Cha am / Hua hin to settle ?

[CNF55]

We bought our place some 8 years ago - condo, directly at the beach, right in between Cha Am and Hua Hin. We absolutely love it and hope to retire there in a couple of years.

Our beach stretches some 6 km or so - you can actually walk all the way up to Cha Am. The beach (and the water quality) is of course not of the best quality but then again the view from our balcony is absolutely beautiful and I really do not care too much about the water quality as we always use the condo pool anyhow.

Some (more or less) good hotels on that beach (Verandah, Springfield Resort, Holiday Inn etc), a few bars and local eateries and so on. If we want to go out we have the choice between Hua Hin and Cha Am - both equal distance - although going into Hua Hin these days takes about double as long as going into Cha Am.

Some might find the area 'boring' which is precisely why we chose it - sitting on our balcony in the evening and not be pestered by street or bar noise.

If and when we feel the need to see some nicer beaches and clearer water we drive 1 hour or so down to Dolphin Bay. Really pretty there but nothing to do and too far away from Bangkok for my liking - but it might become an option once we retire.

I do agree with taxexile - there is plenty to do and to see in that area and no need to be bored - but you do need a car!

[machman]

I lived there for two years and I have to say I was bored to tears for the most part. Over priced over rated and far less friendly than the north, just my opinion of course.

[sabaii sabaii]

Over priced

This is Cha Am, not Phuket, what was overpriced, or your definition of it ?

You can get a 2 bed house here for 3000 baht a month, I wouldnt live in it, but it's possible, normally 5k to 10 k or live like a Thai Soapstar in a plush bungalow for 25k with pool and mountain views

I was bored to tears

far less friendly than the north

One thing I will say about Cha Am is the Thais are a hell more laid back than Bangkok, friendlier and speak better English too.

You 2 are doing something wrong

[machman]

^ re read my post, just my opinion

[taxexile]

I was bored to tears for the most part.

what was it that you wanted to do but couldnt do, what was lacking here that led to your boredom?

[machman]

perhaps i've just become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of a big city, horses for courses, like i've said, each to their own, for a holiday it suits me fine and for those who love living there that's great, just wasn't for me.

[sabaii sabaii]

re read my post, just my opinion

I read your post buddy the first time, I'm not knocking you, everyones different,

Where up North are you ?

How's the sunbathing going ?

[machman]

^ you've got me on the sunshine thing Mind you the surfboard's handy in the floods.

[nigelandjan]

I think the moral of this story is to come look and rent for a while, then see

Were gonna be staying a week in Cha am in March next year Sab,, mabe we can meet and have a orange + lemonade sometime ,, it might be a good idea as the rest of the family is gonna be tagging along ,,,,, ps if you can tip me off where we can buy stik rie and manky bone / chilli infested chilli soup it will save the nightly hunting for the missing issan comforts ( for Mum + Dad )


Taxexe ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, thanks sooooooo much for your comprehensive guide , that was exactly what I was after ,,,,,, sounds more interesting the more you report ,,, for a start I love cycling , golf , swimming and fishing in the sea ,, and I spend many hours painting , digital imaging , growing veg in my garden ,, I have NO interest in any bars allthough I am a closet 7/11er rarely being able to slink past one without an icecream + a cold coke . .


It,s gonna be a tough one , and I,m probably gonna have to cut a deal with the wife , obviously her heart is ooooooooop north in Issan , but she has said it,s up to me where we live ( I aint that blind ,, I know ) but mabe can cut a deal with her as she would like some small business . She lived and worked in Rayong for 7 years before no probs and after all Cha am is a hell of a lot closer to Issan than where she lives now .

Thanks all for your views plus and minus keep adding if you wish please

[nigelandjan]

Some might find the area 'boring' which is precisely why we chose it - sitting on our balcony in the evening and not be pestered by street or bar noise.

Good on yer mate ! that,s exactly the reason I go to " boring " places ,, BTW I shall have a pickup for sure

[taxexile]

Location: Frinton on sea

hua hin is brighton and cha am is frinton.

all four places have a lot to offer.

