GolfOkay Glossary
E-Vouchers
E-vouchers are electronic booking confirmations that customers present at the golf course.
What they contain:
- Booking details (course, date, tee time, number of players)
- Customer name
- Unique booking ID
- QR code for verification
- Terms/cancellation policy
Why needed:
- Manual desk workflows: 50-55% of courses don’t have APIs. They confirm via phone/LINE. E-voucher is the digital proof of that manual booking.
- Customer convenience: Send via LINE/email, no paper printout needed
- Course verification: Staff scan QR code or check ID against their list
- Payment tracking: Links to payment status (paid/pending/refunded)
Flow:
- Booking confirmed (via API or manual desk)
- System generates e-voucher with QR code
- Sent to customer via LINE/email
- Customer shows at course (phone screen or print)
- Course verifies and allows play
Example use case:
- Customer books via LINE bot
- Manual desk calls course, confirms 10am tee time
- System generates e-voucher: “Booking #12345, Springfield Golf Club, Oct 15 10:00am, 2 players”
- Customer receives PDF/image with QR code
- Shows phone at course check-in
Basically: digital replacement for paper booking confirmations, critical for hybrid (API + manual) operations.
Manual Desk
What it is: Human staff handling golf course bookings via phone/LINE/email when API integration isn’t available.
Why it exists: 50-55% of Thai golf courses don’t have modern booking APIs. They only accept reservations via phone or LINE chat.
How it works:
- Customer inquiry comes in (via LINE bot or platform)
- System identifies course has no API
- Routes request to manual desk operator
- Operator calls/messages course directly
- Confirms tee time manually
- Updates system, generates e-voucher
NOT a failure: This is accepting market reality. Even with automation, manual desk will handle 40-50% of bookings long-term.
Efficiency targets:
- <24hr quote SLA for standard requests
- <48hr confirmation for legacy courses
- Pre-negotiated time windows reduce coordination overhead
- Templated messaging and macros for efficiency
Aggregator APIs
What they are: Third-party platforms that connect to multiple golf courses and expose a unified API for booking.
Examples:
- Golfsavers: 500+ courses, proven API
- GolfThai: 300+ Thai courses, 22 years experience
Why use them:
- Instant inventory: 200-500 courses accessible from day 1
- No individual integrations: One API instead of negotiating with each course
- Real-time availability: See open tee times immediately
- Standardized format: Consistent booking flow across courses
Tradeoff:
- Pay commission to aggregator (on top of course commission)
- Less control over pricing/terms vs direct relationships
- Still miss 50-55% of market (courses not on aggregators)
Strategy: Use aggregators for immediate launch, build direct course relationships for better margins over time.
PromptPay
What it is: Thailand’s national real-time payment system, like Venmo/Zelle but government-backed.
Key stats:
- 81M users (2025)
- 0.8-1.5% transaction fees (vs 3%+ for credit cards)
- QR code payments
- Instant settlement
Why it matters for GolfOkay:
- Local preference: Thai customers prefer PromptPay over cards
- Lower fees: Saves ~1.5-2% per transaction vs cards
- Fast checkout: Scan QR, pay from any Thai bank app
- No chargebacks: Direct bank transfer (not credit)
Integration:
- Generate PromptPay QR code with booking amount
- Send to customer via LINE
- Customer scans & pays from their bank app
- Webhook confirms payment
- System releases e-voucher
TAT License
What it is: Tourism Authority of Thailand license required to operate as a tour operator/travel agent.
Status for GolfOkay: Active and operational. Tan’s company has TAT license.
What it allows:
- Sell travel packages as seller-of-record
- Accept payment directly from customers
- Issue bookings/confirmations in company name
- Operate transport services for tourists
Why it matters:
- No regulatory blockers: Can process packages from day 1
- Direct sales model: No need for partner-of-record workarounds
- Revenue capture: Keep full margin, not revenue share with licensed partner
Previous assumption (wrong): Docs originally assumed license wasn’t available, built entire B2B-first SaaS strategy around pre-license compliance. License being active changed everything → pivot to direct package sales.
Commission-Based Revenue
How golf booking commissions work:
Standard model:
- Golf course sells tee time at ฿3,000
- Agent/platform books on behalf of customer
- Course pays 12-20% commission to agent
- Agent charges customer ฿3,000 (or adds markup)
GolfOkay model:
- Average package value: ฿100K (~$3,000)
- Golf commission (15%): ~$450
- Transport margin: ~$200 (via Investor’s network)
- Ancillaries (insurance, equipment, VIP services): ~$100-200
- Total margin per package: ~$750-850
Why this beats SaaS:
- 300/month SaaS subscription
- Revenue scales with package volume (not seat count)
- 20 packages = $15K-17K revenue (90 days)
- 75 packages/month = $56-64K revenue (Month 9, path to profitability)
Hybrid Integration Approach
The reality: Only a minority of Thai golf courses have modern APIs. Many are fully manual (phone/LINE only).
GolfOkay’s approach:
- Aggregator APIs (immediate): Golfsavers, GolfThai for 200-500 courses
- Direct course APIs (selective): Golfmanager, Lightspeed where volume justifies effort
- Manual desk (for manual courses): Human staff handle phone/LINE confirmations
Why hybrid:
- Can’t API-connect every course (they don’t have systems)
- Aggregators provide instant inventory but miss significant portion of market
- Manual desk is NOT a failure—it’s accepting market reality
Automation targets:
- 50-65% of workflows automated (FAQ handling 85%, simple bookings 65%)
- Manual desk handles complex packages, exceptions, high-value corporate
- Both coexist: some bookings fully automated, others human-assisted
Transport Attach Rate
What it is: Percentage of golf packages that include transport services.
Target: ≥40% of packages
Why it matters:
- Ancillary revenue: ~$200 margin per package with transport
- Investor synergy: Investor operates transport/concierge network
- Customer value: Golf tourists need airport pickup, course transfers, hotel transport
How to increase:
- Bundle transport in default package pricing
- Offer “golf + transport” packages at discount vs separate booking
- Highlight convenience (driver knows courses, handles clubs, multilingual)
Economics:
- Package without transport: ~$550 margin (commission + ancillaries)
- Package with transport: ~$750 margin (commission + transport + ancillaries)
- 40% attach rate on 75 packages = 30 packages with transport = +$6K/month revenue
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
GolfOkay operational SLAs:
Quote SLA: <24hr for standard requests
- Customer sends inquiry via LINE
- System or manual desk provides price quote within 24 hours
- “Standard” = single course, 2-4 players, clear dates
Confirmation SLA: <48hr for manual course bookings
- After customer accepts quote
- Manual desk confirms tee time with course within 48 hours
- E-voucher issued once confirmed
Why they matter:
- Customer experience: Fast quotes = higher conversion
- Operational efficiency: SLAs force process optimization
- Manual desk benchmark: Proves hybrid model works at scale
Month 3 target: Hit both SLAs with 50%+ automation on simple workflows.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)
What it is: Post-trip customer satisfaction rating (1-5 scale).
Target: ≥4.6/5 average
How measured:
- Automated survey sent after trip completion
- Questions: booking ease, course quality, transport (if used), overall experience
- 5 = excellent, 4 = good, 3 = okay, 2 = poor, 1 = terrible
Why it matters:
- Retention: CSAT ≥4.5 correlates with repeat booking rate
- Referrals: High CSAT drives word-of-mouth (referral program leverage)
- Process feedback: Low scores identify broken workflows
Month 3 milestone: CSAT ≥4.6/5 proves product-market fit, not just volume.