Hua Hin has been known as the “Royal Resort Beach Town” ever since King Rama Vl and Vl built their palaces here. Up until recently, King Rama Vll’s palace, named “Klai Kangwon” was the primary residence of Thailand’s current King, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
So, it was only fitting that Polo, also known as the “Sport of Kings,” should be played in Hua Hin, as it was on Saturday April 30th when the 7th Annual Asian Beach Polo championship took place. Always played on the beach in front of the InterContinental Resort, this extremely popular yearly event is the only Polo championship played on sand in Asia.
Teams from Thailand, England, Singapore and Belguim came together to compete, have fun and raise money for HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha’s Nabha Foundation.
This year’s event was organized by His Excellency Mr. Suwat Liptapanlop, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Harald Link, Chairman of B.Grimm Group and the President of the Thailand Equestrian Federation and Miss Proudputh Liptapanlop, Executive Director of Proud Real Estate Co., Ltd, the main sponsor.
For many Hua Hin residents the Asian Beach Polo Championship is the highlight of Hua Hin’s social scene and is never missed. It is also a very popular happening for Bangkok’s High Society Crowd with plenty of the glitterati in attendance.
The festivities began at 1pm with guest registration, food, drinks and lots of socializing. As last year, a large tented area was set up adjacent to the pitch with plenty of chairs and tables for comfortable viewing along with the sponsors who provided almost all of the food and drink inclusive in the ticket price.
The games started with the Grand Parade led by Harald Link on horseback marching down the beach to the polo pitch where Khun Suwat gave the opening address.
The day was nonstop action with kid’s polo, a fashion show on horseback, which saw leading Thai celebrities wearing luxurious brands from Burberry, The Met and Chindapa, and horse racing. But, it was the main event, the final Championship Polo match that had everyone’s riveted attention with Thailand pitted against Singapore. Led by team captain Luciano Tattoni, Thailand put on a strong showing in the three Chukkers that made up the match but 
in the end it was Ronnie Lim and his Singaporean teammates who garnered the trophy with a score of 5 to 2.
But the big surprise wasn’t who won the Championship, it was the freak storm that rolled thru Hua Hin just before the start of the outdoor cocktail dinner party. Hua Hin had seen dry, sunny blue sky weather for months but that night a torrential downpour rolled thru Hua Hin along with a giant windstorm that knocked out power from Palm Hills in the north to Kho Takiab in the South.
To the credit of the InterContinental’s professional staff, everything was quickly moved inside their new Ballroom and the party took place indoors under generator power. Although a different type of fun, it was still a great night with those in attendance feeling worse for the hotel staff than themselves as to how the evening turned out.
The show went on with performances by singers and professional actors elaborately staged in the Dream Catcher theme. An auction of several paintings took place and all monies raised went to the Nabha Foundation under the initiative of HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha.
The foundation was established on the belief that all people should have the opportunity to choose how they live even if they could not choose how they were born. Upon that belief they initially focus on giving a chance to current and former inmates to start a new life.
At Nabha they provide effective integrated learning and training courses to inmates, giving them skills to manufacture high quality products which are sold under the supervision of Nabha. In doing so they believe that inmates will regain their confidence as well as giving them the potential to earn a living. Moreover, they tirelessly work to ensure that people in need deserve a chance to prove themselves without any prejudice.
The original idea for the Asian Beach Polo Championship in Hua Hin came from Khun Suwat, Harald Link and Khun Nunthinee Tanner, Thailand’s first female polo player, and it is these three we have to thank for a very fun day and evening each year in April.