What brought you to Hua Hin?

[Grunter]

After reading on here for the last 6 months & only joining a few weeks back it had myself thinking
What do the most of the people on the forum do as far as work or tourist only passing or retired.

I find it interesting to know a little about what people do or their backgrounds & what brought them
to Thailand in particular & more so what made them choose Hua Hin to settle

[hhfarang]

I came because I have a Thai wife who wanted to come back to live in her home country. We spent a month trip scouting the corners of Issan, the north, the islands, and settled on Hua Hin as the best place to live; but that was ten years ago... Hua Hin now bears no resemblance to Hua Hin then.

[TingTongJohn]

I first visited HH in 2000 and it was a quiet laid back life and beach and that is why I took the trip south from BKK. Now I am thinking when I do retire it will not Hua Hin but maybe Sukhothai but that is a number of years away because in more recent trips it has lost abit of that charm. But who knows that could change.

[usual suspect]

In '98 I spent a week up in C.Rai riding the hills on a 250 trail-bike & decided the body needed a rest..so got the overnight train down from C.Mai, then thought H.H. was the nearest resort for a bit of R+R, so within an hour was on a slow train south, got a room at the good-ole Ban Pak Hua hin down Bintabaat...met a Thai lady who knew about 5 words of English, then.........
(Soon after arriving in H.H. and looking around at night I sat one night outside a quirky place called the 'Hare & Hounds'..it was a friendly kinda bar thing, but the owners, both English made me very welcome..their one piece of advice to me was NEVER get involved in a bar! Those two folk are almost ex-pat legends now..their names?? Billy & Mags).

[oakdale160]

If you are the type that need something to do, part time work etc HH is not the best place. Most of the retirees even ones who are only in their 50do nothing with any challenge or purpose, not totally their choosing, there are few such opportunities here. I used to spend 2 days a week in Pattaya for work and met many more expats with a small part time job. My best friend there was an accountant who only accepted UK clients and monitored investments, tax returns etc. All with no Thai licence.

[Grunter]

Yeah we'll I had been coming to Thailand for 20 years+. Worked for Unocal, Chevron & PTTP. Stayed in Songkhla & Hat Yai for near 6 years then moved back to Aussie but never worked a day in Aussie. My work has kept myself working abroad for over 20 years
. Always loved Thailand & decided 5 years ago to make the jump back & set up in Thailand for good. Lived in Bangkok for the past 5 years & come to Hua Hin a few times with my Fiancee & we both love the laid back life compared to Bangkok. So last year we decided to sell her Hair salon's in Bangkok & make the move here. Been here 3 weeks & like the place a lot, trying to find our way around here but that's just some of the adventure for us both. We are currently renting a house in Orchid Palms Project #5 & looking for a block of dirt or a house to buy. I still have a few years before I retire but as I am a consultant & self employed the more I save the quicker that dream of early retirement will happen. But until then I keep grinding away. So looking forward to the new life here in Hua Hin & hope the place looks after us in return

[migrant]

First came to Thailand at a friends suggestion, wanting a new local after breaking up with a old GF in Honduras.

Really enjoyed Thailand, came a few time after. In California my love of Thai food took me to different restaurants and met my wife in one. She is from Tha Yang, about 45 minutes n of Hua Hin with family in Cha Am and Hua Hin so each visit (yearly) we spend time in town. Retirement is finally solidifying to 2015. Not sure if we'll end up in Hua Hin, but it's a good starting point!

[Eugene]

Me and my friend decided to go to warm countries to spend our 6 winter months in 2010. The plan was to go to Thailand for the first 3 months and then move to Vietnam for the second half.

We chose a small town Prachuap Khiri Khan, 100km to the South from Hua Hin as we wanted to stay away from tourist crowds and places like Pattaya. That was a nice but toooo quiet town where few thais spoke English. After the three months in Prachuap we left for Vietnam, spent a week there visiting 3 or 4 different cities but didn't find a place where we would have been feeling ourselves comfortable. Prices for accomodation were high as well as we came right in the middle of the high season. There came the decision to go back to Thailand and stay in Hua Hin. Applying for a Thai visa in Ho Chi Minh took just one day, we were surprised and happy that it was so easy.

Staying in Hua Hin for our next three months I really liked the city and since then I am coming here for the fourth time already.

While most of you have been living here for decades, even I can see the difference in what was in the beginning of 2011 and now. Traffic jams are huge, prices go up. I have been coming to the same appartment house during 3 years and every time they have higher rates (even with the dicount the make for me as a returning customer).

