Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Ask here about the pleasures and pitfalls of buying, selling or renting property and real estate in Hua Hin. Building, design and construction topics welcome. Commercial or promotional posts for real estate companies or private properties are forbidden.
Frank La Rue
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Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

I have looked at several developments when driving over the hill, and there are several good ones, Red Mountain, Orchid Palm 4,5, Hamet Hill, Black Mountain, Baan Ing Phu.

What made me hesitate is the feeling of being away from people and all goings on.

However, in my current residence I have to take the car to get to somewhere too, I have a few neighbours in the local close who give me company and we help each other, like any other development?

Is the "Dark Side" (toward black mountain) a good life once you settle in or do you feel isolated and claustrophobic?

I have decided to give it a chance later this year to see how I really feel. Recommendations for a happy life on the Dark Side, anyone?
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

Hello!!

60 members looked at this thread in 3 hours since I posted it. Do none of you live in the Black Mountain side?
If so, can you talk to your friends who may live there and get some feed back?

Or do I have ask Darth Vader for his view?
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by STEVE G »

Is the "Dark Side" (toward black mountain) a good life once you settle in or do you feel isolated and claustrophobic?
I live over that way and it's definitely not claustrophobic, we're surrounded by countryside! As for isolated, you can get to the center of town on a scooter in twenty minutes. Of course I could of built the same house in the city but the land area we have would have cost about a million euro's.
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by SunandFun »

I know several Professional Golfers who have or had property at BM. I had the same question, but I am a golfer.
They said, if they had the choice, it would be, live in or close to Hua Hin. Living on a Golf Course is ok, but when friends come to Hua Hin they always have to drive into the city and then late night driving back. They would prefer to drive for golf and stay closer to the action of HH. This is from a Golf Centric perspective. During low season, they also said it was VERY QUITE with very few living there year round. I hope this helps.
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by hhfarang »

Frank La Rue wrote:Hello!!

60 members looked at this thread in 3 hours since I posted it. Do none of you live in the Black Mountain side?
If so, can you talk to your friends who may live there and get some feed back?

Or do I have ask Darth Vader for his view?
Frank, give it some time and you will get more responses, remember the time difference... you posted the original question just after midnight and this second one for responses around 4 a.m. Either everyone was asleep or busy driving back from the bars to their homes on the "dark side". :wink:
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

hhfarang wrote:
Frank La Rue wrote:Hello!!

60 members looked at this thread in 3 hours since I posted it. Do none of you live in the Black Mountain side?
If so, can you talk to your friends who may live there and get some feed back?

Or do I have ask Darth Vader for his view?
Frank, give it some time and you will get more responses, remember the time difference... you posted the original question just after midnight and this second one for responses around 4 a.m. Either everyone was asleep or busy driving back from the bars to their homes on the "dark side". :wink:

I confess I have been sitting in front of my PC screen for these three hours with my 2nd glass of wine( or is it 3rd?) :D , browsing HH Forum. I have St. Peppers on my head phones from a 2nd window at Youtube, so a great friday night. I have experienced this with the time difference before - you are quite right of course, I was just puzzled that there were 60 hits and no comments.
I think the explanantion may be that those who actually live in HH and or Black mountain area and could make a knowledgable post were asleep, whilst those 60 who looked at my initial post reside elsewhere in other time zones and therefore do not live in HH or BM to make an informed contribution

I
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by thedash »

I live up towards Black mountain turn off. Over the past 12 months there as been a new Family Mart, 7 - 11 and Tesco lotus built. There are lots of good new restaurants springing up and the biggest outdoor market is also up on the top road...also a massive plot of land as just been cleared to accommodate 500 New homes.
Hua Hin isn't just about being next to the beach, Pats are now moving further out as u get lots more for your buck!
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Siani »

Frank La Rue wrote:I have looked at several developments when driving over the hill, and there are several good ones, Red Mountain, Orchid Palm 4,5, Hamet Hill, Black Mountain, Baan Ing Phu.

What made me hesitate is the feeling of being away from people and all goings on.

However, in my current residence I have to take the car to get to somewhere too, I have a few neighbours in the local close who give me company and we help each other, like any other development?

Is the "Dark Side" (toward black mountain) a good life once you settle in or do you feel isolated and claustrophobic?

I have decided to give it a chance later this year to see how I really feel. Recommendations for a happy life on the Dark Side, anyone?
What I would recommend you best option to be: Try before you buy :) I would rent a place in the mountains, see how you like it & how often you need to go to town. Take plenty of time, don't rush it.
Horses for courses. Ask loads of questions if its a new build.
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

thedash wrote:I live up towards Black mountain turn off. Over the past 12 months there as been a new Family Mart, 7 - 11 and Tesco lotus built. There are lots of good new restaurants springing up and the biggest outdoor market is also up on the top road...also a massive plot of land as just been cleared to accommodate 500 New homes.
Hua Hin isn't just about being next to the beach, Pats are now moving further out as u get lots more for your buck!
Interesting info - thank you !

Do you know who will build the plot wiht 500 homes`?

Tesco, 7 - 11, Market, golf, Water park, restaurants - sounds like about everything I look for!

The beach is not so important to me.
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

Siani wrote:
Frank La Rue wrote:I have looked at several developments when driving over the hill, and there are several good ones, Red Mountain, Orchid Palm 4,5, Hamet Hill, Black Mountain, Baan Ing Phu.

What made me hesitate is the feeling of being away from people and all goings on.

However, in my current residence I have to take the car to get to somewhere too, I have a few neighbours in the local close who give me company and we help each other, like any other development?

Is the "Dark Side" (toward black mountain) a good life once you settle in or do you feel isolated and claustrophobic?

