Looking for stories from British expats living in Hua Hin

[Pleng]

Kate. Are you looking specifically at people who have retired to Hua Hin? Or are you looking to talk to people who work here?

What about people who spend a significant amount of time here? Perhaps people who work 6 months of the year and relax here for 6 months?

Additionally, are you only planning to study Hua Hin? As I don't think that'll give you an overall picture of 'lifestyle migration' to Thailand. You'll probably get quite a different breed of Expats in Chang Mai, Samui, Phuket or Pattaya for example.

[KB_lboro]

Hello Kate,
I follow the HH forum most days as I plan to retire to Huahin in the future.I already own a house there with my Thai wife and holiday there twice a year.
The reason for the contact is that we live in Sileby near Loughborough which might be of interest to you.
There is quite a large Thai community here as you probably know already.

Hi Angustum,

Thanks for your response, I am new to Loughborough so not really aware of the different communities that live there so thanks for the info - I'm actually based in Edinburgh (!) and ny commute down to Lboro every month or so. It would be great to hear more about why you have chosen HH as a retirement destination - perhaps we could have a chat over email or pm?

I'm replying individually to all posts in order to build up my profile and be able to send more info over pm! Hope this is ok,

Kate

[sargeant]

Hi Kate just a post to give you a reason to respond and get your posts up

I am probably teaching you to suck eggs but
This town was a small fishing village 15 years ago with a max of 100 expats then (if that)it then exploded 2002/3/4 and kept on growing up to 2011 how many now maybe 4,000 plus would be my guess

I would suggest that the reasons expats have chosen Hua Hin has changed over that 15 years

The availability of european food tescos etc has and i am sure had an influence (not that anyone is going to say they only came for the Pizzas) but i dont think many would have made the leap without it

Time of arrival here will be relevent with your questioning and the questions you ask

just a thought

[KB_lboro]

I am all for any realistic research into the sociological aspects of expat aims, and the realities of expat life. But - and please don't take this the wrong way Kate - I would want to know exactly why this research is being undertaken. What is the aim of it. How results will be used. Who will see the completed data. What has triggered the Universities decision to undertake the research. Why and how is it being funded. In a nutshell - what is behind it all?!

Hi Margaret,

Thanks very much for your post, you are right to ask all of these questions and had I been able to post the link to our website it would all be a lot clearer - I'm building up to 10 posts in order to be able to share these links with the forum, but for now let me try to answer your questions and elaborate on why this research has been funded.

The research is being undertaken primarily for academic reasons but we hope it will have more generall impact on policy makers understanding and analysis of contemporary forms of mobility. The project is titled 'Lifestyle Migration in East Asia' and we are doing small, pilot studies in three locations - Hua Hin in Thailand, Penang in Malaysia and a small town in China (here we are focusing on Asian lifestyle migrants). It is funded by a UK research council (ESRC) and we have a small grant to carry out the fieldwork and analyse the data over the course of the next year. The project manager is Professor Karen O Reilly, who has published many books on lifestyle migration, particularly to Spain. She, along with colleagues from Hong Kong University, put in a funding bid for this research as part of an ongoing academic interest in lifestyle migration as a contemporary form of mobility, and a phenomenon that has received relatively little attention compared with other types of migration (e.g. economic migration).

The aim of the research is to explore the motivations, experiences and outcomes of lifestyle migration as a contemporary form of mobility. So, we are trying to identify whether there are new patterns of migration emerging in different parts of the world - rather than moving for work, people who move for 'lifestyle' reasons, e.g. to retire. By exploring these issues we hope to gain a better understanding of why British people are attracted to certain localities.

The results will be used primarilly in academic papers to contribute to the existing knowledge abut migration - so journal papers, and perhaps an edited book. But we adhere to strict ethics around the anonymisation of participants, confidentiality of data and no party outside the research team will have access to the raw data. We will also produce a report for the funding council (Economic and Social Research Council) in the UK about our findings, and intend to produce a booklet of the findings available to those who have participated in the research and other interested parties in Hua Hin and other field sites. Again, I must stress that the data will be completely anonymised so any quotes we include from potentail interviewees will not be attributed to any individual.

