Sometimes, I as an amateur golfer in Thailand together with my professional golfer friends often look for new local talent at the driving ranges around Bangkok.

This week, continuing with my regular visits,  I once again bumped into this Thai lady, who is the girlfriend of a very good friend of mine.  An attractive 28 year-old lady, Nok (Thai for ‘bird’) is of slightly larger stature than the traditional Thai but by no means does that mean she is a big girl. Nok possesses a talent that I have to explain.

Having seen her taking past lessons with the local Thai professional, Nok has conquered the grief of over setting her wrists, collapsing her left side and a straightening her right leg. This time, as before, I was really looking forward to seeing her get her usual joy from hitting one crisp strike after another. Imagine my feeling when she turns up and cannot hit a single shot! Balls are topped off the tee and flying in all directions. Definitely not the norm for Nok and she was not a happy girl.

Step in Nok’s boyfriend – a British guy and the font of all knowledge when dealing with Thais and the Thai language, which is another story altogether. He takes one look at Nok and sends for the food menu (and a couple of large bottles of Heineken)!  Being a long time Thai resident he immediately and correctly recognized the singularly Thai malady of not being able to do ANYTHING if hungry.

After 10 minutes or so, and having eaten a particularly hot Som Tom (green papaya) salad, Nok was back in her elements. Suddenly, as if by magic, the ball was flying not only straight but also much, much longer. Her smiles were HUGE!

And, what is the point of the whole situation?  Well maybe it is not so important, but one thing for sure is that next time my game is a bit off, I will certainly give this stomach freshening up trick a try. If it works for the Thai golfers, then why not for us foreigners as well!

If you have encountered any Thai golf peculiarities please feel free to post a comment here of if you prefer send em an email at my Thailand golf vacation company and I will take care of the posting duties.

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