By Andrew Perrin

Posted Monday, June 27, 2005; 20:00 HKT
At Thailand's Kantarat Golf Course, step onto the tee, take in the view on the first hole, and it soon becomes clear that this will be a round to remember. Off to the right is a sign laying down the club's idiosyncratic rules to visitors: no photo taking, no weapons. Then, wait a minute or so and watch as a Boeing 747 comes in to land, with a roar and a screech, on the runway next to the fairway. Of course, such a distraction will wreak havoc with your game. But then, when it comes to playing Kantarat—located inside the grounds of Bangkok's Don Muang international airport—it's not really about the game.

Owned by the Royal Thai Air Force, the 18-hole course is sandwiched between the airport's two parallel runways. There's nothing fancy about the greens and fairways (or the price, at just $9 a round). But the attraction of Kantarat—whose entrance is 1.5 kilometers from the international terminal—is the marvelous sensation of teeing off within a decent drive's distance of a landing 747 and not getting arrested for doing so. Or the thrill of having to walk across a busy taxiway to reach the back nine (remember: hold onto your hat—those Rolls-Royce jet engines blow quite a gale). Afterward, you can retreat to the clubhouse for a cool shower, followed by an excellent Thai meal in the air-conditioned café. Sure, Kantarat is no St. Andrews, but as far as killing transit time goes, it's a hole-in-one.

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