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Khao Yai: Thailand’s best-kept golf secret
Summary
At Khao Yai, golfers can play a surfeit of courses without bothering to make a bookingIn July, Thailand’s former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, spent a weekend at a little-known golf resort in north-eastern Thailand. Shinawatra was hosted by the country’s deputy Prime Minister—Anutin Charnvirakul—who owns the resort, and was accompanied by his daughter and current Prime Minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
According to media reports, Shinawatra and Charnvirakul—who have had political differences in the past—patched up, sang karaoke, and had an overall cracking time. Not surprisingly, the trip sparked speculation in the Thai press about political machinations: Shinawatra returned from exile only in 2023 while Charnvirakul is the man who played a key role in the legalisation of medicinal marijuana in Thailand (that Shinawatra opposed). But that is not a rabbit hole that golfers reading this piece are likely to be interested in. For them, the most critical piece of information in the last passage has to be a golf course that most haven’t heard of, in a region that rarely features on golf itineraries in Thailand—Khao Yai.
Driven by the media attention to that event, Khao Yai went from relative obscurity to a frequently searched term online. As golfers looking for information found, this region, located in Nakhon Ratchasima province, is near synonymous with the Khao Yai National Park—a Unesco world heritage site and Thailand’s oldest and third-largest national park. No one talks about golf and Khao Yai in the same breath: the wildlife preserve is the big attraction and the area surrounding the park—Pakchong district—is better equipped for wildlife enthusiasts than for droves of visiting golfers.
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But there’s more to Khao Yai’s obscurity in Thailand’s golfing firmament: tired of waiting for tee-times at courses in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and Hua Hin that are overrun by visiting golfers, Thai golfers are understandably indignant. And Khao Yai is one of the only remaining preserves of the Thai golfers where they can still play a surfeit of courses without bothering to make a booking, or hankering for a morning spot. Be that as it may, the lack of a coastline and the frenetic nightlife of the cities, make it likely that golf in Khao Yai will continue to be a relaxed affair. Those who make the trip are pleasantly surprised by the enjoyable climate: the area around Khao Yai rises from 400-1,351m above sea level and that means cooler climes and much less mugginess.
The deputy PM’s retreat (it’s appropriate to mention here that Charnvirakul’s family owns a major construction company that has built Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport amongst other mega projects) is properly quirky. In fact you’d be hard pressed to find any golf club in the world that has a busy aerodrome as part of the layout with skydivers being disgorged from biplanes in the sky. The owner is clearly a hobbyist: there are golf carts modelled on vintage classic cars, and a proper ranch too, with horses and ponies running around, and western-themed accommodation for visitors. Rancho Charnvee’s golf course is eminently fun to play. It’s tough but not overly so: wide open fairways don’t penalise hooks and slices and you’re always in the game if you can recover on your approaches. The Bermuda greens are immaculately cut, and the course is maintained to championship levels. And to top it all off, it’s a public course, and pretty nifty on the pocket too.
While it may not be as immaculately kept as Rancho Charnvee, Kirimaya Golf Club’s charm is all about its hidden-in-the-forest setting and exclusive feel. First off, there aren’t that many players on the course—mostly hotel guests and a few walk-ins—which heightens the feeling of isolation and stillness in the jungle setting. And, as with most Jack Nicklaus designs, the course blends seamlessly with the natural surroundings, while providing a fairly challenging test. The pick of the front nine is the tricky 487-yard par-5 third hole. The foliage on both sides of the fairway makes the drive seem more daunting than it is but players are faced with a real quandary for their second shot, which must be played on either side of a water hazard that runs all along the left side of the fairway.
Probably the most curious bit about Khao Yai is the evident and widespread fascination for period European architecture. And nowhere is that more evident than at Toscana Valley—a township fashioned after Portofino on the Italian Riviera. In this bewildering mishmash of Tudor architecture, Corinthian columns, Greco-Roman tiles and cobblestoned paths lies the gorgeous Toscana Valley Golf Club—an astonishingly pretty golf course set amid rolling hills and winding along verdant valleys. If there’s one course you can play at Khao Yai then this should be it.
All you need to know about Mountain Creek Golf Club is that it was designed by Seve Ballesteros. When someone once asked him why he didn’t use new-age technology to fine-tune his swing, the Spanish golf legend famously said that his “hands were his computer". And that’s exactly the kind of feel you’re going to require to get through this course in one piece. Forget all about large landing areas and wide-open fairways—Mountain Creek has tapering pathways leading to the most treacherous greens you’re likely to have played in recent memory. And all sorts of monstrous trouble—creeks, lakes, impenetrable rough (which transforms into full-blown thickets in places) and pit bunkers—abounds where you least expect it. You do have to be a tad sadistic to tee it up here; this course will maul all but the single-digit handicappers. But on the flip side, once you’re done here, and irrespective of how you’ve fared, you’re going to get back home and blitz at that tame pushover of a parkland course at your Sunday Nassau.
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Meraj Shah is a Delhi-based writer, golfer and television producer.
