Dolphin Bay is located about 40km south of Hua Hin and is becoming more popular as a week-end getaway for local residents of Hua Hin, both Thai & Foreigner. If you have never been there, it is worth taking a few days to look around as it has many hidden gems to find and explore.

I have been coming here for nearly ten years and still love the area for its natural beauty and charm. It is originally and still very much is a fishing village where you can still see many boats lit up along the coast in the evenings.

The area has about 5 local restaurants where you can have a seafood feast at a minimal expense. If you prefer dining in a resort, you can choose Dolphin Bay Resort, Angsana, Blue Beach Resort, and Privacy Beach. All offer Western and Thai menus. Either way you don’t need to spend a lot to eat well here.

Activities are numerous for all ages. You can rent bicycles or motorcycles from several resorts or shops on the main road, and bike or drive to the national park, Sam Roy Yot, just a few km away and either go hiking to the many caves or hire a kayak and paddle through the fisherman’s canals while seeing over 200 species of birds or monkeys nestled along the lime stone mountains along its waterways. And of course the long white sandy beaches are great for leisurely walks and to collect a few seashells as mementos. You can also hire a fishing boat for the day and bring home your catch and have your own seafood BBQ right on the beach. As well a mini putt golf course has opened. Maybe practice your putting there before trying out the 9 hole municipal golf course. The fees are ridiculous cheap!
If you fall in love with the area as I did and consider having a holiday home here the choices are much better than before. Already built is Talay Tara with units available to rent or buy. As well a new Eco friendly development, Barefoot, will be building its first show home in August 2009.What makes this project unique is the homes are moveable should you want to re-locate on let’s say a mango farm nearby or build there to begin with. Another one of my favorites is called Dolphin Bay Pool Villas. They have one unit left in Phase 1 and will be building an additional 4 units in Phase 2.As well some re-sell houses are now available and they are definitely great value for money at the moment. They will definitely be worth more in the next few years.

The local people in the area, both Thai & foreigner are friendly and laid back and will go out of their way to give you a helping hand if needed or a simple smile saying hello. This area exemplifies the term “Land of Smiles”.
If I have sparked any interest or curiosity in you, please contact me anytime to have a chat if you are planning your next family vacation and want more exact details about the area and its places to stay or have any questions about owning a house from a local himself.

In our ongoing quest to update you on the newest and best events and activities in Hua Hin, here are some of my picks for you to possibly enjoy on your own or with friends and family.

New Places to Eat Out

-Costanera Tapas Bar located in the new Soho area of Hua Hin, 53/5 Naresdamri Rd.

-Madame Nu Vietnamese Restaurant on corner soi 88/1 for an inexpensive noodle and beef dish for only 95.00THB. The atmosphere and all white decor are pleasant and very clean. I also like there Air Plus concept, serving breakfast in airline trays as a new idea…its fun with the kids!

-Pizza Casa Mia is the best pizza in town at very affordable prices. Located on Nongplub Rd. (aka pal-u rd.) About 2 km heading west form the 3-way intersection. You can also call for delivery, 032-535-332. You can visit their website for more, www.casa-mia.asia I highly recommend the Campagnola pizza or meat salad entree. They also offer homemade ice cream!

Shops

-Hua Hin Thai Antique Shop located down Hua Hin Soi 55 all the way down to Naresdamri Rd. You can find such things as silver jewelry, old train and bus tickets, Old Thai bank notes, (original souvenirs!), toys, lunch boxes, furniture, and a bunch more treasures to hunt for!

-Vintage Shop in Cha-am just opened. Turn right at the first set of lights to go down the beach Rd. (East) and drive down about 1km and it is on the right hand side.
Places to Visit

Secluded Beach Area:

This secret beach is normally known by Thais but not foreigners. Suan Son Pradipaht Beach (Sea Pine Tree Garden Beach) is owned by the Army Welfare Office and is open to the public. It is at Km 241 south (8km) of Hua Hin.

Wellness

Physio-Therapy & Sport Massage:

There are many massage shops to choose from in Hua Hin but very few offer unique sport massages to work out repetitive muscle stains from sports. Down Soi 88/1 is the Hua Hin Physiotherapy Clinic to get you back in top form to play the sports you love at reasonable rates.

Sukkarsart Institute

Interested in Chinese medicine? The Institute offers Chinese Traditional courses in alternative medicines. The course outline includes; basic Ying & Yang Concepts, the five phases of transformation, basic diagnosis methods, essential Chinese acupuncture, major Chinese herbs, basics of Chinese nutrition and simple medical Qi gong.

