Bars packed with people

Discussion on where to go when the sun goes down in Hua Hin; bars, pubs, clubs, karaoke and general nightlife.
slivovica
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Bars packed with people

Post by slivovica »

I just was in Hua Hin for a week and was surprised how busy and lively the nightlife was this time. On my previous two visits (second half of Septermber '09 and '10) I enjoyed the very relaxed ambience in the main bar area. This time, in particular on Saturday 29 October, bars and streets were packed, competed with loud music and walking through Soi Bintabaht felt more a bit like the infamous party zones on Mallorca than the HH I was used to from previous visits.

Now I wonder how much of this is due to being here one month later than on previous visits (= closer to the main tourist season) and how much is due to expats from Bangkok having gone to Hua Hin because of the flood and using the opportunity to party?
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by uncle tom »

Probably a bit of both - the high season kicks off this month, and the flood risk in BKK must have diverted a few..

..so make the best of it! - I've no time for those who like it when trade's slow - insufficient trade means bars lose money, which means bars close, which is NOT good..

And if you're chasing skirt in the town, fear not the competition - the number of girls in town is a pretty close function of the number of punters, so the more the merrier!
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly...
slivovica
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by slivovica »

Dear Uncle Tom,

Thanks for your swift response! I agree with the economic aspect and did not mean to be negative about bars receiving sufficient customers to make them economically viable. It's just that I was struggling with the change in experience I had in this town on my third stay compared to the previous two which I had really enjoyed.

I think the problem was mainly the volume of the music in Soi Bintabaht on Saturday evening. It seemed bar owners were competing for customers by means of the volume of the music they played and that created quite a cacophony as you could simultaneously hear music from several adjacent bars.

Also, I was trying to understand how much of the liveliness was due to the high season and how much was the special effect of the flood (I read HH received the majority of people who fled Bangkok last week, together with Pattaya). So high season starts in November. Until when does it run in Hua Hin?

Thanks

btw: Maybe I am not on my own. I read on this forum that many people chose to live in HH because it is quieter than many other places in Thailand.
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uncle tom
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by uncle tom »

I think the problem was mainly the volume of the music in Soi Bintabaht on Saturday evening. It seemed bar owners were competing for customers by means of the volume of the music they played and that created quite a cacophony as you could simultaneously hear music from several adjacent bars.
Nip into the Romantic - they have a neat response to this..

..when everyone else has their music up loud, they turn off theirs and 'borrow' the music from across the soi..

Enjoy!
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by lomuamart »

I'd say that high season can run until the end of February.
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by usual suspect »

I know a restauranteur in HH who 5-6 yrs ago always reckoned 'High-Season' trade/numbers dipped after Feb 17th each year.. :( but now HH seems to stay quite busy thru' till Songkran :D ..it is straight after Thai New Year that the real dip in visitor-numbers seems to kick-in.
(Does this mean all our visitors are back to work..to fund their next trip .here).. :cheers:
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by slivovica »

Thanks all for the information.

Romantic Bar sounds like a good idea - sane and economical! I'll check it out on my next visit when the barmen of the other bars have their fingers on the volume control again.
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by slivovica »

... oh, I forgot to mention: Another drawback of the bigger number of people now in the bars is that it has become more difficult to find an available pool table. Unfortunately, pool tables are not a close function of the number of punters! :wink:
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by NOKYAI »

usual suspect wrote:I know a restauranteur in HH who 5-6 yrs ago always reckoned 'High-Season' trade/numbers dipped after Feb 17th each year.. :( but now HH seems to stay quite busy thru' till Songkran :D ..it is straight after Thai New Year that the real dip in visitor-numbers seems to kick-in.
(Does this mean all our visitors are back to work..to fund their next trip .here).. :cheers:

I was one of the crowd there when the OP visited and am now saving for January. The bad publicity regarding floods seems to be keeping flight prices down thankfully!

see you all on the 5th :D
Enjoying 'Retirement'....So many jobs to do, I don't know how I ever had time to work!
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Re: Bars packed with people

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Last night around 9.00 the 'Bar-soi's had an abundance of tourists wandering up & down..BUT..
..these tourists were just mooching, no real intention of drinking in the bars.
YES..I'm afraid for some bars (including the wife's) it will be a testing time this high season with so many
Mamasans thinking it is BIG & CLEVER to play Thai music in their bars at such high levels (They must know what desired effect they want when they purchase big F/O speakers & site them in their doorways)..hence they have no customers..ho-hum/som-nam-naa. (But then we see them advertising Happy-Hour drinks to try get trade???)
Am I the only Farang who relates 'Live Music' in the bars to 'Live Noise'..?? A customer commented that a nearby bar has their 'Live Music' totally made up of bass guitar & drums..who can sit inside there & enjoy this punishment..??(except Thai youth) Maybe I'm just to damn old & moody for this game now??
Maybe I need to retire to an Issan village to sit under a tree tending cattle all day..??
(Pass me some Bettle to chew..55)
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by hhfarang »

Maybe I need to retire to an Issan village to sit under a tree tending cattle all day..??
(Pass me some Bettle to chew..55)
Then you'll have to listen to the loud speaker announcements by the village headman starting at about 4 a.m. :D
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: Bars packed with people

Post by usual suspect »

hhfarang..555!! (Good point..your wife's village must be same as our's then..arghh!!)
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by hhfarang »

The only way to get away from noise pollution in this country is to go scuba diving (deep enough so as not to hear jet skis or longtail boats overhead)! :|
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: Bars packed with people

Post by richard »

hhfarang wrote:The only way to get away from noise pollution in this country is to go scuba diving (deep enough so as not to hear jet skis or longtail boats overhead)! :|
Now that is something I would like to see HHF dressed for a dive:naughty: :naughty:

Have noticed in my recent travels round Binta that the bars playing loud music are empty or emptying, whereas the ones playing music where you can have a conversation are full or filling
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Re: Bars packed with people

Post by hhfarang »

Now that is something I would like to see HHF dressed for a dive :naughty:
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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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