Thread: Hua Hin Overrated

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

and very soon Thailand will only be popular to those after a cheap and easy shag!

Soon?

They have managed to alienate the budget tourists quite effectively.

No mean feat for a country that at one time was almost completely reliant on this sector for tourism income.

Agreeing with most here, one needs to explore the many regions and open your opyions. The secret is to discover where 'they' ain't.

Hua Hin impressed me as the kind of place suited for folks who like to spend their holidays hunting down fish & chips shops and watching football with their matey-mates.

Every time we've visited Thailand we've alway had a stop off at HH - Love the place!

As mentioned by others getting out and about is the key, if I wanted white isolated sandy beaches I would just drive the 4hrs south from my house to the whitest beaches in OZ (Esperance).

I admit each time we have gone the place has become a little more populated with us farangs but still a nice mix I think. The flash new shopping centre was full of locals although still easy for us to enjoy a night of bowling and beer for example.

Looking forward to again exploring more in the region later this year when we come over again.

i had a good time in HH, mind you i reckon the company had a bit to do with it

I was in HH about 9 years ago. The main thing I remember was the horse shit on the beach. There were always about 10 thais hiring out their horses on the beach. The horse shit was all over the place and it made a strange mix wuth the sand, especially when the sea water came in over it. Strange but I can still smell that shitty mixture...............and i will never go back.

I returned to Hua Hin for a visit in Aug last year, and I thought it was pretty horrible. Overpriced, too many tourist lurks, too many jaded farangs. But I was surprised how many nice places are within an hour or two's drive.

Originally Posted by HAMILTON

The main thing I remember was the horse shit on the beach. There were always about 10 thais hiring out their horses on the beach. The horse shit was all over the place and it made a strange mix wuth the sand, especially when the sea water came in over it.

They pretty much clean it up, now. Though you do occasionally come across discarded plastic bags filled with horseshit, rather than just the biodegradable stuff, itself.

Originally Posted by good2bhappy

Nakon Srithamarat

^ What? Nothing there. Beach further north is good.

I'd go to HH to see NR, her son, the dogs and the new kitties.

Originally Posted by rotator

You are a tourist. You go to Hua Hin and complain that it is a tourist trap

Yes, too funny.

I stayed a month+ a coulpe of years back.
I enjoyed the night bazar/night market offering good food.
One off the girls took mr to her favourite place been one off the last food stands on the top off the road. Japaneese food .
There was a article hanging there from a aussie food critic and the food vendor
was one of the chefs behind the japaneese restaurant in one off the Sheratons in Bangkok. He had also been working in famous restaurants in japan with a good rep.
Anyway this was his path in life now and he had been recognized by this food critic s.f.
He did his coocking and food prepering with such a finess that there was always a small group of people watching.
He spoke good english and the food was really good. We ate there alot.

otherwise you have a couple of muay thai gyms, one very basic one swede/thai owner ship. The thai man is quite famous being a three times bangkok champ in his younger days. So they said. Fight nights 300 bath a ticket and not the 1000 bath rip of like other places.
They have a nice quiet bar scene, the girls were friendly enough.
And the locals were nice
The beach is so so, the older part of town is quite nice for a walk.
Cha am i didnt care for. The funni part is I went ther for aday with the gf and the atmosphere was unplesant and she returned to hua hin. I stayed afew more hours untill evening. Then i took a private car back driven by a thai girl and she had very few good things to say about cha am. To much violenc, to much thai mafia,
so on so on. Later in the evenig I was chatting with the inn keepers (dutch man and upper class thai lady) and they said the same. The guys at the gym said the same. I really didn like cha am .
My friends went to Hua Hin to have a look and returned to Pattaya after two days, they were bored.
I have never been back but is ok, though for me a bit to boring in the long run.
I stayed at first at a small hotel paying 1100 bath but later i moved in to the older parts of the city in a farang/thai guest house paing 600 bth.

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

I'd go to HH to see NR, her son, the dogs and the new kitties.

And we'd love to see you. Anytime, Jettie.

the hua hin cricket 6's tournament at Dusit Thani is starting soon, damn good fun. wish I could be there this year, but cannot.