As well they offer Therapeutic Bodywork. This is a multi-level healing treatment, combining gentle assisted stretching and compression through meditative rocking movements. To get more details, prices for both the Chinese Medicine and Bodywork courses, you can call 081-858-3823.

One of the biggest yearly party events in Hua Hin is just around the corner, The Hua Hin Jazz Festival from 12 to 14th June 2009. Two stages will be erected, one in front of the Sofitel on the beach and the other at Phon Kingpetch Memorial Park. In addition to the live jazz, an exhibition to commemorate His Majesty the King and his jazz ability will be set-up at the local Hua Hin Train Station.
The Hilton has come up with what I think is a more than usual creative idea here in Hua Hin; Thailand’s First Poolside Cinema. Once a month the hotel will opens its doors to allow guests to come and watch some of the latest films at the box office. It will officially be called “Cinematic Splash”. See Hua Hin Hilton website for when the next cinema party happens.

Recently I was driving down soi 94 and took notice of a new business with an eye catching name, “Let’s Go Potty”. The owner, Ghan, got the idea to open her shop when she went back home to the far east of Thailand to visit her family. Nearby, on the Cambodian Border, a small family business was making handmade pots and statuettes from local natural resources. Ghan was inspired to open the shop as she had never seen anything like it, “they are like having pieces of art in your home”. The pots and sculptures are very reasonably priced between 1000 to 3000THB. Definitely worth driving by and having a look sometime.

Finally the Putahracsa Boutique Hotel on Naebkehard Road will be featuring and Art Exhibition by Jackie B. On Thursday the 7th of May from 7-9pm in the Conference Hall. The works focus on color theory, morphology and space.

Each day I meet with owners needing some guidance in setting a rental price for their houses or condos during this economic town turn to attract long term lessees. Essentially our role as brokers is to create deals where both parties are satisfied and currently owners need to make more concessions to attract long term tenants.

One immediate concession is to ask the owner to reduce their prices. At the present time, prices have dropped by 25-35% on most rentals. So let’s say a house was renting for 45,000THB, it is reasonable to ask for 8-10,000.00THB off in price on a one year lease.

With many houses available at the moment, the competition between owners to get good tenants on a long term lease is much more than before and owners need to include additional amenities to ensure the deal closes.

Normally when renting a house, it would be up to the tenant to pay for UBC cable, internet, gardening or pool maintenance if any, and cleaning services to name a few. As it stands, all tenants must pay for their own water and electric usage.

More clients are asking for free internet and cable in addition to the rent decrease than before and owners are agreeing. As for pool and gardening, most owners pay a yearly fee to a management company to do the needed maintenance and this is often already included in the rental price.

Many owners in the past would rather let their house or condo sit empty until they got the price they wanted but this is no longer a feasible possibility with more supply than demand at the moment in Hua Hin.

Some other points owners should consider in attracting more clients is to really fully furnish the house and upgrade old appliances or electronics. Make sure 2 sets of sheets are available instead of just one and add a few extra pillows, a new crockery and dishware set will make a world of difference, as well as a coffee maker or kettle, toaster and microwave. Two items clients really like are a flat screen TV with DVD player and a washing machine. These small investments by the owner will keep the tenant happy and may help in keeping your tenant from looking elsewhere.

In conversation with an owner last week, he said he had 2 new houses, both fully furnished, for sale but was considering renting them out as no one had approached him for quite some time to buy. I said it is better to have the house occupied than vacant to make sure the house does not deteriorate. This is also a very good reason why owners should get a tenant as quickly as possible; to make sure the house does not get the “Abandoned Orphan” look which makes it even more difficult to sell later.

The main topics for most of my recent articles have been about places to eat or activities to do in Hua Hin, Thailand. Living in an area with fun activities and great places to eat are important but today I want to share with you something I’ve been overlooking, the long stayers coming here to live for 3 months to a lifetime from many different countries.

Maybe you are already living in Thailand and thinking about moving to Hua Hin or your reading this from your computer in one of the 191 countries in the world (possibly 192 if you consider Taiwan) thinking about a warmer climate, a slower pace of life, (insert reasons here).

In the decision making process, you have a good idea as to why you want to move here. The next smart question to ask would be, besides living with Thais, not including tourists, who are the people that may be your neighbors or future friends and what would you do here for a living if you’re not a retiree or recent lottery winner?

Because I have the good fortune of operating a rental agency, I get to meet the people who are coming to settle here and during the tours to view homes, they share their stories with me. Maybe a few of these stories may inspire you in making the move to Hua Hin, Thailand and give you some ideas as to what you can do here for work.

