How APPT and the FIP Tour Took Root in Thailand

The clearest sign that a tournament has found a home is not the opening ceremony. It is the return visit. In Thailand, APPT and the CUPRA FIP Tour have moved beyond isolated appearances: venues have hosted repeat editions, new cities have joined the schedule, and professional and amateur players have found more opportunities to compete.

They have not followed identical paths. The Asia Pacific Padel Tour, better known as APPT, combines professional competition with amateur categories. The International Padel Federation’s CUPRA FIP Tour offers a different incentive: results that count towards the FIP world ranking. Understanding that distinction helps explain how both have taken root.

Phuket opened the door

Thailand’s first CUPRA FIP Tour event was the FIP Promotion Padel Asia, held at Padel Phuket @ Blue Tree from 15 to 19 November 2023. Qualifying occupied the first two days, with the main draw running from 17 to 19 November. The tournament offered €5,000 in prize money.

That was the tour’s arrival, not the arrival of padel itself. Courts and a playing community were already there. Blue Tree provided the setting in which an existing local activity could connect with an international competition.

APPT followed at the same venue from 10 to 12 May 2024. Its Phuket Open lists 105 team entries. The shared starting point matters: neither circuit needed to create a sporting destination from scratch. A Thai host club supplied the courts and local organisation; the international circuit supplied a wider competitive stage.

APPT gave amateurs a place on the same programme

In early 2025, APPT linked the capital with the island. The Bangkok Open ran at Pad Thai Padel from 31 January to 2 February, followed by the Phuket Open at Blue Tree from 7 to 9 February. Bangkok’s event page lists 101 team entries, while Phuket attracted more than 120. These are entries across categories, not a count of unique players.

Padel Phuket was also the first club APPT returned to, according to the tour’s account of the 2025 event. That made the second edition more than another date on a calendar: it established continuity.

The amateur draw helps explain the appeal. Phuket’s 2025 programme included men’s, women’s and mixed categories at both professional and amateur levels. The men’s amateur competition alone had 49 pairs. Players did not have to be touring professionals to take part in the weekend.

That format offers a useful middle ground between a club competition and the demands of a world-ranking event. An amateur can enter an appropriate category, face unfamiliar opponents and watch the professional matches at the same venue. The event is something to play in, not only something to watch.

The number of amateur entries is a reminder that the professional finals tell only part of the story. A busy tournament also depends on the players who turn up to compete at their own level.

In 2026, APPT expanded through clubs and local partnerships

Bangkok hosted the Pad Thai Padel Grand Slam from 15 to 18 January 2026, with US$13,000 in professional prize money.

In March, APPT partnered with Phuket Padel Series for a Challenger at Rawai Padel from 20 to 22 March, followed a week later by the third Blue Tree Open.

The partnership illustrates how a regional tour can work with an existing community rather than simply arrive, stage a tournament and leave. Local organisers retain a role in bringing players together, while an APPT event connects that weekend to a wider circuit. It does not make every Phuket Padel Series tournament an APPT event; that depends on the individual edition.

Pattaya followed with its first APPT Grand Slam at Prime Padel Pattaya from 17 to 19 July. APPT reported more than 110 players representing 21 nationalities across nine categories. Thai players were part of the competitive story, not just the host-country backdrop: two all-Thai pairs reached the professional women’s semi-finals.

FIP brought the world-ranking route

The CUPRA FIP Tour’s return to Phuket in June 2025 added another reason to travel and compete. The FIP Bronze Phuket ran at Blue Tree from 18 to 22 June, with €7,000 in prize money. FIP’s preview identified 26 countries represented in the men’s field.

For a player pursuing a FIP ranking, the attraction is specific: an international ranking opportunity on Thai soil. For a locally based competitor who meets the entry requirements, that can mean testing their game against visiting players without first organising an overseas trip. Entry still depends on the tournament’s regulations, ranking cut-offs, qualifying places and wild cards.

That wider Thai presence was visible again in 2026. Koh Samui and Koh Phangan staged FIP Bronze tournaments in May. September brought the FIP Bronze High Velocity Phuket and the FIP Silver High Velocity Bangkok, the latter offering €18,000 in prize money. Despite its Bangkok event name, the Silver was hosted at Pista Samakom Racquet & Social Club in Pak Kret, Nonthaburi, in the Bangkok metropolitan area.

Bangkok’s Silver produced international champions in both draws: Bo Luttikhuis and Janine Hemmes won the women’s title, while Álvaro Montiel and Gonzalo Rubio won the men’s.

Two circuits, different reasons to enter

APPT and FIP should not be treated as two labels for the same product. APPT offers its own rankings and a programme that can accommodate several playing levels. The CUPRA FIP Tour places its tournaments within the FIP world-ranking system. An APPT result is not automatically a FIP-ranking result.

The choice therefore starts with the player’s objective. For an amateur seeking a category-based tournament weekend, APPT may be a suitable option. For a player pursuing FIP points, a CUPRA FIP Tour event serves that purpose. Neither label alone guarantees a suitable draw; the categories and entry conditions of the specific tournament still matter.

Nor do the two circuits account for all competitive padel in Thailand. Thai Padel Series, Phuket Padel Series and other local competitions have their own roles. Thai Padel Series’ Koh Samui Grand Slam in April 2026, for example, offered seven categories, including a senior category. The international story sits alongside that domestic activity, not in place of it.

The next chapter is already on the calendar

As of 15 October 2026, FIP’s calendar schedules further High Velocity Bronze events in Samui from 19 to 25 October, Phangan from 26 October to 1 November, and Phuket from 23 to 29 November. The planned return visits would extend an already active year.

The strongest evidence of APPT and FIP’s growing place in Thailand is the sequence behind them: a Phuket debut, return editions, expansion to other destinations and different routes into competition. Local clubs have been central throughout.

The longer-term opportunity is to turn those tournament weekends into sustained participation: more returning players, more Thai competitors progressing through the categories, and stronger club communities between events. Bringing a tour to Thailand creates an occasion. Giving players a reason to come back is what makes it part of the sporting calendar.