In 2010 in Prachuap I could hardly count 10 foreigners in the town. This year foreigners are all around there. Thailand is changing. I am afraid to think what Hua Hin can become like in 5-10 years.

[Gérard]

I agree with Eugene, and I moved to Prachuap city 3 months ago after considering Cha-Am, but not Hua Hin because I knew about the quick change of that city which was so quiet 15 years ago.

Indeed, there are more foreigners (expats and tourists) than I have ever seen in the past years, but it still looks like Thailand, the traffic is not an issue as the Phetkasem is on one side, far from the center, and I really think it is a nice place for older people looking for a quiet life. Excellent restaurants, not expensive, beautiful beaches, I will stay here a few years and go further south when needed.

[Eugene]

The town is really nice, I still have good friendship relations with an old lady, the owner of the house I first rented in Prachuap, with an old man from Austria - my neighbour in 2010 - who I go to visit every year. However, there not many places to spend an evening playing pool or listening to live music. I remember one place with music and two bars with pool tables (Khun Sai and Luca's bar in the end of Sala Cheep road near the Military base entrance is very nice).

I live alone and don't need huge spaces to live, so usually I look for budget accomodations. In November I wasn't able to find any in Prachuap by myself. With some help rented a studio for 12000 baht/month, while living in Hua Hin I pay less. That seems to be strange for me

What I am really missing in Hua Hin is a newly opened small Bavarian Restaurant (owner's name is Rudy) and their great food.

[hhfarang]

In 2010 in Prachuap I could hardly count 10 foreigners in the town. This year foreigners are all around there. Thailand is changing. I am afraid to think what Hua Hin can become like in 5-10 years.

In 2003 Hua Hin was nearly like that (well, maybe 100 full time foreigners) and look at it now! I remember going to the immigration office in Hua Hin (in the Police Station) for my first annual OA renewal and I was the only person there! No taking a number and waiting with 50 to 100 other people at any given time on any given day like now, just walked in and sat down in front of an immigration official immediately.

Imagine what Hua Hin will be like in another 10 years. Buksi, maybe you didn't move far enough away! You're still young and I think civilization/tourism will catch up with you sooner than you think. Buy all the land you can now! I could have bought a rai on Soi 94 for a million baht back then that has an asking price of 20 million now just ten years later!

[dundrillin]

I'm going to get both barrels for this but I respect the Thais for trying to prevent land speculation by foreigners , I can think of nothing more likely to bring grief upon us. The British economy staggers from boom to bust (partially) as a result of our obsession with property prices. Not forgetting the sub- prime fiasco in the US. There are plenty other areas of profitable investment.

[Gérard]

The town is really nice, I still have good friendship relations with an old lady, the owner of the house I first rented in Prachuap, with an old man from Austria - my neighbour in 2010 - who I go to visit every year. However, there not many places to spend an evening playing pool or listening to live music. I remember one place with music and two bars with pool tables (Khun Sai and Luca's bar in the end of Sala Cheep road near the Military base entrance is very nice).

I live alone and don't need huge spaces to live, so usually I look for budget accomodations. In November I wasn't able to find any in Prachuap by myself. With some help rented a studio for 12000 baht/month, while living in Hua Hin I pay less. That seems to be strange for me

What I am really missing in Hua Hin is a newly opened small Bavarian Restaurant (owner's name is Rudy) and their great food.

Strange that you paid 12.000 bahts for a studio in Prachuap. I live alone too, but I prefer a house and I found a furnished one for 5000/month, no luxury but comfortable, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, air in one bedroom only, on 400 m2 land.
True that Prachuap has no real nightlife and the karaokes are rather thai oriented.
No problem for me since I am not a night bird and enjoy my bicycle ride as soon as 6 h30 everyday on quiet backroads.

[buksida]

Imagine what Hua Hin will be like in another 10 years. Buksi, maybe you didn't move far enough away! You're still young and I think civilization/tourism will catch up with you sooner than you think. Buy all the land you can now! I could have bought a rai on Soi 94 for a million baht back then that has an asking price of 20 million now just ten years later!

Imagine what it was like in Hua Hin in the late 90s, only about 50 expats then, and everyone knew each other and got on together ... imagine that! Of course it was a lot more relaxed here then without the immigration/tourist police/labour dept/music mafia threatening to raid and extort from you or other farangs grassing you up. Soi 94 was a dirt track when I first came here... aarrghhh the good ol days.

Land is already priced well beyond me where I am now (tripled in 5 years) so another move further south will probably happen within the next ten years.

[Big Boy]

Soi 94 was a dirt track when I first came here... aarrghhh the good ol days.

Nice to know that some things haven't changed