Pattaya & Chonburi,
Thailand's tour-tested golf coast

Siam Country Club in Pong, inland from Pattaya, is the anchor of any trip, with three distinct courses on one property.

• Old Course — opened in 1971 to a design by Ichisuke Izumi and renovated by Schmidt-Curley Design in 2006–2007. It is the long-running home of the LPGA Tour's Honda LPGA Thailand and staged the Thailand Open in 1973, 1978 and 1984. Visitors play with a booked tee time.
• Plantation Course — a 27-hole Schmidt-Curley layout from 2008 with big elevation changes and a triple green; it hosted the 2015 Thailand Open.
• Rolling Hills Course — the club's newest, opened in 2020 in a valley around a 25-acre excavated lake. Look for the "Wall of Death" bunker complex on the par-5 15th and the driveable par-4 17th.

Chee Chan Golf Resort, south of town in Na Jomtien, is the most photogenic round in the region. David Dale of Golfplan laid it out at the foot of Khao Chee Chan, the cliff inlaid with a giant gold Buddha image that stays in view across the course. It opened in 2018 and was named Best Course in Thailand by Golf Digest in 2020. A golf cart is mandatory.

Laem Chabang International Country Club, near Sriracha to the north, is a 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature design — Mountain, Lake and Valley nines — across about 700 acres, with floodlit night golf and an on-site Golf Lodge.

November to February is the most comfortable window: dry weather, steady breezes and the coolest mornings of the year. It is also peak season, so book tee times and rooms early, particularly for weekends.

March to May is hot but mostly dry; tee off at first light and finish by late morning. The May-to-October rainy season brings short, heavy afternoon storms rather than all-day rain, so morning rounds usually stay dry. Laem Chabang's night golf is a useful way to dodge the midday heat at any time of year.

• Day 1 — Siam Country Club Old Course. Play the LPGA venue, then lunch nearby at Pladids, a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand for seasonal Thai set meals.
• Day 2 — Chee Chan. An early round beneath the Buddha cliff, then an afternoon at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, a short drive away in Na Jomtien.
• Day 3 — Siam Country Club Plantation or Rolling Hills. Choose the 27-hole hillside layout or the newest course with its lake and driveable 17th. Evening at the Sanctuary of Truth in Na Kluea.
• Day 4 — Laem Chabang. Head north toward Sriracha for the Nicklaus 27 — or save it for a twilight round under the lights before you leave.

Pattaya is roughly a two-hour drive southeast of Bangkok, so most visitors arrive by private car. Because Siam Country Club has three courses, golfers who want to keep transfers short can play three rounds from one clubhouse.

North Pattaya and Wongamat put you on quieter beaches near the Sanctuary of Truth, with a reasonable drive both to Laem Chabang to the north and Siam Country Club inland.

Pratumnak and central Pattaya are the most convenient for restaurants and the Bali Hai Pier ferries to Koh Larn, and Wat Phra Yai on Big Buddha Hill is right on hand.

Jomtien and Na Jomtien, to the south, are calmer, with long beaches and the shortest transfers to Chee Chan and Nong Nooch. Siam Country Club sits inland from Pattaya and is an easy drive from any of these bases; drive times from each hotel are shown on this page.

Chonburi's best cooking is Thai and seafood-led. Pladids, near Siam Country Club, holds a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand for seasonal set meals served with changing speciality rice; Lung Shall Kitchen in Nong Prue, also a Bib Gourmand, is known for stir-fried black squid ink; and MICHELIN-listed Wansuk serves boldly spiced seafood in a retro wooden room. For Italian, La Cucina at Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach is a MICHELIN-listed garden restaurant with an open kitchen, close to Chee Chan.

• Sanctuary of Truth — a vast seafront structure of hand-carved teak, under construction since 1981.
• Khao Chee Chan — the gold-inlaid Buddha cliff beside Chee Chan Golf Resort.
• Nong Nooch Tropical Garden — large themed botanical gardens with cycad and orchid collections.
• Koh Larn — clear-water beaches about 45 minutes by ferry from Bali Hai Pier.
• Wat Phra Yai — the hilltop golden Buddha above Pattaya Bay.

• Book tee times ahead, especially at Siam Country Club and Chee Chan from November to February and on weekends.
• Carts are mandatory at Chee Chan; elsewhere they are usually optional and paid separately, and most visitors take one in the heat.
• Caddies are standard at Thai clubs and are tipped in cash after the round; ask the club or your hotel for the customary amount.
• Night golf at Laem Chabang is a good option for a late arrival or a cooler round.
• Dress code is conventional: collared shirt, tailored shorts or trousers, soft spikes and no denim.
• Transfers are simplest by private car or hotel driver; agree a pickup time for after lunch at the clubhouse.

Rules, rates and booking policies change, so confirm details directly with each club before you travel.