Andre, a computer programmer from Norway contacted us with a few selections from our website to give us an idea of what he was looking for and we met with him to discuss possibilities. His girlfriend, studying in Bangkok during the week, would be coming to visit him on week-ends so it was important to be near activities, restaurants and shopping as he did not want to drive a motor bike. One vital detail was: he needed a house with a great internet connection to do his work in the evenings. Andre works for a bank in Norway and writes bank codes for on-line banking and the internet speed needed to be a minimum of 2 megabytes and reliable. Well any houses with a TOT line had to be eliminated as the service often goes down or is just too slow. The house had to have a TT&T line to apply for TT Maxnet Internet service, a more reliable service at a reasonable price. The best is CAT Telecom but it comes at a hefty price compared to the other providers. Andre would begin his work around 2pm and finish his on-line shift around 10pm. We found him a rental matching all his specifications, in town, on the beach within his budget. I am meeting more and more people who are working from there rentals in Hua Hin with a good internet connection.

Charles owns a company called Stylus Sounds and builds luxury home cinemas all over Thailand. He could really live anywhere in Thailand but chose Hua Hin because of its up and coming status as a really great place to sell his products and services (he recently opened a showroom on Petchkasem Rd.), raise his young family, activities, and proximity to Bangkok for business. As well he loves driving so if needs to go to Phuket or Samui to meet clients as well, it’s basically one road to both. Imagine that, selling high end stereo equipment and building the best home cinemas in Thailand as his job.

I met Liz & Tony about a year ago and they were coming to Hua Hin from Miami to begin teaching at what is probably the best Bilingual English/Thai School in Hua Hin, Yamsaard. They have 2 young kids and needed a safe house, not too far from the school at a very good price as they were on a budget. Foreign Teachers make a very good salary compared to Thais but need still need to budget carefully, especially with two young kids. Still with both of them working, and the school subsidizing their kids school fees, they were able to get a nice 3 bedroom,2 bath, near the beach, fully furnished house and buy a car. To live as most Thais do is very inexpensive but to live a full foreign lifestyle is not cheap, most of us make a compromise in the middle and have a great lifestyle. If you live within your means, Thailand is very easy to get by with some monies left over to save.

Jacques use to own a furniture factory in France, sold it and moved to Hua Hin. As he was still too young to retire, he decided to open a furniture shop. For the first year he lived in a furnished condo until he found a very reasonable un-furnished house on our website for only 25,000.00THB with large garden and pool. Being in the furniture business it was easy enough to furnish and also display his home as a show room for potential clients who would choose to furnish their entire homes with him, dramatically reducing their costs. Jacques loves to travel across Thailand searching for unique items to offer and include in his interior designs making him truly passionate about his work. Most buyers who come to Hua Hin, only spending 4 weeks a year here would rather have a professional do all the work so that they can enjoy their holiday. Why would you go on holiday to work?

These are just a handful of stories of the neat people I meet in the rental business. Depending on the response I get from our readers, I will continue to write brief stories about our clients and how they find happiness in the land of smiles all within there budget.

The Tourism Authority of Prachuabkhirikhan, Thailand is inviting residents and tourists to visit the 500 rai water lily swamp in Sam Roi Yot National Park.The swamp is opened to visitors from now until the end of March 2009. The park is only 45 minutes from the Hua Hin Center.

In addition to the massive swamp abundant with lilies, you are also surrounded by the majestic mountains within the national park. Here you will also have the chance to see up to 250 types of bird species who have migrated there for the season.

Still want to have more fun! You can go and explore the Phra Ya Nakorn Cave where the Kuha Karuehaad Throne built for King Rama V is and admire the caves awesome stalagmites and stalactites. Make sure to bring your camera!

if you still have time and are planning on spending a full day in the area, I recommend you take the boat tour along the Khao Daeng Canal and visit the mangrove forest.

Are you a homeowner or someone renting a home that needs some general repairs done?

If you need a plumber , an electrician, a tiler, or some general work to be carried out call Martin at 086-168-9992 or e-mail him at swifty2653@gmail.com.

In our continued effort to bring you the new and best of everything in Hua Hin, Thailand, here are a few new places for you to check out when you have some free time.

Pates, Cheeses, Cold Cuts and More….

It use to be difficult to find delicious cheeses, cold cuts and pates but no more. A new deli shop called “French Touch Delicatessen “has opened on Soi 47/1, 13/54 Petchakasem Rd. The menu is simple but if you want to try a variety of what the owner has to offer simply ask him to make you an assortment plate to try a bit of everything.