Originally Posted by Floridathunderstorm

It seems that every place you go, in the Land of Smiles these days, is a tourist trap.

No, not really...

Just gotta know WHERE to go - not going where the wife's family wants you to go is the first step.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

the hua hin cricket 6's tournament at Dusit Thani is starting soon, damn good fun. wish I could be there this year, but cannot.

Nope, you definitely can't. It was last week.

Originally Posted by DaffyDuck

Originally Posted by Floridathunderstorm

It seems that every place you go, in the Land of Smiles these days, is a tourist trap.

No, not really...

Just gotta know WHERE to go - not going where the wife's family wants you to go is the first step.

I agree with you. However, have you ever tried to go somewhere in Thailand without your wife's family being automatically included. It's not only confining but it's pretty expensive when you have 10 people going instead of 2. Also, they tend to try and pick the places to stay. Thai comfort is usually not western comfort. Also, these people seem to eat every two hours whether they're hungry or not. It's the main communications attraction of the country as you brush away the flies and eat suspect food.

We did manage to drive over to Chantaburi and stayed 1 night at Chao Lao Beach and another in downtown Chantaburi. Saw only a couple of westerners the whole time. We stayed at Y's Resort at Chao Lao. Beach is terrible at that end of Chao Lao. At the other end, close to the Seaquarium, the beach was beautiful. By the way, the Seaquarium was incredible and it was free. We stayed at the Grand Hotel the 2nd night. Nice older hotel with a great view from the 16th floor. Only 750 Baht double including a large buffet breakfast. However, the extra rooms for my wife's family drove up the cost considerably.

Chantaburi has no taxis and only a few tuk tuks. Luckily, we had a van available to get around.

Originally Posted by Floridathunderstorm

However, have you ever tried to go somewhere in Thailand without your wife's family being automatically included.

Yes. All the time.

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Yes. All the time.

Under no circumstance buy a pickup. Stick with the motorcycle.

Originally Posted by Floridathunderstorm

have you ever tried to go somewhere in Thailand without your wife's family being automatically included.

I'm with Marmite on this one. Constantly

I don't understand why so many people have problems with their wives or their wife's family. If you don't want them there, just say 'no'. If you don't want to stop for somtam every hour, don't stop. If you don't want them to come and take your house over, don't let them.

Just because you wife might be a nice piece of arse, doesn't mean you're a doormat.

Marmite, I like your view on Thai marriage and Thai family. "Just say no". It's not that hard. I've been married to a Thai for nearly 13 years and don't have any of those problems as she knows how I feel about it and the ground rules are understood. She can go and do anything she wants to with her friends or family, but if I am involved then they have to understand my wishes as well. So far this has worked wonderfully as they all know what I like and dislike, what I will and will not do, and they respect that and we get along just fine.

That may work when you live here all or most of the time. My wife, son, and I are here for a visit. She has not seen her family in 5 years and I guess she wants to be with them as much as possible.

I may have given the wrong impression. All of her family does not go everywhere with us. Most of the time, especially when we have to fly domestically, only the three of us go. Other times my niece or one of my wife's sisters comes along. This may be due to the fact that my wife is not familiar with the landscape, as she has lived in the US for almost 35 years. She claims that Thailand has changed so much that she no longer knows her way around.

Anyway, we will be leaving in about a week to go back and this will probably be my last trip. Getting too old to get on planes for 16 hour flights in cattlecar conditions. However, Nok Air was a pleasant surprise domestically. Very comfortable flights and service.

Floridathunderstorm,

Yes, I went through that too. My wife lived in the U.S. for almost nine years and when we came (each year) to visit for a couple of weeks, either her Mother, and/or her sisters were with us constantly. If she only sees them once a year I guess you just have to live with it (or talk her into going somewhere else for vacation) as I managed a couple of times.

I like a fair bit of what's been said here, generally, distance is a good answer(about 400km is about right), regarding relatives, if you live here, if they are with you then just don't let the piss be taken and, as mentioned, "Just say no!"

Don't have to mention the response they would get if it was a Thai guy entertaining them for the day.

It is difficult if you are just visiting and the Mrs hasn't seen her family for a while, understood, just have to temper the latitude with a bit of realism and balance for all, suck it up for a couple of times then draw a line under it.