bowling green,and putting green not expensive to make,and maintain,if you use plastic grass,does not take long to roll out and in,be nice back of club,size of land required not big,and this is something thats not impossible,for the future,if enough members were interested,then costs would be low.all i,m saying is as a group you can achieve alot more with little cost.

I like the idea of the lawn bowling social club. I enjoyed being a junior member when I was growing up in Nairn, Scotland and memorable afternoon as a guest at the Tweed Heads Bowling Club when I was a young kid in the oil patch in Australia. It's an excellent and enjoyable game where anyone can learn and participate without coming across the fiercely competitive types.

A downtown social club would just be (to me) like another bar despite the cheaper beer. Some people like to socialise in that environment, others like to sit on the sidewalk and people watch. Plus parking anywhere in Udon is a total hassle where every inch of free space seems to be given over to some new talat. Somewhere out on the ringroad would make it accessible to most. Land may be cheaper too?

A lawn bowls club would give a sedentary sport as the focus; could easily include a petanque (Boules?) for the Francophile contingent, and a barbeque area (where the pits are provided, you just bring your own charcoal and meats) for the American outdoorsmen. They could chuck horseshoes too. Inside would be a pool table (a full-size snooker table would be super) and the usual darts, dominoes and the like. Another deck could make for an all-weather shuffleboard court. There would be a nice clubhouse with a deck for the smokers, pipe and cigar friendly (or I won't join!) and there could be a play area for the sprogs although kids wouldn't be encouraged after 6 pm to closing. Once a week there would be a quality buffet (like the original Blind Beggar/Winchester in Jomtien).

Inevitably, the enterprise would need to be carefully structured to operate legally in Thailand. I guess 'the committee' may have to fork out for a WP for a real farang manager so that it doesn't get run the wrong way and maybe the 'mafia' will just let the Udon Old Duffers well alone to enjoy their cider, bowls (and strippers) in their twilight years without trying to screw the proverbial pooch.

'Lawn Bowling Social Club'... marvelous idea!! I've belonged to 2 different clubs of this nature, one in the Philippines and one in Australia, and both were absolutely great. If we could start something along this line, there is no doubt in my mind that it could be extremely successful and would attract numerous participants. Unfortunately it requires a rather large plot of ground - unless we opted for an artificial indoor court which might be the right way to go. It would be available year-round with no problems with the rainy season, plus it could be A/Ced for the heat of summer. COUNT ME IN.

'Lawn Bowling Social Club'...

Hey Pakawala, isn't that the game where you spend 15 mins using all the skill and judgement that you possess to get your woods nicely nestled around the jack, only for your opponent to sling the ball down with as much venom as he can muster and completely scatter the lot, leaving his nearest attempt (10 or 12 feet away) as the winning bowl?

stattointhailand wrote:'Lawn Bowling Social Club'...

Hey Pakawala, isn't that the game where you spend 15 mins using all the skill and judgement that you possess to get your woods nicely nestled around the jack, only for your opponent to sling the ball down with as much venom as he can muster and completely scatter the lot, leaving his nearest attempt (10 or 12 feet away) as the winning bowl?

Dontcha just hate it when she does that?

me and my wife have 4 rai on the ring road near big c,we have lived in pattaya for 7 years now and want to relocate to udon and build a lawn bowling club,play ground ,club house etc as same as in pattaya.
could anyone tell me if this would be a good idea,as i have noticed the average age for expats in udon is 50 plus,and they do not seem to have much activities around that area.
thanks david.

davidw1301 wrote:me and my wife have 4 rai on the ring road near big c,we have lived in pattaya for 7 years now and want to relocate to udon and build a lawn bowling club,play ground ,club house etc as same as in pattaya.
could anyone tell me if this would be a good idea,as i have noticed the average age for expats in udon is 50 plus,and they do not seem to have much activities around that area.
thanks david.

You're right David, there's not much available... right now it's either golf or bowling (or drinking). I'd LOVE to see a lawn bowls club open. Although most Americans have no idea what you're referring to, I've had the opportunity to play in Pattaya, the Philippines (for 12 years) and in Australia and I can assure those who don't know, this is a wonderful sport that has all the attributes of a great game. It's very easy to learn but very difficult to master. I've mentioned several times to my 'Commonwealth' golf buddies that I think this would have a lot of participation from the local falangs and by far, the general consensus was total agreement. The primary obstacle has always been finding a suitable area that is large enough but it sounds like you've already solved that problem.

David, you can certainly count on my support as long as I'm in the area.

I'm also interested in this activity, although I've never played. Just sounds like a fun way to socialize and get a bit of exercise and wholesome competition.

Beleive it or not it looks like another idea I had has to be scratched off the list. Over the last 4 or 5 years I have compiled a list of ventures I thought I could start up in Udon to keep the wife and I busy and bring in an extra few Baht. Of the 10 I have only one left that has'nt been done or proposed, and so it seems before I get there in two years or so, those who have retired before me have already snapped up all the opportunities I had previously thought of. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Oh by the way, no I wont tell you what the last one on the list is

Lawn bowling? Is that anything like bocci ball? Any eye-talians in here who can elaborate?

New ideas? How about a miniature golf course? Think you might get Thai and farang business if done right (a small beer stand with a beer gal or two). Any entra-pra-noors out there?

Don't want to dampen your enthusiasm Polehawk but, for me, miniature golf is fun... about once a month. Lawn bowls on the other is something that can be enjoyed 2-3 times a week (more in my case). Also, the beauty of it is, it can be played by almost EVERYONE. Whether they be man/woman, young/old, fat/skinny, tall/short - it just doesn't seem to make any difference. My club in Australia has one member that was 93 years old and walked with a cane. When he played, he had a plastic disk attached to the tip of his cane so as not to punch a hole in the green. If there's a bit of shade, the ladies will get into it as well. In the Philippines, some of the ladies were VERY GOOD and would give the men a run for their money, any day of the week.

Well, Pakawala, if they let you bring a beer out on that lawn while you're playing then that sounds like my kinda game. Young/old, man/woman, etc. Sounds like fun.

Mini Golf and/or Crazy Golf and Lawn Bowls is an excellent idea, and i am sure they would work out well with Thais and X-pats/Vacationers alike.

Saw a mini golf advert upnear Global the other day ,

Drive pass on its way and update later for you.

Oh yeah Aadvark, Thought of an Aussie Pub styled place,

I think Justin has the monopoly on that one