I first discovered Hua Hin while living in Hong Kong. My Thai wife had some friends living there; we both had never been and decided to take our next holiday here and visit them. After arriving in BKK we hired a van to take us down south to this paradise fishing village which was also well known for the King’s Summer Palace. It use to take over 3 hours to get to Hua Hin from Bangkok but now with the new highways almost complete, the driving time is only 2 hours. Or you can take an SGA flight directly from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport to Hua Hin’s airport in just 45mins. The Hua Hin I visited nearly 8 years ago has undergone many changes but still retains its small town charm. You can still walk down to the beach and see the local fisherman coming in to dock and sort the fish out in preparation to be delivered to the local “Wet” markets to be sold to local restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants is called Madame Green; they have their own fishing boats and deliver the daily catch directly to its kitchen. It doesn’t get much fresher then that!
Hua Hin is small but still offers many activities for both ex-pats & tourists. Golf is big here and getting bigger. New courses are opening each year. Yearly events like the Jazz Festival or Vintage Car Show are increasing in quality and attendance. Between festivals & shows there is still plenty to do. The Beaches, Temples, Go-Karting, Cooking Classes, Shopping at the New Market Village Mall or Traditional Night Markets, Day trips into the jungles, Elephant trekking, Paint ball, Art galleries, and so much more. Even after living here for nearly 5 years I am still finding new activities and adventure for my family and me.
Hua Hin continues to increase with popularity and some tourists like it so much they decide to buy a holiday home here or even stay on a full-time basis. Here are some of the reasons why Hua Hin has retained its charm and continues to be sought out by foreigners from the international community:
Weather: Hua Hin is protected because it is located in the Gulf of Thailand and is less prone to violent weather. Thailand has three seasons, Hot (March to June, average temperature 29 degrees Celsius), Rainy (July to October, average temperature 28 degrees Celsius), & Cool (November to February, average temperature 26 degrees Celsius). The Hot season offers bright cloudless days with nice breezes in the afternoon, good for water sports. The Rainy season skies are partly cloudy. The rain only lasts 20-30 mins and it doesn’t rain everyday. The Cool season still has plenty of sunshine but not as strong as the Hot season. Days are milder and nights cooler.
Clean & Safe: The King lives in Hua Hin so it is relatively safe and very clean. Some cities in Thailand have grown too fast and the services haven’t been able to catch up. The Hua Hin municipality works hard to maintain and improve its infrastructure.
More Family Oriented: Lots of fun activities like bird watching, ATV Track Racing, Cinema & Bounce Castles if you have young kids. As well, a lot less bars compared to other tourist destinations in Thailand.
Quiet: On week-ends a lot of Bangkok Thais come down for the week-end. Otherwise Hua Hin is peaceful and set in natural ocean & Mountain surroundings.
If you are planning to move to Hua Hin and would like to have a chat about its many possibilities send us a commentl, call or drop by our shop anytime.
All the best

Geoff