Horse racing club finally gets turfed out

The Crown Property Bureau has sent a letter to the Royal Turf Club asking it to leave the Nang Loeng racecourse on Phitsanulok Road within 180 days after its lease expired 19 years ago.

In the letter, Anant Waiwitaya, a senior legal official at the bureau, wrote that the club is required to leave the compound in Bangkok’s Dusit district and pay any outstanding rent and expenses incurred since then.

According to the letter dated April 4, the bureau has alternate uses for the land and buildings and expects full cooperation from the club.

The letter referred to three lease contracts for the track, its five-storey grandstand, two six-storey car parks, a five-storey management building, a one-storey structure and a swimming pool.

The six-month contracts were signed on Sept 29, 1999, with rents ranging from 10,000-30,000 baht a month.

A source at the Royal Turf Club said the club’s executives are seeking a new site, although initially it may ask to use the Royal Bangkok Sports Club’s facilities in Pathumwan for its racing.

Plans to relocate were discussed during the previous governments of Chuan Leekpai and Thaksin Shinawatra.

Pattaya was once designated for its new location but the board of the Royal Turf Club cited financial constraints as a major obstacle. In 2003, the relocation cost was estimated at about one billion baht.

Earlier last year, there was a plan to transform the historic club into a “community hive”, to attract visitors, but that project also fell by the wayside.

The club was opened in 1916 under the patronage of King Rama VI, with the initial purpose of generating revenue from horse racing to be used for breeding and nurturing horses.

Over the years, it became known as a popular gathering place for prominent military officers and politicians.

It later became known as “Thai Field”, instead of “Foreigner’s Field” — a name coined by it only allowing non-Thai members in its early days.

Presently, the club is famous for its racing which is held every other Sunday. It also has other facilities, such as tennis courts, a swimming pool and dining room.

The club, however, has been plagued by falling revenue in recent years due to a decline in horse racing’s popularity.

The venue has also been criticised for being a place of intrigue concerning business groups and military officers who control the club.

The Pitak Siam Group once gathered on the grounds with the aim of ousting the government of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2012. The one day protest was led by Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, known commonly as Seh Ai, who was secretary-general of the Royal Turf Club for many terms.