New French Restaurant: The Blue Orchid (22/65 Naebkehard Rd.)

A new Tapas Bar has opened in what use to be the Nam Talay restaurant opposite Putahracsa Boutique Hotel. I have yet to go and eat there, so if you go, please send us your comments. But I have seen the interior and it is a cool contemporary design with comfortable lounge to enjoy a cocktail before dinner.

The Thymes Restaurant @ the Herbs by the Sea Hotel

Located in what is quickly becoming the Soho area of Hua Hin, The Thymes restaurant is located at 1/12 Naebkehard Rd. (Corner soi 41) on the top floor of the Herbs by the Sea Hotel. The restaurant offers an Italian & Mediterranean menu with choices sure to satisfy all. Set menus start from 599.00THB. The panoramic views are super while dining alfresco. Open daily from 11am to 10pm. Call +66 (0) 32 512 289 for reservations.

Zar’s Used Book Shop Opens on Soi 94

Hua Hin use to have a few good second hand book shops but over the last few years they all closed. Of course one can go to Asia Books or Bookazine and buy new but I still prefer to save a couple hundred Baht and buy 2nd hand. If you also like to save as I do, a new used hand book shop has opened on Soi 94 and is open daily from 9am to 7pm.

Wine & Jazz

As large number s of foreigners continue to flow into Hua Hin seeking a more enjoyable living standard than they would in their home countries so do the number of events and activities offered for all ages.
The Hua Hin Hills Vineyard, where you can go and enjoy a lovely brunch while sampling there house wines (make sure to reserve ahead of time) also now offers 4 rhythm types of jazz every Saturday from 12pm to 5pm during harvest season in the months of February & March.

14 February is Bossa
21 February is Easy Listening
28 February is Standard
14 March is Bossa
21 March is Easy Listening
You can visit their website, www.huahinhillsvineyard.com or call them @ 081-701-8874 for inquiries or reservations.

Art Exhibition: Welcome to the fine 9

Paintings of Hua Hin by 9 Hua Hin Artists at the Dusit Thani, Hua Hin, Thailand.
The permanent exhibition features Thai Modern Classic Art works by nine artists from Hua Hin.
How the exhibition got its name is neat, The Fine 9. The nine artists have been working in Hua Hin for many years and the number 9 is an auspicious number for Thai people and the idea was born from this belief.

To go visit the exhibition, the hotel is located at 1394 Petchkasem Road, Cha-am, Petchaburi 76120, Thailand.

One aspect I truly enjoy in running a rental agency in Hua Hin, Thailand are the many interesting people I get to meet who share there unique stories with me while we visit properties together. The following story comes from a client who rented a condo from us for his holiday and after mentioning I would like to learn more about his story, sent in the following write up for us to post.

I have been going to Cambodia for many years. I think I first went there in 2002 and helped out at an orphanage in Siem Reap. A few years later I was in Laos and met a monk there who became a very close friend. He told me of an orphanage in Battambang that was run by a monk that he knew. I visited there a few times and it was on one trip there that I found myself in Phnom Penh. I had met a girl on a bus who said I should visit the orphanage that she worked at but when I got there I found it was a scam. So I asked my tuk tuk driver to take me somewhere that I could donate the rice and money I had. That is how I ended up at my sons orphanage for the first time. I had a great time there. The staff and kids were great. We played volleyball, I took a couple of language lessons, and we generally hung out. The orphanage in Battambang received a great deal of help from sponsors in Australia so I figured my time and energy was best spent in Phnom Penh. I was already looking into adopting and had done a lot of research, including talking to many people who had adopted. So after spending time there I figured I wasn’t getting any younger and now was the right time. Also I had got on with Ati and Ato like a house on fire. The school I work for was fantastic and they gave me support and time off so that I could spend time in Cambodia with the boys and well as deal with the courts first hand. This was a great way of doing things. It meant that I could spend a lot of time with the two boys and allowed them to form a real bond before I took them back to China, where I live. It made the transition much easier for them. We do go back to Cambodia which helps them keep ties with their routes and I have stepped up my involvement there. I raise funds to help put kids into English language programs so that they can have a much better chance of getting work when they leave the orphanage. Learning English helps break the cycle of poverty.
Please check out the website:

http://web.me.com/helpingorphanages/Site/Welcome.html

I aim to raise $10 000 to send 10 more kids to school and provide food, transport and other essentials.

Cheers

Paul Underwood