Some Thais Turned Off By Outbreak Of ‘Tiger Fever’

Tiger Woods had barely unbuckled his seat belt after a 20-hour flight when a television crew broadcasting live on four of Thailand’s five channels burst into the first-class cabin.

Right behind were politicians, bureaucrats and business executives falling over each other for a chance to shake hands with Woods.

The 21-year-old golfing sensation, whose mother is a native Thai, arrived in Bangkok this week to compete in the Asian Honda Classic, and landed right in the middle of what the Thai press calls “Tiger Fever.”

In his short stay, Woods will earn $480,000 in appearance money, receive a royal decoration, be feted by Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and be asked to help promote the Asian Games, a regional Olympic-style competition Bangkok will host in 1998.

And he might even win the tournament, especially after sending the gallery into a frenzy during Friday’s second round by humbling the par-72 Thai Country Club course with a course-record 64 that put him atop the field by two strokes.

The Thai government makes no bones about whipping up “Thai-ger mania,” even though most Thais don’t golf and had not heard of Woods until this week.

Thailand’s ruling class - politicians, generals, businessmen - love golf. But most Thais are subsistence farmers whose only experience with golf is when their land is expropriated to build links.

“Our government’s reaction is too much,” said Thaweep Thiensai, 18, whose views echoed those of many Thais interviewed. “They want to give honors to someone who is basically a foreigner, while they do nothing to support our local athletes.”

Maj. Gen. Charouck Arirachakaran, secretary-general of Thailand’s Olympic committee, said he considers Woods only half-Thai.

“He takes part in every tournament as an American national, and there is little positive publicity Thailand can derive out of it,” Charouck said. “Only his mother is Thai.”