Golf in Laos, Cambodia and Burma

[goldj]

I'm planning a trip to Laos, Cambodia and Burma for early next year.  While the trip will be focused mostly on seeing the sights, I will have time to play a couple of rounds while I'm there.  I'm planning to be in Luang Prabang, Siem Riep, Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan.
I know that there have been a number of new courses built in the region but would like the group's view on which courses I should focus on.

thanks in advance for your input. 

Jim

[Guy Nicholson]

I'm going to go out on a limb and answer this in a holistic way, rather than a golf way. My advice would be to consider leaving the clubs at home and focusing on the temples and atmosphere.

These are amazing, spiritual places set among scenes of extreme poverty; the golf comes with environmental and social baggage. No judgment on you or anyone who plays -- I've played golf elsewhere in the Third World and wouldn't hesitate to play elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Just advice based on my own feelings and experience with these particular countries.

[goldj]

I couldn't agree more.  My trip will be almost three weeks long and is focused on the cultural aspects of the places where I'm headed, with full recognition of the social and economic issues confronting these countries.  Notwithstanding that, I thought that it might be fun to play a round or two while I'm there.  To that point, some of my most rewarding golf experiences were played on courses like Ilioyi in Lagos, Nigeria which, at best, would rate a two or three on anyone's rating scale.

I know that people like Player and Faldo have courses with the names on them out there and various magazines and online raters have list purporting to indicate the "best courses in Cambodia" but rather than rely on them, I thought that it would be useful to get a sense from anyone on this board who has actually played in Laos, Cambodia or Burma.

Jim

[Guy Nicholson]

Eyes wide open, then! Will be interested to see if anyone knows the courses well enough to advise.

[Richard Phinney]

I think one has to at least consider human rights issues in these countries, especially Burma, where golf is entirely a pastime for the repressive military regime.

[Tim Leahy]

I think one has to at least consider human rights issues in these countries, especially Burma, where golf is entirely a pastime for the repressive military regime.

So you wont play golf in Mississippi either?

[Lou_Duran]

I think one has to at least consider human rights issues in these countries, especially Burma, where golf is entirely a pastime for the repressive military regime.

So you wont play golf in Mississippi either?

Tim- have you met Garland Bailey?  I think the two of you could become bosom buddies.

Since we're talking about golf in exotic places, how about Dubai and Bangkok.  My wife wants to visit; I am trying to be a good husband.  Anything worth playing at either place?  Golf clubs would not be making the trip.

[Eric Strulowitz]

I'm planning a trip to Laos, Cambodia and Burma for early next year.  While the trip will be focused mostly on seeing the sights, I will have time to play a couple of rounds while I'm there.  I'm planning to be in Luang Prabang, Siem Riep, Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan.
I know that there have been a number of new courses built in the region but would like the group's view on which courses I should focus on.

thanks in advance for your input. 

Jim

Hi Jim

I am fortunate to have made a number trips to this part of Asia and never regretted a minute of it!  The people are wonderful, the hotels and restaurants offer amazing service, and for not one moment did we ever feel unsafe.   Our last trip, we  crossed Cambodia, visited all the big cities and a number of small towns, and never once did we feel unwanted or had to be looking over our shoulders.    And this is in  spite of poverty that has to be seen to be believed. The people were always cheerful, glad to talk, and amazing how many could talk in English or at least  broken English.  When you look at how the Cambodian people have suffered, and how we  bombed them to oblivion during the Vietnam War  and then turned our backs to the horrors of the Khmer Rouge, and they have let it all go and moved on, and are working so hard to build their country and move forward, these are truly amazing people we could learn a lot from.  I hope you have a great trip, and I recommend not only visiting the major sites and tourist attractions, but hire a local guide and  visit some local villages, local schools, and some local homes.  Most homes in the countryside do not even have windows or doors, you are literally welcomed in.   Gifts for the kids and food are always welcome, we brought bags of it.

Now golf wise, I have not played in Asia, but have seen quite a few courses, and studied them online.  There is a fairly new course in Luang Prabang built around jungle and surrounded by hills  Be sure to play it. The Laotian capital of Vietienne has several golf courses, and most hotels can make a call and get you on.   The best golf in the area is Siem Reap.  They are upscale and in great shape, but not cheap.  They look like upscale Florida courses.  I understand that a Korean group has built a very upscale private course just outside of town.  I saw it under construction,  don't know about access issues.  There are many golf courses in Myanmar, don't know much about them. Politically, the country has had its share of bad times, but they are making progress slowly.

If you go to Phenom Penh, the Cambodian Capital, be sure to have dinner and drinks on the Mekong.   You will never forget that.  And thousands of people walking along the river, with merchants selling food and trinkets, and people dancing everywhere.

You will be amazed as to how happy the people are.   They might be poor in a material sense, but they have us beat in other respects.    These are people that have been to hell and back, are poorer than poor, but are better people than we are in many ways.  And a lot happier than we are.  We seem to have it all, at least materially, yet many of us remain miserable and unsatisfied and  always in need of more toys and possessions.    You have to experience this to understand it, I am sure you will when you return.  Have a safe and wonderful trip.  I applaud your sense of adventure, very few Americans will venture out to this region.  You will return a bit of a different person, and you will be longing to return again.

[Simon Kofoed]

I'm planning a trip to Laos, Cambodia and Burma for early next year.  While the trip will be focused mostly on seeing the sights, I will have time to play a couple of rounds while I'm there.  I'm planning to be in Luang Prabang, Siem Riep, Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan.
I know that there have been a number of new courses built in the region but would like the group's view on which courses I should focus on.

thanks in advance for your input. 

Jim

Jim

I would highly recommend that you don't plan any golf.

I traveled through Burma in October 2012 and on a spare afternoon while in Bagan, on a naive golf tragic whim I made a totally unscheduled visit to the Bagan Resort Golf Club.

I played nine holes of golf with rental clubs on an empty course in soul destroying heat & humidity.

The only thing of note from a golf architecture perspective is that it may be possibly the only golf course in the world where you may need to take relief from an ancient Pagoda.

That fact alone makes me wonder why/how a golf course was ever built there in the first place and how many 100s of thousands of Burmese people I would have been offending by playing golf on that land.

With your proposed itinerary in just three weeks, even if you do have time to play some golf, I highly doubt you will feel like it. I was in Cambodia in July and after a couple of days exploring the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, one of the worst things I could have imagined would be going out in the sun for another 4 hours the next day.