Hua Hin prices and rip offs

[margaretcarnes]

Hi HHFarang - I think the out of town prices for the type of things you mention have been much less in places like Pranburi for many years. I did those trips 9 years ago for things like furniture, tiles, plants etc (on the advice of locals) and also went to ChatuChak and China Town in Bangkok for bargains.
It's not a new fenom..phi..finumi.. Not a new thing! Granted the differences are probably even more noticeable now and yes, it can be very annoying. Particularly the difference in book prices quoted. Thats nothing less than a total rip off IMO.
But there are still the odd corners of HH for bargains (as well as Chaam market of course) Like the large covered shack place on the turn off from Chomsin going towards the 'golf range' market, and that market itself on Tuesday nights. As well as the Songkran market - wherever that might be these days!
Personally I always enjoyed the odd trip to Bangkok anyway to combine a break with shopping, and a visit to the scruffy second hand book store on Sukhumvit to stock up. Buksi also did regular Bangkok trips for computer stuff.
These days some HH expats (not necessarily yourself) seem to expect to get everything on the doorstep at a good price and straight away. People don't seem quite so willing to take a little time out, hop on a train or bus, and just go and explore other places and check out what's available elsewhere.
It's inevitable to generalise - but maybe it's more the new wave expats who fetch with them Western ideas founded on the standard pricing systems of national retailers like Walmart, Argos, MFI, B&Q etc where you can get everything you need at a fixed price with no hassle. Or order online for delivery to your door.
Retail in Thailand doesn't work like that, and half the fun is travelling around to source things. For most expats - certainly the retired ones - it should be part of the whole new Thai experience IMO

[Takiap]

Yes, the cost of living in Hua-Hin is now very much the same as it is in Phuket and in some cases, even a little higher. I do think though that if one shops as the Thais do then you can at least minimize the effects. By this I mean, buy groceries at the markets rather than at the shopping malls. I nearly always buy our meat supplies rather than the wife and I always pay the same price that Thais pay. This is just one example but it applies to many things.

What I've often noticed, is that Tesco will drop their prices on some of the primary goods such as rice, cooking oil, pork, etc, but then rise the price on other things. I'm sure the idea behind this is that if they draw you in with some low priced goods, you'll end up buying other stuff while you're there anyway. Some examples of this are coffee, which is cheaper at our little local shop than it is at tesco. Soap is another one, almost double the price when compared to the shopping mall near the traffic lights.

Have you ever taken note of the beef prices at Tesco? Those cows must have come with business class tickets. Some cuts are over 700 baht per kilo comared to the standard beef you get at the markets which only costs 120 per kilo. Sure I've heard the arguments that Thai beef is not as good but I've also learnt how to get good cuts which are just lovely. Nothing better than getting the kids to bed, the wife out, and then sitting down to a small fire with some beers and a half kilo of beef

Oh well, we have to eat so we just have to pay the prices they're asking unless of course, you grow all your own and trust me, that's not very easy here in Thailand.

[margaretcarnes]

Spot on Takiap. Shopping has become a science everywhere, not just in LOS. When Tesco opened at MV I posted my views on their marketing tactics, and my opinion hasn't changed. The initial cut price offers are designed to draw shoppers away from local traders until the opposition closes down.
Good on you for continuing to support the market traders.

[SuperTonic]

Regarding books, if you don't mind your books electronic, send me your requests and I can email you them in the week when I'm on fast net. I've got about 4000 so I've probably got what you want

[T.I.G.R.]

Margaret -

Well said !!

Thailand is a true wonderland, full of the beautiful, unusual and extraordinary things in life, including it's people.

Anyone who lives here and has the itch to complain might better spend their time wandering around and enjoying life......it's free for the taking.

[Rider]

To be honest I've found, compared with a smaller resort, Bang Saphan say, prices in HH are cheaper.
More choice of digs in HH means accommodation is cheaper, you need to stay the heck away from the city center, once you've done that the price drops.
Girly prices have stayed the same.
Food has gone up slightly.
I pay 6,000 baht for a months digs in a serviced hotel with internet and all the other jazz
I cannot match that price, even in smaller and 'cheaper' areas.

[hhfarang]

T.I.G.R.,

And yet, you moved out of Hua Hin. Was it not the expense, traffic, etc. that drove you out?

