Thread: Trip to Hua Hin

Originally Posted by samsara

dolphin bay is highly recommended. the further you go south, the better the beaches get.

hard to beat hua hin...

Over the last ten years in particular, I've been finding it increasingly easy to beat Hua Hin.

Pranburi doesnt have one but khao khalok is five mins south and is arguably the best beach in the area.

As for dolphin bay, namaste is decent. Dolphin bay resort is pretty good. Just check agoda and read reviews.

Originally Posted by cyrille

Originally Posted by samsara

dolphin bay is highly recommended. the further you go south, the better the beaches get.

hard to beat hua hin...

Over the last ten years in particular, I've been finding it increasingly easy to beat Hua Hin.

in thailand? i think its the opposite...the places that used to beat hua hin have lost their luster because of overdevelopment, etc. while hua hin has developed just enough to offer nearly every amenity without the pollution, traffic and general nuisance of chiang mai, phuket, bkk, pattaya, udon.

sure, its not the best beach. but few thai beaches are worth much these days.

now, as a holiday destination (assuming youre coming from one of the above places) i would not choose hua hin. but im based there these days and find it vastly superior in just about every way (except the damn airport) to all other developed cities in thailand.

Originally Posted by somtamslap

Love the Hin, looking to move to Prachuap in a few years.

Will rent though. After suffering UK prices for the past gazillion years, I can take the hit - it will be but a drop in the ocean. Case in point in the link.

RH13002 - Thai Property

Having said that, any aspirations I had for the children being educated in an international school have been put paid to... Hua Hin international want 500,000 baht a year. They - to be quite frank - can get to fuck.

Cheers PB. Great thread love.

since i discovered Prachup Khiri khan and Cha -am, never stop anymore in Hua hin
International schools in Phuket are cheaper than HH

Originally Posted by samsara

but im based there these days and find it vastly superior in just about every way (except the damn airport) to all other developed cities in thailand.

Oh, I see.

Personally, I was horrified when I witnessed the changes in the place a decade ago. Perhaps the lack of development was why you considered Koh Kood a 'waste of time'.

Each to his own.

I'd have thought that, for most people, heading further south to PKK improves things dramatically. HH just seems like condo hell to me.

Don't live in a condo then. My pool villa suits just fine.

Hh offers a great range of food options, has the best fitness center in the country, hardly any traffic, no massive tourism (i.e. Not many Chinese), and the expat crowd is more educated than the norm (for thailand).

Kood is fine but so difficult to reach it's not worth the trouble.

Pkk has things going for it. But it's awfully sleepy...

Even chumphon is losing its hidden gem status as development destroys a new location with each passing year.

^I really liked it there as well. I got to meet a lot of expats that train at the same Muay thai gym I was at. They were training for the upcoming Spartan Race in Pattaya. From what I saw and heard, there are many Thais that go there for the weekends, and also own condominiums in HH. HH empties out during the week. It is relatively expensive for western food and goodies, but it can't be any more than Bangkok.

Originally Posted by samsara

best fitness center in the country

Care to share?

Originally Posted by bnice2me

^I really liked it there as well. I got to meet a lot of expats that train at the same Muay thai gym I was at. They were training for the upcoming Spartan Race in Pattaya. From what I saw and heard, there are many Thais that go there for the weekends, and also own condominiums in HH. HH empties out during the week. It is relatively expensive for western food and goodies, but it can't be any more than Bangkok.

Haha. The boxing training is well addictive, isn't it?

Years ago I went every day except sunday without fail. If I missed a day I'd look in the mirror convinced I could see body fat. I stopped not long after. Still train occasionally and keep fit/work out daily. (running/exercise, no weights)

Pretty much everything sam touches rockets through the sky with its brilliance.

Taking a shit must be tricky.

Sam? You mean Punty?

Originally Posted by cyrille

everything sam touches rockets through the sky with its brilliance.

Like his salary?

Originally Posted by samsara

Pranburi doesnt have one but khao khalok is five mins south and is arguably the best beach in the area.

As for dolphin bay, namaste is decent. Dolphin bay resort is pretty good. Just check agoda and read reviews.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

The boxing training is well addictive, isn't it?

It is something I do when I go to Thailand, mostly. The move is upcoming..haha.

