David's Blog
The Kingdom Of Smiles
I have been in the Kingdom of Smiles for more than two weeks discovering the five new golf courses and one truly spectacular resort…and shopping, and countless great spas, and about three hundred gorgeous, happy Thai women.
One European golfer in Chiang Mai (who was three weeks late going home) said to me: "Why waste your time playing golf?" I guess he meant one should be sight-seeing. Maybe. Did he ever return?
Oh, the golf:
New courses have been emerging in Pattaya (the Siam CC has 18 holes restored and 27 more in the mountains and are magnificently conditioned); Phuket (Red Mountain is the most dramatic 18 holes in Thailand, carved and blasted out of an old tin mine, with more memorable holes than a pool table); Hua Hin, the regal capital with two (Black Mountain rolling up into the countryside, and Banyan Estate & Golf Club, crafted on the side of a mountain overlooking both the Gulf of Siam and the distant Burmese mountains—pastoral excellence); and Chiang Mai (the Highlands, 30 minutes from the city and manicured and gracious).
These are excellent additions to the Thai golf-scape, and add to the solid core of world-class golf courses in Thailand.
And five years in the making, the stunning Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai.
Pictures attached
Simply the grandest resort I have seen in my extensive travels. Kudos to the owner and architect who have dedicated the time and investment to this monument of craft and culture. Once before you die, visit with a loved one.
One European golfer in Chiang Mai (who was three weeks late going home) said to me: "Why waste your time playing golf?" I guess he meant one should be sight-seeing. Maybe. Did he ever return?
Oh, the golf:
New courses have been emerging in Pattaya (the Siam CC has 18 holes restored and 27 more in the mountains and are magnificently conditioned); Phuket (Red Mountain is the most dramatic 18 holes in Thailand, carved and blasted out of an old tin mine, with more memorable holes than a pool table); Hua Hin, the regal capital with two (Black Mountain rolling up into the countryside, and Banyan Estate & Golf Club, crafted on the side of a mountain overlooking both the Gulf of Siam and the distant Burmese mountains—pastoral excellence); and Chiang Mai (the Highlands, 30 minutes from the city and manicured and gracious).
These are excellent additions to the Thai golf-scape, and add to the solid core of world-class golf courses in Thailand.
And five years in the making, the stunning Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai.
Pictures attached
Simply the grandest resort I have seen in my extensive travels. Kudos to the owner and architect who have dedicated the time and investment to this monument of craft and culture. Once before you die, visit with a loved one.
Posted on 18 Dec 2007 by David
Beautiful Bangkok
I had to take a break from that Florida idyll and jet non-stop back to Bangkok to work on the fourth annual edition of the Thailand Golf Guide. Little bit warmer over here (85-90°) in the kinetic, disorganized bustle of the Big Mango—Bangkok at night is worth the 18-hour trip.
Smiling faces (everywhere), exotic places (Soi Cowboy) , tuk-tuk races (Sukhumvit), spas and massages—and shopping.
Our first Pocketbook edition is in Asia Books and looks great. Check it out at Siam Paragon. Thinking about doing it for the Miami area, too.
Thailand is populated by more than 60 million people in a country the stretches from the mountainous north (part of the Golden Triangle with Burma and Laos) 1,200 miles down past Hua Hin and Phuket to the Muslim south edging Malaysia.
The golf courses are sprinkled all over the country and draw millions of visitors from Japan and Korea (where golf courses are prohibitively expensive); the cold, northern climes of Europe; and the Middle East.
Aussies fly up the 10 hours , too, to take advantage of the incredible values and the sensational female caddies who help you smile your way through a round or two of golf.
Bangkok; the imperial seaside city of Hua Hin to the south; Phuket, further down with its Andaman beaches and excellent spas; Pattaya to the southeast on the other side of the Gulf of Siam; and a profusion of cooler courses up-country in Saraburi, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Great golfing value amidst a bundle of diverse golf courses with smiling caddies. Great stuff.
