‘Golf in a Kingdom’ makes ‘Unique’ addition

De Naga Chiang Mai exemplifies the Lanna style of Northern Thailand.

BANGKOK (Sept. 23, 2009) — ‘Golf in a Kingdom: The Thai Golf Experience’ has added three more posh properties to its stable of luxury accommodations: Putahracsa Hua Hin, De Naga Chiang Mai and Palm Grove Resort in Pattaya.

The hotels, which are all part of The Unique Collection of Hotels & Resorts, bring the total number of ‘Golf in a Kingdom’ lodgings to nine while giving the golf travel resource its first in the northern town of Chiang Mai.

“Our proximity to ‘Golf in a Kingdom’ member Chiang Mai Highlands (Golf & Spa Resort) makes us an ideal link here,” said Mr. Vannasont Limprasutr, hotel manager of De Naga Chiang Mai. “What’s more, the levels of luxury are commensurate, which means Kingdom-goers will feel no disconnect between the experience here and the experience at the golf club.”

Also, the Asian Tour has tapped ‘Golf in a Kingdom’ member course Santiburi Country Club Chiang Rai as host venue of the King’s Cup (Dec. 3-6), the final event of the 2009 season. The Robert Trent Jones, Jr. design is a collection of 18 breathtaking, impeccably maintained holes that either skirt a chain of lakes or flow over the low hills of Bang Bor.

“Last year it was the Singha Thailand PGA Championship, this year’s it’s the King’s Cup,” said Folke Nyberg, general manager of Santiburi CC Chiang Rai. “We’ll be ready, and the players will need to be too — only the winner had four rounds in the 60s last year.”

Putahracsa Hua Hin is one of three Kingdom resorts in the charming coastal town of Hua Hin, the preferred holiday retreat of the Thai Royal Family for almost a century. The stylish boutique hideaway boasts 59 contemporary rooms and villas in a seaside residential setting not far from Banyan Golf Club, a new hillside course racking up accolades from the region’s top golf publications.

With steep gabled roofs and an array of traditional decorative details, the 55-room De Naga Chiang Mai exemplifies the Lanna style of Northern Thailand. Fellow ‘Golf in a Kingdom’ member Chiang Mai Highlands Golf & Spa Resort — an inventive Schmidt/Curley design 1,000 feet above sea level — is 20 minutes away by car.

Palm Grove Resort is a low-rise collection of suites and colonial-style villas 15 minutes from the center of Pattaya and as close to a 'home away from home' as it gets. An 'East Meets West' interior design philosophy is constant throughout the resort, which also features winding lanes that connect the village-like layout to unspoiled Baan Ampure Beach.

Among the other first-class accommodations in the ‘Golf in a Kingdom: The Thai Golf Experience’ portfolio are:

• Anantara Phuket
• Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa
• Anantara Golden Triangle
• Anantara Hua Hin
• Anantara Koh Samui
• Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa
• Woodlands Hotel & Resort Pattaya

From the majestic hill country of Chiang Rai in the northwest corner of Thailand to the breathtaking beaches of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand, ‘Golf in a Kingdom: The Thai Golf Experience’ takes in some of the most lush and varied terrain on the planet. In addition to the Banyan Golf Club, Santiburi CC Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai Highlands Resort & Spa, the Kingdom’s stunning golf properties include:

• Muang Kaew Golf Club, the closest course to bustling Bangkok, with a par 3 that looks eerily similar to the 12th at Augusta National.
• Santiburi Samui Country Club, which deftly traverses a jungle of towering coconut trees that carpets Koh Samui’s picturesque Khao Pom Mountain.
• Siam Country Club, a 36-hole, championship venue (its Plantation Course hosted the 2009 Honda LPGA Thailand) in the nightlife capital of Pattaya.
• Thai Country Club, site of Tiger Woods’s 1997 Asia Honda Classic victory and the ‘Best Championship Course in Asia’, as voted by Asian Golf Monthly readers in 2008.

'Kingdom' member Santiburi Chiang Rai CC is the fifth Thai course to host an Asian Tour event this year.

To make travel plans for a tour of ‘Golf in a Kingdom: The Thai Golf Experience’, visit www.golfinakingdom.com, or send email to info@golfinakingdom.com