Honestly, I do not follow many sports and Golf is one of them. But when I met the young and dynamic, Ms. Vani Kapoor at the Thailand Golf Ambassador launch this Thursday in New Delhi, I made a promise to myself to read and learn little things about the sport. By the night I had picked on some of the terminology already, golf club, strokes, swings, sweet-spot and some playing mechanisms too like, driving, approaching, chipping, putting and hitting. That was my learning for the day but for you I have some travel inspiration to share. We have all known Thailand as the land of pampering spa, lots of shopping, beautiful temples and lots of Thai food but with this post, we will discover it as a golfing destination.
I had the above invite to myself and thus I landed at the Imperial New Delhi to cover the event and savor the Thai lunch. Thailand is home to world class golf courses at magnificent locations and for past few years, it has been promoting itself as a golfing paradise. No doubt, I do not follow Golf but that does not mean I do not love Thailand. It is one of the most hospitable countries that I have been to and I have had a beautiful experience in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. No less, whenever they appoint Indian sport players as their brand ambassadors, they not only send out a great message but also strengthen their bond with India. No less, it is a great motivation to the players too. The memories from the last event are still fresh in my mind, where they had chosen our boxing champion ‘Mary Kom’ as the Muay Thai Brand Ambassador.
At the venue, I met a few friends from the TAT New Delhi team and headed inside the room to take my seat. It was a short and sweet event which lasted not more than thirty minutes. Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor took to the dais and greeted the media and the attendees. He proudly spoke about Thailand and its beauty and soon revealed Vani Kapoor’s name as the Golf Ambassador. No less, it was a proud moment to see a young girl bring laurels to the country. The number one female golfer of India spoke a few lines about her golfing career and her aim for 2016. The energetic and the passionate golfer spoke about Thailand and about her goal of working towards her world ranking.
Vani has played golf in Thailand and thus she was the right person to talk about it. She said that Thailand could be called a golfing paradise because it provides diversity in the golf courses from the hills in the north to beautiful courses by the beach in the south. In fact there we also learnt that some of the leading professionals like Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman have developed some of the Thai golf courses.
Once, the announcement was made, the TAT Governor not only wished Vani great success but also learnt to swing the golf club. The event was followed by Thai lunch. I was looking forward to it because I love ‘Raw Papaya Salad’ and ‘Mango with Sticky Rice’ from Thailand. Also not many places in Delhi offer authentic Thai but Spice Route at The Imperial in the capital definitely has a place in the list and it serves one of the best Pan Asian food. As I take you through a pictorial treat, I must insist the food was both authentic and amazing.
At the lunch, it was wonderful connecting with fellow travel bloggers as well as with Vani Kapoor. It was inspiring to hear the young girl talk about her journey so far. She looked super charged and focused and I could see a great player in her. We all know that golf is a game that is very taxing for the muscles. She told us about her fitness regime but she also revealed that she has no personal trainer for herself. In Gurgaon, she plays at DLF but definitely maintained the stand that Thailand has really great golf courses. In all that small time I spent with her, I would definitely point out that she threw no tantrums about herself and seemed very polite and down to earth. Overall, it was a short and sweet event that will always bring beautiful memories whenever and wherever Vani Kapoor will climb ladders of success. Wishing her lots of success.
Thai Lunch: Let the pictures do the talking.
I returned home with these lovely booklets. I have been to Chiang Mai but my feet are itching to visit rest of the beautiful places. Have you been to Thailand? What are the places that you are looking forward to this year?
Read more on my THAILAND visit here!!
