Thailand and Cambodia 2008

Our last tour of the 2008 season saw us head off to Thailand followed by the holiday extension to Cambodia.
Firstly Thailand, once again we flew Eva Air and once again they proved to be one of the best airlines in the sky. We had clients in all sections of the plane from Economy, Elite Plus and Business and although it is a twelve hour flight to Bangkok everyone arrived reasonably refreshed. From Bangkok a short transfer to our resort the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel just outside Pattaya.

Marion and I had selected this hotel on our inspection visit over a year before and we were delighted with our choice. The service and attention from the staff and management was truly exceptional, we have stayed in far more expensive hotels around the world but we do not remember service as good as this.
Pattaya itself until the 1950s was a small fishing village like many others in the Gulf of Bangkok called Pad Tha Ya which means `wind blows from the southwest to the north-east at the beginning of the rainy season`, the name eventually became Pattaya.

The resort of Pattaya today bears little resemblance to the small fishing village; it is vibrant full of nightlife, street markets, bars and some great restaurants overlooking the gulf. Our favourite was the Steak and Lobster Restaurant just as you enter Walking Street on the right hand side. We eat here on two occasions and the international and Asian food was excellent. The restaurants in the hotel were all very good but my favourite here was the Maharaja the tasting menu was excellent. The cost of dinning in the town and in the hotel was very reasonable.

As for the golf Thailand will never disappoint the condition of the courses is remarkable with very little traffic on the courses. We played six rounds starting of with Burrapha Golf Club then Emerald, Greenwood, Khao Kheow at great Pete Dye design were the 8th and 9th were replicas of his masterpiece the TPC at Sawgrass. Then onto the Jack Nicklause designed Laem Chabang International Country Club, and this did not disappoint beautiful condition and a very challenging back nine where on occasions a boat would have come in useful, and finally finishing our golf tour with the new Siam Plantation Course very tricky but a great challenge.

There are over 25 courses around Pattaya and we were pleased with our selection although I am sure many of the others are equally as good. The tournament winners for the first part of the tour were in 4th place Jackie Wheatstone in 3rd place Ken Martindale 2nd place went to Colin Welford but a very deserving winner Cecil Wheatstone well done to everyone it is worth noting that only two points separated the first three a very close event. As for my part I would like to thank all of my partners in the swindles through the tour I and I hope everyone else had a lot of fun.

Next stop on the tour Cambodia

Only eight of us continued onto Cambodia and the temples of Angkor and the beautiful Sofitel Phokeethra Royal Anchor Golf and Spa. Just a short 35 minute flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap we landed into a different and amazing world of Cambodia.

Cambodia has only been open for some eight years after the war that had lasted thirty years our guide Sky gave us a brief overview on the way to the hotel, some of you may remember the film The Killing Fields, released in 1984 about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

Our itinerary included a day tour of the temples of Angkor, probably the eighth wonder of the World and golf at the Phokeethra Golf Course.
On our tours we have we have always tried to play the best courses, and visit the best sits in the area, well nothing could prepare you for one of the most amazing temple complexes in the world. There are over 100 temples within the complex but we concentrated on three, Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prom famous for the film Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie.

The most famous Angkor Wat itself the largest religious monument in the world and a world heritage site, built in 1113 by Suryavarman ll honours the Hindu God Vishnu. The other two temples we visited Bayon and Ta Prom both Buddhist. It is impossible to do them justice in this report. Only to say they were magnificent. Reclaimed from the jungle you really felt you were visiting something special.

Day two golf at Phokeethra a lovely golf course one could say an oasis in the landscape, beautifully designed, great condition and empty, millionaire's golf. The staging of a boy's v girl's event finished with the boys winning by a small margin. A great deal of fun and of course gloating writes over dinner that evening.

Cambodia was a great place to visit, the stars of the show has to be the temples, but the places unspoilt with great people even after its turbulent history an experience I am so glad to have had.

The Sofitel hotel group are one of my favourites and the Sofitel Phokeethra Royal Angkor Golf and Spa did not disappoint, built in a colonial style it was luxurious all the way. A choice of four restaurants French, Khmer, Italian and International all were excellent, but I must confess whilst in Cambodia we did only eat in the hotel restaurants and not go out and mix it with the local restaurants! Maybe next time.

Our next trip to Thailand is Phuket next November and we are at present planning a tour to Vietnam early 2010, have clubs will travel watch the web site for details.

Gary Pike

Nov 08

CALENDAR 2010
From:		to	Nights	Country & Location:	Price from
02/09	-	09/09	7	Madeira , Casa Velha 5	£1325*	details
02/10	-	09/10	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£820*	details	GS
01/11	-	14/11	13	USA, Myrtle Beach	£1,995**	details
20/11	-	27/11	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£795*	details	GS
CALENDAR 2011
8/01	-	24/01	14	Vietnam Escorted Tour, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) & Hoi An	£3,495**	details
31/01	-	13/02	12	South Africa ,The Winelands and Garden Route Escorted Tour. Only 1 remaining place	£3,160**	details
05/03	-	12/03	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
12/03	-	19/03	7	Portugal, Festival of Golf, Penina / San Lorenzo 5	£955*	details
16/04	-	23/04	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
07/05	-	14/05	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
_/05	-	_/05	TBC	Itay , details available soon
10/09	-	17/09	7	Spain, Benalup; Fairplay Hotel and Spa, Luxury All Inclusive 5 £150 single supplement	£1280*	details
15/10	-	22/10	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
__/11	-	__/11	TBC	Dubai, details available soon
				*Prices per person sharing including golf excluding flights **Prices per person sharing including golf & including flights
GS - Golf School     Available Fully Booked