The Conception

The Gymkhana club at Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, was conceived in 1898 by a handful of expatriate gentlemen with the object of using the club as a means of encouraging sport in Northern Siam.

For the club to achieve this goal it should be managed so as to needs of the members and their guests and be run as a profitable where all profits are circulated back into the club for continual improvement.

The club would also act as a focal point where members could meet up during their work breaks and together with their wives enjoy a haven of tranquility, engage in idle (and sometimes malicious) gossip, participate in various sports and relax with the tipple of their choice on the veranda whilst the heat of the afternoon sun gave way to cooling breezes from the adjacent mountains.

The British playwright and novelist, Somerset Maungham wrote,when he visited the Gymkhana club while touring through the Chiang Mai district in the 1920s,”although horse racing is no more, there are excellent facilities for golf, tennis, squash and cricket. The Gymkhana club is well worth a visit and provides a chance to take a step back into a different kind of Thai history.”

His observation still applies to this day, 99 years or so later.

For more information on the history of the club, go here.