Because to be absolutely blunt it is impossible for anyone who is a first time visitor to get a fair and balanced overview. Particularly if time is limited, which is not clear in your post.
You have made a logical start, but one which will get responses only from the minority of expats who use this forum, and who are largely well established in Thailand. To gain a fair and balanced overview of expat life would - IMO - require many months of living in HH, and gaining access to a much broader range of expats. Those who have a less positive experience of expat life are less likely to talk, but should still be included for a balanced picture

Again, I understand your concern about the short timescale of the project and getting a balanced view. To clarify, I will be in Hua Hin for one month - and I agree this is far too short a time to speak to everyone and get a fuller picture, however, this forum is just one of the recruitment methods I am using to find people to talk to - I hope to talk to people who are less established in the expat community and hope to find people of different ages, genders etc. Also, the study will not claim to be generalisable - so we do not make the claim that what we report is the experience of everyone as this would be incorrect. The purpose of small scale pilot studies is to scope out the area of interest to reveal a more in depth picture of particular experiences - these will then feed into our broader study and add some depth to our other data (we are also doing a survey and email interviews). It is also possible that this small scale study will bring about issues that require further study that we could potentially get further funding for in order to spend more time in the area. Mainly, we are limited by the level of funding we have to do the research as it is a very small grant.

I hope this has helped answer some of your questions and allay any concerns you may have with the research. I would be happy to send you other documentation about the project, and will post a link to our website as soon as I am able.

Kate

[KB_lboro]

Kate. Are you looking specifically at people who have retired to Hua Hin? Or are you looking to talk to people who work here?

What about people who spend a significant amount of time here? Perhaps people who work 6 months of the year and relax here for 6 months?

Additionally, are you only planning to study Hua Hin? As I don't think that'll give you an overall picture of 'lifestyle migration' to Thailand. You'll probably get quite a different breed of Expats in Chang Mai, Samui, Phuket or Pattaya for example.

Hi Pleng,

Thanks for the questions - again all very valid and happy to answer...

As in my post above, the research is on 'lifestyle migration' and by this we mean people who move for 'lifestyle' reasons. This could include any number of things and we don't want to exclude people from the research who work but who have been motivated to move to HH because of the lifestyle they can have there. E.g. teaching English abroad is technically a move for work, but many people choose this work because of the opportunity to move abroad and experience a different lifestyle. So this would count. The only group of people we are not seeking to interview is those who have been posted to Thailand specifically for work - so people working for multinational companies with offices in Thailand for example - this type of move is characterised more by an economic rationale and therefore the 'lifestyle' angle is less present.
Does that answer your first question?

Second.. we are definitely interested in those who work 6 months and then live 6 months in HH who seek relaxation and leisure through temporary/circular migrations.

Thirdly... I am spending the majority of my time in Hua Hin (although I appreciate this is not very long!) so that I can get a local perspective from one place. But I am also in email contact with people in other parts of Thailand, (e.g. Chiang Mai, Bangkok) and we are setting up an online survey through which we hope to get a broader range of perspectives too. I hope to visit Pattaya and Koh Samui while down in HH and distribute the survey among expat communities there. Don't think I'll make it Phuket though - so will have to rely on online contact there.

Hope that helps!

Kate

[KB_lboro]

Hi Kate just a post to give you a reason to respond and get your posts up

I am probably teaching you to suck eggs but
This town was a small fishing village 15 years ago with a max of 100 expats then (if that)it then exploded 2002/3/4 and kept on growing up to 2011 how many now maybe 4,000 plus would be my guess

I would suggest that the reasons expats have chosen Hua Hin has changed over that 15 years

The availability of european food tescos etc has and i am sure had an influence (not that anyone is going to say they only came for the Pizzas) but i dont think many would have made the leap without it

Time of arrival here will be relevent with your questioning and the questions you ask

just a thought

Thanks for this Sargeant! I'm almost on 10 posts now:)

You raise some interesting points here - I'd be interested to hear from people about how things have changed in HH over this period and how the infrastructure for expats has expanded - I wonder what people think of this? I get the impression from reading different forums that some people miss the old days, while others appreciate the availability of european food and growing community. I think you're right that time of arrival might relate to these differing opinions.

