Hotel magnate behind Thailand racing’s Rising Star of Isan
Developer of $100 million project in country’s north east unveils plans for major thoroughbred tourist attraction
The developers of a lavish horseracing and tourism precinct in north eastern Thailand which promises to put the Asian country’s thoroughbred industry back on an international pedestal have released detailed designs and artists impressions of the massive project.
Construction of the Khon Kaen Jockey Club’s (KKJC) racecourse at a greenfield site in the region of Isan is expected to begin early in the new year and take two years to complete stage one at a cost predicted to be in the vicinity of US$100 million (approx. AU$157 million).
The racecourse will have a 1000-metre straight track similar to Hong Kong’s Sha Tin or Melbourne’s Flemington while the circle track will be able to run races from 1200 metres to staying races up to 2600 metres.
It will have a turf course as well as a Polytrack to enable racing to be held 48 times annually.
The developers say a hotel will also be constructed on the facility during phase one, while stage two promises a sports stadium capable of hosting Muay Thai boxing and soccer events and there are also plans for basketball, golf and tennis facilities, as well as other leisure pursuits such as paddle boarding, at the all-purpose attraction.
Polo and other equestrian facilities, as well as an on-site veterinary clinic, will also be constructed.
The development, which would have a racecourse capacity of about 12,000 people, is predominantly being bankrolled by high-flying hotel and resort magnate Michael Petpoon, a passionate Thai racehorse owner who is in the process of delivering on a vision for the sport in his home country three decades in the making.
KKJC president and chairman Petpoon and the organisation’s chief executive Peter O’Neill detailed their plans at the Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale on the Gold Coast earlier this week.
Their development comes soon after ANZ Bloodstock News reported that another group, which has sought the advice of Singaporean racing identity Eric Koh, had identified a parcel of land close to Bangkok International Airport where it planned to build a racecourse capable of housing 1,500 horses and host race meetings twice a week.
The two proposals to reinvent horseracing in Thailand, which currently has a cottage industry based at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, come as the 180-year-old Singapore industry hurtles towards its permanent closure, no later than October 2024, and Macau’s industry is in seemingly terminal decline.
O’Neill confirmed that the KKJC development had already secured a licence, one of just eight available in Thailand, to conduct racing on the 51-hectare site, which is about a 45-minute flight and 400 kilometres from Bangkok.
“We have been attempting to build a track in different parts of Thailand and our first attempt was in Pattaya [south east of Bangkok] … but there isn’t a licence currently in that province, which means you would have to secure another licence which is quite difficult,” O’Neill said.
“We were approached and have secured the licence for Khon Kaen province where we will be building a regional, but international standard, racetrack and an equine resort.
“The permit is tied to a specific province, so you can’t move it into another province. We’ve been going at this for quite a few years now and I don’t think a lot of people realise just how much work it takes to achieve the licence and to acquire this parcel of land.”
The site was pieced together after coming to terms with 29 separate owners to buy the land, according to the developers.
The multifaceted facility, promoted as a major tourist attraction, will be in a region with a population of about 30 to 35 million people and on the racing front, it will initially have the capacity to have 96 horses in training at KKJC as well as 60 on-course race day stables.
O’Neill believes that the people of Isan will support racing while it will also become a destination for international visitors, with flights from Vietnam, Singapore and China expected to be incoming in the near future.
“Isan people are very strong, proud people. They have a very strong cultural heritage, they love games of chance, number games and the culture is very, very rich up there,” O’Neill said.
“The track is about 45 minutes drive from Khon Kaen airport, which is being expanded to receive international flights.
“The land is 15 minutes from the high-speed rail, which is slated to be built by 2025. That will come down through China, into Laos, into Thailand and down into Malaysia, so it’s a prime location, and it geographically sits in the centre of Isan with about eight provinces surrounding, so we’ll be drawing on the history of horseracing in Khon Kaen province and Korat province.”
The KKJC bought nine horses at Tuesday’s Magic Millions 2YOs In Training Sale, spending $154,000 on the group which will soon be exported to Thailand to race, while Petpoon and O’Neill also used their trip to Australia as a fact-finding mission.
They met with Gold Coast Turf Club officials to inspect its redeveloped turf track and Polytrack, the latter which has been used to hold racing almost weekly during the upgrade taking place since last January’s rich Magic Millions race day.
Petpoon, who also has external financial backing for the large-scale project, already has more than 30 horses in training in the province of Korat, about three hours from Bangkok, and his stable races at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.
Bangkok resident Petpoon, 62, who was educated in Switzerland, was a partner in Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, which was sold in February 2019 for a reported US$300 million (approx. AU$471 million) to InterContinental Hotels Group.
He and his business partners now operate another luxury hotel group Discover Collection, which has a presence in Thailand, the Bahamas, India, Mexico, Kenya and Bhutan.
The businessman is adamant that he can deliver on his vision of building his own racecourse and develop a thriving thoroughbred industry that has the respect domestically and internationally.
Petpoon said: “[This project] has been my dream for 30-plus years. I love the horses, that’s what it is about, and I want to improve the quality of Thai horses.”
Gold Coast-based trainer Mel Eggleston, who also runs the successful Queensland stable of Kris Lees, has been a friend of Petpoon for more than two decades and he assisted in KKJC’s Magic Millions buying spree.
O’Neill and Petpoon also confirmed that international wagering firms would be an important part of leveraging betting on racing at KKJC, but discussions were in the very early stages and no deals have yet been reached.
They would also be looking at tapping into the expertise of trainers and jockeys and ancillary service providers from nearby Singapore when its industry closes.
Prize-money coffers would be helped through the support of Thailand corporate sponsorship until betting turnover was sufficient to increase the money to be won by owners, trainers and jockeys, they said.
“What we need is talent and know-how. What we like to say is, we’re pressing restart on the Thai racing industry. We need to start again,” O’Neill said.
“The industry has been declining for years and it needs a shock to get it restarted, to get it accepted back into the international racing community and that is our goal, to have it as an international standard track and at the moment we’re not.
“If we don’t do that, the industry will continue to die. We need to set up an entirely new system with proper regulation, with a proper regulatory authority and that may mean there’s a parallel industry running [in Bangkok] but that will not be to an international standard.”
He added: “Our tagline is The Rising Star of Isan and Integrity is what you’ll find at The Rising Star.”
While racing is at the heart of the club’s development, it is also being developed as an eco-tourism destination with the support of the Thai government.
Earlier this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Sports Authority of Thailand signed a Letters of Intent (LOI) with KKJC to promote the north east region of the Asian country, agreements which garnered significant local media coverage.
O’Neill said: “The three prongs of the Thai government’s policy going forward with the industry of tourism are sports tourism, medical and wellness tourism and heritage and cultural tourism, so we’re ticking all of those boxes.”