thailand Drive, He Said

A car nut and a golf nut -- that’s Prachin Eamlumnow in, well, a nutshell.

Prachin, the CEO of Bangkok-based Grand Prix International Corporation, publishes some of Thailand’s most popular car magazines and organizes Thailand’s biggest auto show, the annual Bangkok International Motor Show. He takes driving seriously, and these days he’s trying to persuade the capital city’s golfers and prospective home buyers to get into their cars and head roughly 120 miles northwest, to the city of Kanchanaburi -- the center of the nation’s gem industry -- where his Grand Prix Golf Club is expected open any day now.

The club is among the attractions at Blue Diamond Golf & Water Sports Club, a 790-acre resort community that will eventually include villas and condos, a five-star hotel, a spa, a lake, various recreational amenities, and, naturally, an auto race track.

Grand Prix’s 18-hole, 7,261-yard course has been designed by Prayard Chinaraj, but Prachin recently confessed to Thai Golf News that he “enjoyed adding my own personal touches as well.”

Prachin, who’s 69, has reportedly been playing golf for 40 years and has long dreamed of owning his own golf course. He hopes Grand Prix -- he calls it “our own piece of golf heaven” -- will eventually attract a professional tournament.

Some information in this post originally appeared in the February 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.