Another all together different low cost golf holiday option is to consider staying at one the many golf resorts which are located throughout Thailand. Many of these resorts host excellent courses, with both hotel and apartments for rent at the course. Some will have additional facilities such as a swimming pool, fitness and spa’s, and for the standard available, the prices tend to be more favorable then traditional hotels located in the in the vicinity. Other advantages include specially priced green fees for in-house guests, elimination of daily transportation costs (since you will be staying at the course already),and sometimes the option to pay a flat green fee that entitles one to play as many holes as you can fit in one day for a fixed price. 
One golf resort in particular that I like very much is Royal Hills, shown in the 2 pictures at left and which is located only around 90 minutes from Bangkok,. It hosts an excellent 18 hole course and has very nice on site accommodations for only around $25 US per person per day, inclusive of accomdation and golf during the weekdays.(Yes $25 US is correct and not a typo!)
All of these options mentioned so far are not however for the faint of heart. It will take some Thai language skills as workers at these hotels and golf courses for the most part do not speak English and even the sign boards are only written in Thai. Also, getting to and from the hotel and/or golf courses will be difficult as usually the only option will be private taxis. In these cases be sure that your driver knows the way to the golf course before you agree to travel together as you will be a very rare passenger for him indeed.
A final thought to consider for budget golf travel in Thailand is that green fees and hotel tariffs are much less in the low season (April to October). In these months you may save as much as 50% as compared to the winter season thus enabling you to take advantage of the better known courses and hotels located in the popular tourist areas, and still stick to a limited budget. However, you must beware that the weather is more unpredictable during this time of year, as mentioned in my post about Thailand weather.
By careful planning, and undertaking a bit of research of what is available in Thailand, you have the opportunity to have a great golfing holiday within in a very wide range of budgets.
If you would like more information, local expert recommendations, or have anything to mention regarding the suggestions given here, please feel free to drop me an email at [email protected] or better yet, post a comment here for discussion.
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4 Responses
While I find this entry interesting what it does do is take away from the those who are arriving in Thailand for the first time and want to see some of the other sights. Also those travelling with a non golfing spouse would more than likely find it more expensive in the long run. Very interesting 3 entries and definitely for the avid golfer.
Great piece of work. Most people think that you pay the US and UK prices when you get to the East so this was really an eye-opener. Mark, we will certainly be there next year DV, and will contact you for more info. How about you being our guide and companion?
Offer you can’t understand!!
Ted: I agree with you that these suggestions are really for the true golfer who is on a really really limted budget, of like 50 US per day, but nevertheless i wanted to point out that it can be done for sure. For those wanting to see the sights of Thailand and all this country has to offer, these suggestions would not work out at all.
Willie: I would be glad to play a few rounds together next year. Let me know when you are thinking about making the trip here. We have lots of players from South Africa end always end up either falling in love and/or planning their reurn trips before they even depart.
Cheers, Mark