I have decided to give it a chance later this year to see how I really feel. Recommendations for a happy life on the Dark Side, anyone?
What I would recommend you best option to be: Try before you buy :) I would rent a place in the mountains, see how you like it & how often you need to go to town. Take plenty of time, don't rush it.
Horses for courses. Ask loads of questions if its a new build.

Good advice - you are right, of course. How often do I, Frank La Rue, feel I need to get to town, not anybody else, but me.
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Siani »

Frank La Rue wrote:
Siani wrote:
Frank La Rue wrote:I have looked at several developments when driving over the hill, and there are several good ones, Red Mountain, Orchid Palm 4,5, Hamet Hill, Black Mountain, Baan Ing Phu.

What made me hesitate is the feeling of being away from people and all goings on.

However, in my current residence I have to take the car to get to somewhere too, I have a few neighbours in the local close who give me company and we help each other, like any other development?

Is the "Dark Side" (toward black mountain) a good life once you settle in or do you feel isolated and claustrophobic?

I have decided to give it a chance later this year to see how I really feel. Recommendations for a happy life on the Dark Side, anyone?
What I would recommend you best option to be: Try before you buy :) I would rent a place in the mountains, see how you like it & how often you need to go to town. Take plenty of time, don't rush it.
Horses for courses. Ask loads of questions if its a new build.

Good advice - you are right, of course. How often do I, Frank La Rue, feel I need to get to town, not anybody else, but me.
Frank, we rented instead of plunging in at the deep end. You can get the feel of a place once you do that. Also, you can ask locals about building projects, remember some of these projects are never completed. :? Also ask the forum, there is a lot of good advice available. :)
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

Frank, we rented instead of plunging in at the deep end. You can get the feel of a place once you do that. Also, you can ask locals about building projects, remember some of these projects are never completed. :? Also ask the forum, there is a lot of good advice available. :) [/quote]


So, did you buy on the Dark Side in the end`?
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Siani »

Frank La Rue wrote:Frank, we rented instead of plunging in at the deep end. You can get the feel of a place once you do that. Also, you can ask locals about building projects, remember some of these projects are never completed. :? Also ask the forum, there is a lot of good advice available. :)

So, did you buy on the Dark Side in the end`?[/quote]

No we didn't buy at all in the end. We came out originally with a huge container, with view to retire and buy a house or condo. We took a rental in HH for 3 months, unloaded our things into the rented house for storage. After careful consideration we decided that the best option for us was not to live full time in Thailand. We love Thailand, love visiting, enjoy every second that we are there. We now have the freedom to come out and rent for as long as we want. We can also have the choice to go to other countries.
Sometimes I wonder if we should have stuck it out, but to be absolutely honest, there was not an awful lot to do for us there. We are not golfers etc. We used to like the restaurant side of things, swimming etc. but we found we were saying things like "Oh, we must go to Tesco or Villa Market" almost 4 or 5 times a week....I actually don't like shopping, well, not that type anyway :?
I suppose I thought of a dream, having a lovely garden, doing some of it myself....then the reality set in, fear of snakes etc.
I envy people who "are happy with their lot"...I get bored quickly. We went everywhere in the time we were there, temples, markets, the vineyard, beach, long drives down south, there is loads to do. We've been out quite a few times. The last visit was to Phuket. I prefer HH to Phuket.
We hope to come out soon :)
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by Frank La Rue »

Thanks,

a very honest and helpful response, against which I can measure my psyche and the mental condition of our marriage.'

Thanks again.
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Re: Life on the Dark Side - (The Black Mountain) - Pros

Post by hhfarang »

Siani wrote:
Frank La Rue wrote:Frank, we rented instead of plunging in at the deep end. You can get the feel of a place once you do that. Also, you can ask locals about building projects, remember some of these projects are never completed. :? Also ask the forum, there is a lot of good advice available. :)

So, did you buy on the Dark Side in the end`?
No we didn't buy at all in the end. We came out originally with a huge container, with view to retire and buy a house or condo. We took a rental in HH for 3 months, unloaded our things into the rented house for storage. After careful consideration we decided that the best option for us was not to live full time in Thailand. We love Thailand, love visiting, enjoy every second that we are there. We now have the freedom to come out and rent for as long as we want. We can also have the choice to go to other countries.
Sometimes I wonder if we should have stuck it out, but to be absolutely honest, there was not an awful lot to do for us there. We are not golfers etc. We used to like the restaurant side of things, swimming etc. but we found we were saying things like "Oh, we must go to Tesco or Villa Market" almost 4 or 5 times a week....I actually don't like shopping, well, not that type anyway :?
I suppose I thought of a dream, having a lovely garden, doing some of it myself....then the reality set in, fear of snakes etc.
I envy people who "are happy with their lot"...I get bored quickly. We went everywhere in the time we were there, temples, markets, the vineyard, beach, long drives down south, there is loads to do. We've been out quite a few times. The last visit was to Phuket. I prefer HH to Phuket.
We hope to come out soon :)
[/quote]

I wish I had had your good sense Siani. I didn't rent first, in fact I bought land to build on one year before moving here, retired 5 years before I had planned to and then moved lock, stock, and barrel, built a huge expensive home (our "dream" home) with a big expensive garden saw and did everything in the first two or three years, visited nearly every part of Thailand and am now bored to death with the country and climate. We went broke fast supporting that property and with the rapid rise in the cost of living and devaluation of the dollar and had to sell that home, but unfortunately, the way I ended my career early and cut all ties (along with the costs of health care) prevents me from being able to go back now. If I had done it your way I would be happily living in my home country and looking forward to my vacations in Thailand every year. In my opinion you did it the right way.

I know lots of retired people who spend winters here and live the rest of the year in their home countries near family and life long friends and I envy them.
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