Bangna Navy Golf Course is one of the cheapest full rounds inside Bangkok’s city limits, and it makes no apology for what it is: a flat, tree-shaded, nine-green layout run by the Royal Thai Navy since 1965, played twice around for 18 holes, with floodlights for evening golf. Nobody flies to Thailand for this course. But if you are staying on the east side of the city and want a relaxed, genuinely local round for a fraction of resort prices, it earns its place on the list.
This profile covers what the course actually is (the name confuses people), how the nine-hole routing works, where it sits in Bang Na, and who should play it — and who should give it a miss.
The course itself
The course opened in 1965, which makes it one of the older surviving layouts in Bangkok proper. No architect is credited anywhere we could find — this is a military welfare course, built and maintained by the navy rather than commissioned from a design firm, and it plays like it: functional routing on flat coastal-plain ground, framed by six decades of mature tree growth.
It is a nine-hole course played as 18. Each hole has two sets of tees, and the scorecard runs the same nine twice for a par of 72. Published yardages vary by source and tee arrangement — the fullest 18-hole figures on record sit between roughly 5,500 and 5,650 yards — so treat it as short by any modern standard. Several par 4s are within range off the tee for longer hitters, and the greens are described as relatively forgiving. The defence is width, not length: reviewers mention narrow fairways, an old, shady course and plenty of water waiting along the edges. It rewards straight, controlled golf and punishes the driver-everywhere approach, which is exactly why local listings describe it as a learning course for navy personnel and Bangkok club golfers alike.
The operator is the Royal Thai Navy’s sports development centre at Bang Na (ศูนย์พัฒนากีฬาราชนาวีบางนา), a welfare complex that also runs a swimming pool, a driving range and fitness facilities on the same grounds. Like most Thai military courses, it is open to the general public — course directories list it as semi-private with visitors welcomed, and green-fee schedules for walk-in civilian play are published on Thai golf sites. You do not need a membership, a military connection or an invitation; you do need to remember you are a guest inside a working navy community, and visiting golfers note that the posted rules are taken seriously.
Two naming traps are worth clearing up. First, this is not Plutaluang Navy Golf Course — that is the navy’s separate 36-hole spread near Sattahip on the Eastern Seaboard, a different course two hours away. Second, you will see this one listed variously as Bangna Navy Golf Course, Royal Navy (Ratchanavy) Golf Course Bangna, or simply the Navy golf course at Bang Na. Same place.
How a round here actually works
Because the 18 holes are two laps of the same nine from different tees, the second loop is familiar rather than repetitive — you already know where the water is, and the alternate tee positions change several of the holes’ shapes. If you only have a couple of hours, a nine-hole loop is an entirely normal way to play here, something Bangkok’s big-name clubs rarely accommodate.
The other reason regulars love it is night golf. The course is floodlit for evening play — listings have historically put the lights on until around 10 p.m., though published hours vary, so confirm when booking. In Bangkok’s climate, teeing off as the heat breaks and finishing under lights is the most comfortable golf you will play all trip; our guide to playing golf in hot weather explains why late starts beat dawn ones more often than people expect. We could not verify hole-by-hole details from official sources, so we will not pretend there is a famous signature hole — there is not. The appeal is the whole experience, not any single hole.
Location and getting there
The course sits in Bang Na district, east Bangkok, addressed at 4355 Sukhumvit Road (postcode 10260), with access listed off the Soi Lasalle (Sukhumvit 105) side. Listings place it close to the Sukhumvit line’s BTS Bang Na station — with the Soi Lasalle entrance, BTS Bearing is at least as close — which makes it one of the very few Bangkok courses you can realistically reach by Skytrain plus a short taxi hop — no small thing in this city’s traffic.
Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) is roughly 24 km away along the Bangna–Trat corridor; route planners quote around 30 minutes’ driving, traffic permitting. That makes this a plausible first or last round of a trip if you are staying east. Don Mueang (DMK) is on the opposite side of the city — allow well over an hour by road, more in rush hour.
Practical notes
- Cost: this is the bottom of the Bangkok market in the best sense — government-course pricing, far below the city’s tourist-facing clubs (verify current rates before you go; fees at Thai military courses change without much notice). Our Thailand golf cost guide shows where a round like this sits against the resort tier.
- Caddies: standard here as everywhere in Thailand, and caddie fees appear as a line item on local rate cards. See our guide to the Thai caddie system and tipping before your first round.
- Walking: the course is short and flat, and walking with a caddie is comfortable — a rarity among Bangkok-area courses.
- Dress and rules: collared shirts required; GolfPass also lists fivesomes as allowed and metal spikes as permitted, which tells you how relaxed the golf culture is here. The military-facility rules are the part to respect.
- Facilities: driving range, putting green, pro shop, club rental and a clubhouse restaurant serving Thai food.
- When to play: late afternoon into the floodlit evening is the local move. For seasonal planning, see the best time to play golf in Thailand.
Is it right for your trip?
Play it if you are staying on Sukhumvit’s eastern stretch and want a cheap, easy, air-of-real-Thailand round; if you are a beginner or mid-handicapper who would rather groove a swing than be beaten up; or if the idea of nine holes under floodlights after a day of meetings or sightseeing appeals. Skip it if this is your one marquee round in Bangkok — put that money toward Thai Country Club or the Lido-replica Ballyshear Golf Links near Suvarnabhumi, both of which are serious architecture. Bangna Navy is not competing with them, and its price makes that honest.
For the full picture of where it fits among the capital’s courses, start with our Bangkok golf guide, and if you are still sketching the wider itinerary, the Golf in Thailand hub covers every region and planning question in one place.