Prefer Jomtien/Pattaya. After months in sleepy Mandalay I'm ready for something a little wild.

samsara

hardly any traffic, no massive tourism (i.e. Not many Chinese), and the expat crowd is more educated than the norm (for thailand).

are you sure you live in hua hin?

the traffic into and out of town, especially from the south and west of the main road through the town centre, is nothing short of horrendous for most of the year, especially at weekends.

in spite of all the new roads they are building and upgrading, traffic planning is non existent, and what there is results in just more chaos. more and more new condos and hotels are opening, with little thought to the traffic volume they bring, parking is not regulated and the motorcyclists are as ill disciplined as ever.

i have lived on the coast at bor fai for ten years now and these days trips into the town centre that used to take 5 minutes with guaranteed parking, now take up to 20 minutes plus the time it takes to park the car.

chinese, koreans and ugly low rent eurotrash make up the majority of the tourists, and expats with any intelligence will avoid the overpriced town centre, its poor quality restaurants, indifferent service and its western shopping malls unless absolutely necessary.

^That's why 2 nights at Khao Takiab is possible without a trip into town.

Maybe a casual stroll to that huge mall if you really do crave a bit of 'civilisation'

Originally Posted by bnice2me

Originally Posted by samsara

best fitness center in the country

Care to share?

true arena. just south of town.

Originally Posted by taxexile

samsara

hardly any traffic, no massive tourism (i.e. Not many Chinese), and the expat crowd is more educated than the norm (for thailand).

are you sure you live in hua hin?

the traffic into and out of town, especially from the south and west of the main road through the town centre, is nothing short of horrendous for most of the year, especially at weekends.

in spite of all the new roads they are building and upgrading, traffic planning is non existent, and what there is results in just more chaos. more and more new condos and hotels are opening, with little thought to the traffic volume they bring, parking is not regulated and the motorcyclists are as ill disciplined as ever.

i have lived on the coast at bor fai for ten years now and these days trips into the town centre that used to take 5 minutes with guaranteed parking, now take up to 20 minutes plus the time it takes to park the car.

chinese, koreans and ugly low rent eurotrash make up the majority of the tourists, and expats with any intelligence will avoid the overpriced town centre, its poor quality restaurants, indifferent service and its western shopping malls unless absolutely necessary.

traffic where? on the weekends theres some traffic around the town centre. the clock tower light is to be avoided at certain hours. where else is there traffic? the roads heading west? when? have never seen what i would label as "traffic" on any of them during any time of day. the back road going to sois 80/88/94 has tons of bikes...no reason to ever take that road, tho.

i live a few clicks south of town. within 10 mins i can be to the night market area, to various beaches, to a vast array of dining options, bars (which mostly suck, true), 2 decent malls and true arena. thats about all one could want.

your side of town has fallen prey to trash tourism dev so i can see how that might be less than desirable. but ive never seen anything resembling traffic between chaam and hua hin. well, maybe during songkran.

why go to the town centre area to eat, etc.? of course a tourism center is going to be overpriced, busy. thats like complaining about the night bazaar area if you live in chiang mai, or beach road in pattaya, or...

where else have you lived? im in chiang mai for a few days...i hate going ANYWHERE. traffic moves at a crawl almost everywhere within the 2nd ring road. hh is like a hamlet in comparison.

your side of town has fallen prey to trash tourism

do you actually know where bor fai is?

West of the airport. Only reason to go there is tavimook, the airport (now dead), or the factory outlets, if that's your thing (another 10-15 mins north).

Guess you could throw in black mountain. But better to take 37 if coming from my area.

Cool information on this thread.. ill see if I have any other pics to add!

^Did you ever go jogging along the beach at Hua Hin?

Kudos to you if you do, I hate it, the soft sand sucks your feet down, sapping your energy. The foot equivalent of killing the lungs running at altitude. Which is the idea, of course.

^Yup, I jogged a few times on the beach.. the heat was tiresome as was the sand.

I don't know why my pics have disappeared. I still see them on my photobucket account. Sorry all.

I'm with Tax. I lived in HH for five years and I cannot recognise the HH I knew from Samsara's description.

Restaurant prices, food quality and hotels and rents are whatever you think is reasonable but there is no escaping or ignoring the traffic.

Apart from the North South traffic through the town, the town itself is split by the railway. Land prices on the beach side of the railway have forced developers to build their estates to the West. And there are relatively few places to cross the railway to get into town, so those crossings are Congested. A cross between Ben Hur and the American Land Runs.