And then go for the Bangkok tailors and get shirts made for $30 and suits for $250. Buy jewelry and tee-shirt knock-offs at the night bazaars at Suan Lum, Patpong, on Silom and Sukhumvit—or on weekends at the sprawling Chatchuchak flea market at the end of the BTS elevated train line.
Eat the street food and wander the Sois for an after-dinner massage.
It’s a different hedonistic heartbeat.
-David
Smiling faces (everywhere), exotic places (Soi Cowboy) , tuk-tuk races (Sukhumvit), spas and massages—and shopping.
Our first Pocketbook edition is in Asia Books and looks great. Check it out at Siam Paragon. Thinking about doing it for the Miami area, too.
Thailand is populated by more than 60 million people in a country the stretches from the mountainous north (part of the Golden Triangle with Burma and Laos) 1,200 miles down past Hua Hin and Phuket to the Muslim south edging Malaysia.
The golf courses are sprinkled all over the country and draw millions of visitors from Japan and Korea (where golf courses are prohibitively expensive); the cold, northern climes of Europe; and the Middle East.
Aussies fly up the 10 hours , too, to take advantage of the incredible values and the sensational female caddies who help you smile your way through a round or two of golf.
Bangkok; the imperial seaside city of Hua Hin to the south; Phuket, further down with its Andaman beaches and excellent spas; Pattaya to the southeast on the other side of the Gulf of Siam; and a profusion of cooler courses up-country in Saraburi, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Great golfing value amidst a bundle of diverse golf courses with smiling caddies. Great stuff.
And then go for the Bangkok tailors and get shirts made for $30 and suits for $250. Buy jewelry and tee-shirt knock-offs at the night bazaars at Suan Lum, Patpong, on Silom and Sukhumvit—or on weekends at the sprawling Chatchuchak flea market at the end of the BTS elevated train line.
Eat the street food and wander the Sois for an after-dinner massage.
It’s a different hedonistic heartbeat.
-David
Posted on 20 Nov 2007 by David
Fun on the run in Miami
Away from the gorgeous, placid beaches of Punta Cana on the Dominican Republic’s east coast to the racy, energized, sophisticated, high-fashion buzz of Miami.
Hard to beat that persistently beautiful weather in the DR, but south Florida had it going for a week. Bright, cloudless, balmy and inviting in early November.
Moon over Miami.
A big one hovering over and illuminating a mini-archipelago (Star Island, Fisher Island) surrounding Miami Beach with an effervescent swagger and sophistication. Even if the weather wasn’t, the denizens are hot down there and flaunt it. With style.
What a great venue for golf. Marvelously accessible, wonderfully cultivated, glorious weather (well, most of the time), refreshingly innovative, a cornucopia of haute cuisine, more sparkling nightlife than an Aurora Borealis, and a variegated host of golf courses to excite and tickle the golf junkie in all of us: the imposing five tracks at Doral (with its infamous Blue Monster);
· the impeccably restored and elegant Turnberry Isle golf courses;
· the stately and imposing elan of the Biltmore (it’s resort course has just been given a multi-million dollar beautification;
· the gracious and courtly Diplomat—and
· up the coast to Boca Raton and swanky Palm Beach and the tony, old-world charm of the Breakers;
· and a host of PGA courses.
Miami Vice.
The Art Deco and trendy South Beach for drinks. The ferry to Fisher Island with Amy for a Boys and Girls Club party stretched along and aboard 20 luxury (am I being redundant?) yachts, and a tented party the next night with food so fine they called it divine (rack of lamb, five-inch shrimp, lobster tails, champagne) … and Gloria Gaynor (she has survived) the Village People (not so sure) and the Pointer Sisters.
Dinner at Morton’s up the coast in swank Aventura with Barry and his son (serving)—not much of a meat-eater anymore, but what mouthwatering steaks.
Drinks at Nicky’s Marina as the yachts float by in indolent procession.
A pensive drive to Key Biscayne (Barry and I saw a crocodile at the edge of the pond at the 18th hole of the Crandon Park golf course—and an army of iguanas).
Some sunshine plans for the Keys.
Hedonism ain’t that bad. Nor was the flawless weather.
-David
Posted on 20 Nov 2007 by David