why he was living in Thailand and he told me there was simply no better place to live; it was cheap, beautiful, and modern and the standard of living was excellent, even on a moderate income.

In fact, Thailand is home for ex-patriates from all over the world who have visited or done business in Thailand and fallen in love with the place.

Mark Siegel is one such ex-pat. Mark is American but has been living in Thailand for a number of years.

He's also a golfer and owner of a golf travel company in the country, GolfAsian.com.

Mark has several excellent websites detailing the golfing experience in the Southeast Asian country.

Thailand is tucked among several countries whose recent past was closely linked to the Vietnam War. Cambodia and Laos both wrap around the eastern border of Thailand. Myanmar, formerly known as burma, sits alongside the western border and Malaysia lies at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.

There are only around 125 golf courses in a country with a population of well over 60 million.

But Thailand is a golfing Mecca in this part of the world.

Mark's websites are a wealth of knowledge on the subject of Thai golf.

For example, there are three seasons in this part of the world: hot, rainy and cool. But if you visit during the cool season, the courses will be jammed, Mark says.

There are golf destinations scattered around the country from the north to the south or right around the country's largest city and capital, Bangkok on the Gulf of Siam.

Golf in Thailand can be quite expensive if you simply show up on the doorstep with your clubs.

In fact, frequent visitors to the country (like business travelers, for example) are advised to join one of the many golf societies in Thailand.

Golf societies basically work like a Sams's Club or Costco of golf: they have memberships and can therefore, according to Mark, obtain good discounts on green fees.

It's an interesting concept that has its roots in the earliest history of Scottish golf.

Golfers who live in Thailand tend to join those societies that reflect their citizenship or business interests.

In North America, we simply join golf clubs.

What Thailand can offer the golf tourist, of course, is far more than just golf.

The history of the country and the region is thousands of years old.

In fact, this part of the world was civilized before Hannibal led his elephants over the Alps; indeed before Homer wrote his Greek epics.

The golf is superb, if you know where to go. In fact, the European Tour, which traditionally begins its season in this part of the world, recently visited the Blue Canyon Golf Club in Phuket for the Johnnie Walker Classic.

Thailand is a long way to go to play golf. But the experience would be unforgettable.