Inside Simpro Academy Phuket, the simulator centre that is serious enough for real pilots and racing drivers A rainy afternoon in Phuket does not leave you with quite as many options as a sunny one, which is part of what makes Simpro Academy Phuket interesting. Found inside Soho Pool Club at Boat Lagoon Marina, it swaps the beach and boat trips for proper racing simulators in a fully air-conditioned space. It is open from 9am to 9pm every day, and the setup is much closer to serious sim racing than the driving games you might have tried in an arcade. The setup runs four simulators: three for racing and one dedicated to flight. Of the racing rigs, two run triple-screen displays and one is built around VR. The hardware is consistent throughout: Simucube direct-drive wheelbases, Simtrecs load-cell pedals, and genuine Sparco and Recaro seats, with iRacing as the main racing platform, alongside Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa EVO, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa Rally, WRC, and Automobilista 2 for GT racing and rally enthusiasts. These are not entry-level home setups. The force feedback through the wheel and the resistance through the pedals are calibrated to replicate what a real car communicates to the driver, which is what makes the platform useful for anyone who actually races as well as for anyone who has never sat in a competition car in their life. On the track The racing simulators are built to teach as much as they are built to entertain. Every session opens with a briefing covering the basics: racing lines, braking zones, throttle application and the logic of carrying speed through a corner rather than fighting for it. From there, the 45 minutes of hands-on time runs with staff on hand for general assistance throughout, while dedicated one-on-one coaching is