Also, what do you think are the reasons for the particular boom of people coming in the early 2000s? Do you think it would relate to the ‘Non-immigrant O-A Long-stay Visa for a Retired Person’ that was introduced in the late 1990s or were there other reasons why that particular period led to an increase? I am currently reading about all this, but any opinions would be gratefully received!

Thanks again!

[sargeant]

One singular post to go kate so try this

A lot of the expats of 15 years ago are gone not many left even i have moved out albeit a mere 15 minute bus ride away in Pranburi

Many reasons but jan 1998 the Baht was 93 to the £ now it is 49.3

In about 2002/3/4 it was steady at 72 to the £

the credit card boom was well underway and property was dirt cheap
but in about 2011 the prices leveled off and properties were put on the market

Currency rates and property prices

my years may be a tad awry but not much

[KB_lboro]

Thanks for your comments Sargeant, it is interesting that getting more for your money is a key motivation, and now that property is more expensive, some people are moving out. I am hoping to chat to some property developers whilst in HH to get to grips with the changing property market - would you say this is the case across many coastal parts of Thailand, or does Hua Hin seem to be more expensive due to its heritage?

Kate

[SunandFun]

Hi Kate,
I think your answer to why the "boom" in early 2000. The Tsunami. This caused those that frequented Phuket to look elsewhere. Hua Hin was a good choice and was minus the "sex tourism" taint of Pattaya. Hope this sheds some light.

[Pleng]

Hi Pleng,

The only group of people we are not seeking to interview is those who have been posted to Thailand specifically for work - so people working for multinational companies with offices in Thailand for example - this type of move is characterised more by an economic rationale and therefore the 'lifestyle' angle is less present.
Does that answer your first question?

Yes, it does.

Also, what do you think are the reasons for the particular boom of people coming in the early 2000s? Do you think it would relate to the ‘Non-immigrant O-A Long-stay Visa for a Retired Person’ that was introduced in the late 1990s or were there other reasons why that particular period led to an increase?!

One angle you may like to explore, if it's within the scope of your studies, is the amount of people who want to migrate here, but for one reason or another (hint to get you started;) : usually Visa and Work Permit related!) aren't able. I know there's a good few on this forum who are trying to find a way to get out here permanently, and also a few of us who have finally made it after years of trying!

[KB_lboro]

Ok..as a 'rookie' on the forum I can now post links so here is the link to our website which has some more information on it about the project...

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/l ... _home.html

And here is our fledgling blog, we will be posting interesting links/events/stories on this blog (all with permissions of course!)

http://lifestylemigration.wordpress.com/

Take a look

[KB_lboro]

I think your answer to why the "boom" in early 2000. The Tsunami. This caused those that frequented Phuket to look elsewhere. Hua Hin was a good choice and was minus the "sex tourism" taint of Pattaya. Hope this sheds some light.

Thanks for this, the internal migrations of people to different parts of Thailand is something we're interested in looking at too - how and why certain localities become out of favour while others attract.

[KB_lboro]

One angle you may like to explore, if it's within the scope of your studies, is the amount of people who want to migrate here, but for one reason or another (hint to get you started;) : usually Visa and Work Permit related!) aren't able. I know there's a good few on this forum who are trying to find a way to get out here permanently, and also a few of us who have finally made it after years of trying!

Thanks Pleng, this is a really interesting point - perhaps I should start a new thread about this specific topic - while I only have a short time in HH, my online presence will extend beyond this time limit so could potentially collect some interesting material about the barriers to moving there too. I better ask my PI (project investigator) first to make sure it is within our remit tho!

Thanks!

[barrys]

Hi Kate

I think it sounds like a fascinating project and would be pleased to contribute - I've sent you a PM!

[sargeant]

I think your answer to why the "boom" in early 2000. The Tsunami.

sun and fun the tsunami was dec 2004

the boom had already started but mainly due to golf

as for the sex angle i would be surprised if that makes people come and live here 365 add to that Hua Hin and Phuket were hardly sex free at any time after 2002

quote kate

I am hoping to chat to some property developers whilst in HH to get to grips with the changing property market

Sorry if i larf but dont expect to be told how bad it is, to a property developer here that is considered awfully bad form old chap or Hari Kiri

Heritage uummm the rich Thais have always had Hua Hin as a holiday place but the main and overriding reason for the ludicrous high price rises was expats paying any price they were asked