That's all I'm talking about. I'm not leaving Thailand, but I either want a city like Bangkok with public transit systems, and all the restaurants, entertainment, shopping, and good health care, or a quieter place where I can drive and park without a hassle and costs aren't so high.

Hua Hin is neither any more. It's in an identity crisis between the fishing village it used to be and a sprawling urban tourist city. To me it has taken on the worst of both instead of having the advantages of both.

A lot could be done to make this city a really nice place to live, and with all the construction, growth, and land transfers in the last few years, the local government should have plenty of cash to do it, but has one satang been put into the infrastructure during this boom. I can't see it. To control traffic, they just block an intersection and move the problem down the road to the next one. They can't even be bothered to put up barriers at most of the railroad crossings where people have gotten killed so frequently since I've been here. This is advertised as a family friendly city, but the health care, schools, public transport, etc. lag far behind other resort areas and Thai cities in this country.

Just my humble opinion after five years of watching the changes around here...

[Super Joe]

Overal cost of living in Phuket is way higher than Hua Hin.

SJ

[sandman67]

It's in an identity crisis between the fishing village it used to be and a sprawling urban tourist city. To me it has taken on the worst of both instead of having the advantages of both.

bingo...hats off to the man !!!!

[T.I.G.R.]

HH -


I found a place we liked and moved.....I didn't decide I hated Hua Hin and therefore should move to Cha Am. The discomfort of a house we disliked overrode our locational preference.

Obviously being north is lots easier on my cuss-word vocabulary, offset though by a longer drive to Market Village and environs.

Also on the plus side I'm no longer an hour's drive from the appropriate government centers, except we still have to report to Immigration in HH.

On the minus side it's further to do most heavy shopping and from favorite eateries etc.

I agree HH is getting seriously overloaded, but times they are a'changin and there's not much to be done about it but sit back and watch.

I gave up sweating the infrastructure and what to do about it all when I retired........someone else's turn now.

[buksida]

To be honest I've found, compared with a smaller resort, Bang Saphan say, prices in HH are cheaper.

Err - not sure if you had your eyes open in BS, I've pretty much lived in both places, alternating, for a fair while now and I know which one has the more advantageous cost of living for everything from a bevvie to a printer to a packet of pampers.

[STEVE G]

I spend my time in Thailand between Hua Hin and Nong Ki in Issan, and actually some basics are cheaper around Hua Hin than they are in the NE.
The Macro store towards Pranburi takes some beating and the sea food in some of the outlying markets is very cheap.

[crazy88]

My local restaurant sits by a lake which i fish sometimes .A big bowl of Khao Tom is 15 baht,a small chang 22 baht,heineken 35 baht .A decent portion of most dishes with an egg on top and a bowl of soup on the side is 30-35 baht .Water is free apart from bottled .As more foregners have started using the place I have had the menu translated into English .If you are coming up soi 88i t i on the right about 100m before you turn left for Siam old teak .Fishing is by permission of the mayor only and not for the public .

Might be dearer than othr parts of Thailand but its well worth it for me

Crazy 88

[Rider]

To be honest I've found, compared with a smaller resort, Bang Saphan say, prices in HH are cheaper.

Err - not sure if you had your eyes open in BS, I've pretty much lived in both places, alternating, for a fair while now and I know which one has the more advantageous cost of living for everything from a bevvie to a printer to a packet of pampers.

I'll rephrase that.
Accm is more expensive in Bang Saphan for what I'm getting right now in HH.
To get what I have in Hua Hin in Bang Saphan would cost 10,000 baht or so.
Sure a beach bungalow with fck all in it you can get for 250 baht a night but not a fully loaded apartment / room.
In Hua Hin 6,000 baht.
'Entertainment' costs are also cheaper.
Food is about the same. Fuel is the same.
Beer is slightly dearer.
Maybe for families there are some more levers for cheapness but not for a singleton

[buksida]

Still disagree, you can get a furnished house less than a kilometer from the beach for 5 grand a month in BS, the same would cost you 20k++ in HH. Granted HH has more accommodation options, but its definitely not cheaper.

Beer is half the price, entertainment is "Thai style" so you'll need to work on your language kung fu, fuel is the only constant and that's as cheap as chips everywhere at the moment.