Asia - Golf in Thailand

I am planning on visiting Thailand sometime this summer and I'd love to golf there. I've heard it's cheap to golf there but here in Korea, everyone is used to paying outrageous amounts for golf. As a Hawaii resident, I never paid more than $60 for a round back home.

Anyway, I wanted to know how much a round of golf goes for in Thailand? Any course recommendations? I really don't have a particular city in Thailand in mind.

I'm also going to need rental clubs. Do most places provide rentals? At what fee? What about caddies? Never golfed with a caddy in my life so that would sure be interesting.

I have golfed at the course between the parallel runways at BKK.

It was around $30 including caddy and club rental.

There are lots of courses, though most are not in or near BKK. There are a bunch in Bang Na, and even more in Chon Buri (near Pattaya). Near Bang Na, I liked Lakewood and the Windmill Club.

Prices are, comparatively, cheap, running from $20-$80 USD for a round. Almost all have caddies, and the caddie fee is usually included. Plan on tipping ~200 baht or more for good service.

All of the courses offer rental clubs, and all the ones I have seen have really crappy rental clubs. I'm a crappy player, so it does not bother me, and I cannot imagine shlepping golf clubs halfway around the world. If I was a decent player, perhaps I'd think otherwise...

Do a google search on golf in Thailand, and you'll see lots of sites.

Do a google search, and

I've played a lot of golf in Thailand. I drag my clubs with me everytime I go. They flew over 100K miles last year.

When you say $20-$80 including caddy, it is important to realize that while the caddy fee may be included in your prices, the caddy fee is definately not included in the green fees. Caddy's are almost always required and the fee is about 600THB. This usually needs to be paid in cash while the green fees, club rental, cart fee etc can be put on a credit card where accepted. I tip 300-400 depending on the wether or not I sank some long puts with the caddy's help.

I've played Vintage, Legacy, President, Best Ocean, Lam Lukka in and around BKK as well as a few rounds in Phuket.

I am planning on visiting Thailand sometime this summer and I'd love to golf there. I've heard it's cheap to golf there but here in Korea, everyone is used to paying outrageous amounts for golf. As a Hawaii resident, I never paid more than $60 for a round back home.

Anyway, I wanted to know how much a round of golf goes for in Thailand? Any course recommendations? I really don't have a particular city in Thailand in mind.

I'm also going to need rental clubs. Do most places provide rentals? At what fee? What about caddies? Never golfed with a caddy in my life so that would sure be interesting.

In Chiang Mai you can get a golf package which includes overnight lodging at the golf club, airport transfer plus breakfast and 1 day unlimited golf with caddy for around $75 USD. Renting clubs is about $10 USD. This is available at Chiang Mai Royal Golf Club. If you just want a round of golf it costs around $45 USD with caddy. However if you play after 2 PM there is a 50% discount.
Caddies are not optional.

If you are looking for cheap golf the Electric Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has several courses throughout Thailand. The fee is only $2 to $10 USD for 18 holes depanding on where the course is. Most of the courses are on lakes and not easy to get to unless you rent a car.

Hope this helps,
Randy and Ning

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'm not exactly looking for cheap golf. Just don't want to pay more than I'm used to paying in Hawaii. Rates in Thailand look really great, though. Those rental clubs may be a problem, though. Well, golfing with low quality unfitted clubs is certainly better than no golf at all, which is what I'm getting in Seoul.

I am currently staying at the Marriott in Phuket and there are two clubs nearby (well within 30 minutes by car). One is the Blue Canyon and the other is the Laguna Phuket club just next to the Banyan Tree Hotel. The Blue Canyon is, for my money, the better of the two and they also offer reasonable accommodation.

Blue Canyon Golf Club (http://www.bluecanyonclub.com/) if you are interested