Dear Sports Editor
The baht rate has been terrible for years, and does not look like it will improve. We live in austere times and not everyone in Pattaya is loaded, yet the Pattaya Sports Club (PSC) has not helped its golf members, who are the biggest supporting group, by trying to reducing their monthly golf outing fee.
During the financial meltdown in 2008 the PSC raised the yearly membership fee & monthly golf fee, why? At present, it costs 300 baht entry fee before you even hit a ball, and with the increases in the present so called ‘peak season’, you are at about 2,000+ baht for a day’s golf.
With petrol, food, beer rising every month, it seems a no-brainer that by reducing the fee it would help all members and not just the few who win.
Personally, at my time of life, and the state of my game, I am looking to spend as little as possible on a golf day. I prefer to spend my ‘dosh’ on a good Thai massage, keeping the old body flexible, for lifting the beer glass.
Charities seem to be the only winners at the PSC.
Signed
Matt (Jomtien)
Reply from Pattaya Sport Club:
The PSC Golf Chairman negotiates with all the courses on the Eastern Seaboard on an annual basis to ensure that PSC members get the best rates available. No mean task I can assure you! Not only does he do that, he also negotiates discount vouchers at some courses which reduces even further the cost of golf. If a member plays 3 times he covers his annual membership and still has the benefits of further PSC discounts and parties.
The increase in annual membership in 2008 was from 400 to 500 baht. This was the first increase in over 10 years. As Matt has pointed out, the cost of living is ever increasing and PSC membership still represents great value for money.
The increase from 200 to 300 baht for monthly golf tournament technical prizes was done for 2 reasons: a) to act as a deterrent/incentive to ensure that people turned up on the day, and b) to cover the ever increasing cost of prizes and food.
If Matt had been to a tournament lately he would have seen the quality of the prizes and the professional manner in which the tournament is run. Maybe then he would realise just what good value he is getting as a PSC golfer, and I hope be proud to be a member of an organisation that helps a lot of needy people in Pattaya who have a lot less than most of us and who never complain.
Tony Oakes (PSC President)
