Mark,
Not sure there is that much political instability in the far east. China, Vietnam etc. are pretty stable politically - only one party you know. Vietnam is rated as possibly the safest place in the world in terms of "religous" or terrorist threats - it just doesn't exist in that country. Somewhere like Laos you might get your foot blown off from an aboandoned mine but hardly likely to run across a muslim terrorist. Of course Bangkok is pretty safe, because I am sure half the Al-Qaeda is based there, planning nefararious deeds by day and visiting girly bars by night and they dont want to s**t in their own backyard!
The investors in these places are mainly locals or other Asians, who take a longer term view of the situation and are comfortable investing in places with higher levels of political risk. They do this because they are comfotable operating in places where business or legal transparency may not exist and who you know is most important. This is the way business has always been done in Asia.
The golfing population in Asia is still growing, right now South Koreans are going crazy over the game (more so than usual), perhaps as a result of their successes on the LPGA tour. Whole golf courses in SEAsia are being block booked for monthly fees by visiting groups of South Koreans looking for a place to play and practice over the winter months. In most places it is locals and expats who make up the majority of the golfing population, while tourists do not form too much of the market except in some localities like Phuket, Kunming etc.