[sabaii sabaii]

Some people think quiet or secluded, others think boring

Some think lively, others think noisy

Each to their own,

I 'm bored of Bangkok, and never fancied the Rural life of living on rice, rats and cockroaches and not understanding what everyone around me was saying

I'm within striking range of all that if I so feel, but not just yet

[Seekingasylum]

Location: Frinton on sea

hua hin is brighton and cha am is frinton.

all four places have a lot to offer.

Good God man, are you mad!!

Hua Hin is Brighton!!? More like bloody Worthing.

Clearly, you've gone troppo Tax or that gin has frazzled your receptors into mush.

Hua Hin buzzes, if that is the word, when all the Scandawegians flock around their winter time. The so called farang restaurants clean up as much as they can selling total ersatz crap only a two weeker on their hols would eat. There are no bars to speak of except dreary concrete seated soulless bunkers where bored rootless folk nurse tepid beers condommed in those silly styrofoamed mugs talking moronic platitudes to bandy legged Isaan hookers chancing their arm out of Patters or Bangkok.
The alternative is some so called 5 star hotel eating and drinking generic crap listening to muzak and wondering what to do next now they've spent a week lying on a beach littered with horse crap staring at a sea the colour of gun metal on a November day in Skegness.
The hub of the town is a collection of beer bars where the expat grunters hang out in cliques backbiting and sweating through yet another interminable night of tedium ground out by a town where nothing ever seems to happen.
For much of the year it is just a dreary weekend backwater enlivened only by Bangkokians looking for a laid back few days eating in fish restaurants as if that were the quintessential apogee of experience - given most of the seafood is farmed who the hell are they kidding?
It's south and for most of the year the sky is that flat milky grey colour and at night it just seems to get hotter without any breeze with the ever present whine of mosquitos looking for supper.
Dreadful place with no redeeming feature save possibly as a refuge for expats running on empty jaded by the real Thailand.
It's a waiting room for death and Cha Am is just a clone but reserved for dreary high rise condo development littering a broad featureless beach flyblown and wretched as it waits for the weekly invasion of Thai holidaymakers using the place as a repository for picked over chicken feet and plastic bags. Generally people pick Cha Am because they can't afford Hua Hin.

Apart from that, it 's OKish.

[nigelandjan]

Hua Hin is Brighton!!? More like bloody Worthing.

Well that,s a plus point ,,at least it wont be full of nine bob notes

[taxexile]

the gent

blah blah blah

i wont comment on your critique of expat bar life, and the grizzled geezers with their grabbing gossiping nagging spouses who immerse themselves in it, expat life as lived at that level is not for me, but as an avid observer of the human condition at all levels, i would say that your observations are not inaccurate, but given the nature of many expats here hogarthian sleaze is about par for the course in most towns with an expat community.

the rest of your deluded rant however is pure nonsense, perhaps resuting from having being pressured by your mother in law to settle in some god forsaken moo bahn miles from civilisation and with only betel chewing bumpkins for company.

the relaxed ambience, pleasant breezy climate, and calming scenery of the phetchaburi and prajuap coast remain a distant dream for those shackled, perhaps even pussywhipped, by family pressure in the dusty landlocked hinterland.

[Seekingasylum]

Your loyalty does you credit and is quite charming really but I suppose it was only to be expected.
Not sure about " pussywhipped " though. Do you have blue collar American chums?

[taxexile]

chums !! where's that from, jeeves and wooster.

even lord snooty had pals.

was i right about the m-i-l?

[Seekingasylum]

Perhaps you are drawing upon your own personal experience here Tax but I have to say the mother in law and I lead somewhat incongruent lives.

I remain in Bangkok but will move to Pattaya in due course. Now, that's a town rather than the drear dormitory you have chosen to inhabit. Horses for courses I suppose but no doubt you have your reasons for putting yourself out to grass.

[taxexile]

Pattaya

over 10 years since ive been there, and that was just a drive through on the way to trat. had some good times there as a single man though.

to me a town with all the worst aspects of western life mixed up with all the worst aspects of freewheeling thainess would seem a recipe for hell on earth. its neither one thing nor the other. its blackpool with hookers, low rent, low expectations and low outcomes. its a well polished turd.

dont know what its like away from all that though. pattaya encompasses a lot these days. mention of the word though does fill the brain with stereotypes.


but as you say, horses for courses.