Thailand Pool
I've been to Thailand about 10 times in the last 4 years. But, I never went for playing with pool balls.
Except for those nice pool hall places, most places play 8-ball, you pay about 20 baht a game which is about 55 cents I think. An employee will usually rack for you. They have a rule if you scratch or don't touch your ball your opponent will get 2 turns. So your opponent shoots until he misses, then he gets another turn, unless he fouls too. The ball in hand is in the kitchen. Some places have bad tables, and some places have decent or good tables. Most tables do appear to be 9 footers though. The only place I seen nice tables was in Pattaya, I can't remember the name, I guess it is the places others have mentioned. It has nice tables and non-bar like atmosphere to play pool. I think they have tournaments there too. Oh.... in Bangkok a decent place to play and meet ladies is Gulliver's.
Last year I was in Pattaya playing at a beer bar off of Walking street in Pattaya (google.. Pattaya Walking Street), some guys wanted to play for money. I already suspected they try to make money off some sorry drunk foreigners (farangs). I didn't care if I lost 10 bucks or so, so I played to see what his skills were like. We played for 100 baht a game, almost 3 dollars a game. He wasn't too happy when he lost about 7 games in a row, I guess he found out I wasn't the typical drunk foreigner. I was just drunk a little bit.. haha. He finally won a game, but he did the double or nothing trick until he won, then I told him I don't want to play anymore. I didn't want to take his money anyways, he had a few buddies there that play for money too, and they looked like they would try to kick my ass somewhere if I left with his money. After this he wanted to play some more for just fun, no money and said I was good. I was relieved to see they didn't want to kick my ass, they looked like they knew some Muay Thai.
If you go there and want to play some pool, I'd be afraid to bring a nice cue with you, it might disappear, plus it's usually hot and humid there. Other than that, Thailand is a great place for vacation and pretty safe.
I've been to Thailand about 10 times in the last 4 years. But, I never went for playing with pool balls.
Except for those nice pool hall places, most places play 8-ball, you pay about 20 baht a game which is about 55 cents I think. An employee will usually rack for you. They have a rule if you scratch or don't touch your ball your opponent will get 2 turns. So your opponent shoots until he misses, then he gets another turn, unless he fouls too. The ball in hand is in the kitchen. Some places have bad tables, and some places have decent or good tables. Most tables do appear to be 9 footers though. The only place I seen nice tables was in Pattaya, I can't remember the name, I guess it is the places others have mentioned. It has nice tables and non-bar like atmosphere to play pool. I think they have tournaments there too. Oh.... in Bangkok a decent place to play and meet ladies is Gulliver's.
Last year I was in Pattaya playing at a beer bar off of Walking street in Pattaya (google.. Pattaya Walking Street), some guys wanted to play for money. I already suspected they try to make money off some sorry drunk foreigners (farangs). I didn't care if I lost 10 bucks or so, so I played to see what his skills were like. We played for 100 baht a game, almost 3 dollars a game. He wasn't too happy when he lost about 7 games in a row, I guess he found out I wasn't the typical drunk foreigner. I was just drunk a little bit.. haha. He finally won a game, but he did the double or nothing trick until he won, then I told him I don't want to play anymore. I didn't want to take his money anyways, he had a few buddies there that play for money too, and they looked like they would try to kick my ass somewhere if I left with his money. After this he wanted to play some more for just fun, no money and said I was good. I was relieved to see they didn't want to kick my ass, they looked like they knew some Muay Thai.
If you go there and want to play some pool, I'd be afraid to bring a nice cue with you, it might disappear, plus it's usually hot and humid there. Other than that, Thailand is a great place for vacation and pretty safe.
Last edited: