Is Thailand good for golf?
You tee off at 7 am, the mist still on the fairway, a caddie at your side who knows every break. Thailand is one of the best golf countries in Asia. Its courses carry the names of Jack Nicklaus, Schmidt-Curley Design and Thailand's own Pirapon Namatra. You can play all year, and the cool season, mid-October to mid-February, is the finest.
The design pedigree is real. Springfield Royal Country Club in Cha-am and Laem Chabang International near Pattaya are both 27-hole Nicklaus designs, the clubs say. Schmidt-Curley renovated Siam Country Club's Old Course in 2007. The same firm designed Chiangmai Highlands and Amata Spring.
Service is what sets Thailand apart. Your caddie reads the greens, hands you water and a cold towel, and knows every bunker. Lunch in the clubhouse is often excellent Thai food. Near Bangkok and Pattaya you can play the morning round and be by the pool at two.
Is it expensive to golf in Thailand?
Top courses in Thailand charge club prices, and the course and the service earn the fee. A top round near Pattaya or Bangkok starts at about ฿6,000 for the green fee alone. Caddie, cart and tip come on top. Budget the full figure, not the headline rate.
Published visitor rates, checked in November 2026, show the range:
- Siam Country Club, Old Course (Pattaya): ฿6,500 weekdays, ฿8,500 weekends and public holidays; caddie ฿500 and cart ฿1,000 extra (the club's site).
- Thai Country Club (Bangkok): ฿6,000 weekdays and ฿7,500 at weekends, afternoon only, from November to March (the club's site).
- Pineapple Valley Golf Club (Hua Hin): ฿4,500 green fee from November 2026 to March 2027; caddie ฿400 (the club's rate table).
- Laguna Golf Phuket: ฿5,600 including the caddie fee; cart ฿700 (the club's site).
- Nikanti Golf Club (Bangkok): ฿5,500 weekdays and ฿6,500 at weekends, including caddie, tip, cart and dining (the club's own site, undated).
Our green fees data page lists every rate we have checked, with the date and source. Send us your dates and we price the whole week, caddies and carts included, before you fly.
Golf regions at a glance
Thailand's golf comes in six clusters. Pattaya has the famous names. Bangkok is the easiest. Hua Hin is the most relaxed, Phuket has the resort setting, and Chiang Mai has cool mountain air. Koh Samui has one hillside course that earns the flight. Our call: pair two regions in one week, with a private driver between them.
Bangkok. Thai Country Club, designed by Denis Griffiths and opened in December 1996, and Nikanti, a design by Pirapon Namatra, are the visitor favourites. Amata Spring is a private club. See golf in Bangkok.
Pattaya. Siam Country Club has the Old Course, the 27-hole Plantation (Schmidt-Curley, 2008) and Waterside (2014). Laem Chabang adds 27 Nicklaus holes over 700 acres, and Phoenix Gold another 27. See golf in Pattaya.
Hua Hin. Royal Hua Hin Golf Course, an 18-hole, par-72 layout, is open to all golfers, the Hua Hin Municipality says. A railway engineer designed it, the municipality adds. Springfield Royal in nearby Cha-am has 27 Nicklaus holes. Black Mountain has 27 holes by Phil Ryan, and Palm Hills is a Max Wexler design. See golf in Hua Hin.
Phuket. Blue Canyon's Canyon Course opened in 1991, and its Lakes Course has water on 17 of 18 holes, the club says. Mission Hills is a Nicklaus design, and Laguna Golf sits inside the Laguna resort area. See golf in Phuket.
Chiang Mai. Chiangmai Highlands has 27 Schmidt-Curley holes in the hills. The club lists a visitor rate of ฿4,400 from 1 November 2026 to 31 March 2027. Caddie (฿400) and cart (฿750) are extra. Alpine Golf Resort has another 27 holes, and Summit Green Valley is a Denis Griffiths design. See golf in Chiang Mai.
Koh Samui. Santiburi Samui Country Club is the island's classic hillside course. Its official 2026 promotions list an early-bird round at ฿3,550 for tee times from 06:00 to 07:00, including green fee, cart and caddie. See golf on Koh Samui, or compare all six in our Thailand golf overview.
How much is a round of golf in Pattaya?
A round at Siam Country Club's Old Course, Pattaya's best-known course, costs ฿6,500 on a weekday for the green fee, the club says. Add the required caddie at ฿500 and your own cart at ฿1,000, and the total reaches ฿8,000. The club says tips start at about ฿500 on top.
At weekends and on public holidays the green fee rises to ฿8,500. Every golfer takes a caddie and an individual cart at Siam Country Club. The Plantation and Waterside courses list ฿5,700 on weekdays and ฿6,700 at weekends, with the same caddie and cart fees. Insider tip: play the Old Course on a weekday, when the fee is lowest.
Caddies, carts and tipping
At most leading Thai courses every golfer takes a caddie, and many clubs make it a rule. Siam Country Club and Pineapple Valley list the caddie as required. Chiangmai Highlands asks for its ฿400 caddie fee in cash. The caddie fee goes to the club; the tip goes to your caddie after the round.
Clubs publish their own tip guidance. Siam Country Club says tips start at about ฿500. Pineapple Valley says a tip of no less than ฿400 is customary, and Chiangmai Highlands suggests ฿400 upwards. Carry cash in small notes.
Dress as you would at a good club at home: a collared shirt, tailored shorts or trousers, and soft spikes. Most clubhouses have showers, lockers and a restaurant. Pack a change of clothes and stay for lunch.
Cart rules differ by club. Siam Country Club and Chiangmai Highlands require one cart per golfer, and Palm Hills does not allow shared carts. At Laguna Golf Phuket a shared cart is possible. We confirm each club's rules before you land, so nothing surprises you at the first tee.
Best time for golf in Thailand
The best time for golf in Thailand is the cool season, from mid-October to mid-February. Mornings are fresh, the air is drier and the greens run true. It is also high season. Book weekend tee times early, above all at the famous Pattaya and Hua Hin clubs.
From mid-February to mid-May it is hot, so tee off at first light. The rainy season, mid-May to mid-October, brings lower rates and quieter courses, with storms mostly in the afternoon. Play early and you finish before the rain. Our Thailand weather guide covers each region month by month.
The private way: tee times, driver and golf villa
The private way to play is simple. Your tee times are booked at the best hour. A private driver takes your group and clubs from course to course. You stay in a pool villa near the fairways, arrive fresh for each round and end the day with a massage, not a taxi queue.
A golf villa gives the group its own space, a chef and a terrace for settling the bets over dinner. See our golf villas and golf holidays pages. For companies, our corporate golf days cover tournaments, prizes and dinners, and our golf trip checklist covers what to pack.
Living here? Our golf memberships guide explains how membership works for long-stay residents. A luxury chauffeur makes every transfer easy.
Plan it with Tanner
Send Tanner your handicaps, dates and group size. One planner books the courses, tee times, caddies, drivers and the villa, for a pair or a society of twenty. Our Thai staff work in every golf region. If a famous course is in poor shape that week, we say so and book another. You just play.
Example plan: five rounds in seven days. Three rounds near Pattaya, including Siam Country Club, then a drive to Hua Hin for two rounds and a night by the sea. Or three cool January mornings in Chiang Mai, with afternoons at the spa and dinners in the old city. See our VIP concierge page for the full service.
