Hua Hin (หัวหิน) is a seaside resort city in Thailand, but unlike (say) Pattaya or Phuket it's particularly popular for Thais. Hua Hin is near Bangkok and is a good weekend getaway. Hua Hin is becoming quite fashionable as a weekend spot for Bangkok residents and a retirement or vacation home community for foreigners. Although developing rapidly, there is a commitment by the local and provincial authorities to avoid the kind of overheated blight that has affected other beach resorts in Thailand.

Understand
Hua Hin as a resort was discovered in the early 1920s by King Rama VII as an ideal getaway from the sultry metropolis of Bangkok. The tranquil fishing village was turned into the Royal Resort and consequently became popular among Siam's nobility and upper class. In 1928, King Rama VII build his Klai Kangwon (Far From Worries) Palace. As of 2005, Klai Kangwon became the fulltime residence of His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej and is not open for visitors, although the outer palace grounds are open for walkers and joggers from 4pm to 7 pm daily. (Wear shoes, bring passport)

Get In
By Plane
Hua Hin Air Shuttle is currently the only passenger carrier offering regular flights to/from Hua Hin Airport. The price is very expensive compared to the distance and the time - 3100 baht one way, or 5200 baht return (adult, to/from Bangkok).

By Train
Train is an easy method to get into Hua Hin, as the train station is right in the center of Hua Hin. However, the trains go very slowly getting away from Bangkok so 2 1/2 hour road time to Hua Hin stretches to 5 or 6 on the train. The price of the train is around 100 baht. See State Railway of Thailand for time tables and fares.

By Bus
From Bangkok, buses to Hua Hin leave from the Sai Tai Mai terminal about every 20 minutes and take around 3 hours. The price (1st class) is under 200 baht.

More convenient to downtown Bangkok, you can also take a minibus from the Victory Monument (Anusawari Chai) area, near the BTS skytrain. Cost is 160 baht, limited baggage. The Hua Hin vans board in the alleyway next to Rajavithi Hospital at the southwest side of the Victory Monument traffic roundabout. From the skytrain station, take the walkway towards the monument, then turn left and descend the staircase to street level. The minibus area is behind the food vendors area. Look for a small table with "Cha Am, Hua Hin" written in English to buy your ticket.

A 1st class bus service connects Hua Hin directly with Suvarnabhumi Airport (the new BKK).

By Taxi
Taking a taxi from Bangkok to Hua Hin (distance about 200 km) is possible. Price after negotiation should be in the 1600-2000 baht range. The limousine services, available at Bangkok Airport, are more expensive than an ordinary taxi.

Get Around
There are many ways to get around in Hua Hin, there's small trucks that carry people from places and cost only 5 baht. There are numerous motorcycle taxis and tuk-tuks, fewer car taxis. Negotiate price beforehand. There are quite a lot of upscale tourists in Hua Hin and prices are sometimes adjusted upwards. Better to clarify the matter ahead of time. Car rentals are available, and this can be convenient if you're comfortable driving in Thailand. Motorcycle rentals are readily available. Hua Hin is very flat, and bicycle is a good way to get around locally. Rentals available, but not so prevalent as motos.

See
Kao Takeab is one of the highest area in Hua Hin, by going up this mountain by driving you will see the whole Hua Hin and also nice beach. This is another good place to wait for the sunset as well. Also the food on Kao Takeab is very delicious too.

Beaches - there is only one beach, which runs from one side of Hua Hin to the other. Basically it's one long beach. At the south end of town, Khao Takeab interrupts the beach. On the other side (technically not Hua Hin anymore) is a lovely swimming beach with a view of Khao Takeab's South face. Just a little further on, Suan Son beach is owned by the thai army, but open to the public for a small fee. Notable for the tropical sea pines lining the shore.

Do
Sand and Sea.
There are many other acitivities as well like ATV, horse riding, go-kart, and kite boarding.
Must go to night market. Where they sell foods and clothes.

Buy
Buy cheap stuffs at night market. Things that you can buy range from Red Bull shirt to antique. Red Bull shirt will cost you around 3 dollars at most, not only red bull shirt but many other varieties of shirt will too. Recommend, these shirts are very thin therefore can be only wear during summer in the Cold countries. Note that there are two night markets. The better known is in the middle of Hua Hin, and is rather tourist-oriented. The one the Thais favor is in the parking lot between Grand Hotel and Sao Paulo Hospital. More diverse and interesting, but does not operate Monday and Tuesday.

Eat
Lunch
Anywhere close to the beach or on top of Kao Takeab is good. The foods here are mostly seafood and thai food, which taste very hot or upon request. The price of the foods varies between restaurants, depends on the location and class of the restaurant. But still the price will be cheaper than in the USA.

Dinner
Must go to night market. The price of the food here is considerably cheap, one plate cost around 1 dollars or less.

Drink
If you want English songs better go in the downtown area of Hua Hin, where Hyatt Hotel is located. If you go there, most of the people will be foreigners.

Style. One of the best nightspots in Hua Hin, with hip hop music and techno. Popular for teenagers around that area. Open from 6 pm to 2 am, but most people come around 10 pm onward. Live music as well, but thai music. Frequently overcrowded.

Takeang (J. Gene) Pub. Located at the end of Soi Bintabaht (girl bar street) closest to the Hilton Hotel. Live rock music with a very gifted Thai guitarist named Thep. The tunes are all classic rock covers (Hendrix, Guns & Roses, Steppenwolf, etc.), but Thep is a remarkable soloist who makes any song his own. Recommended

Bluestation Country Pub. Very popular with local folks, but nearly unknown to tourists. Located behind the older of Hua Hin's two bus depots, by the intersection of Chomsin Road and the railroad track (only rail crossing in central HH, so easy to find). The house band is excellent, playing all Thai country (Peu Chiwit) songs. Before 10 pm, there's an opening act that some nights (but irregularly) consists of a duo of Thai on guitar and farang on accordion, doing all Thai songs. One of a kind, and pleasant listening.

Sleep
Ranging from motel to 5 stars hotels. Hua Hin has alot of hotels for you to stay at, some of the best are Dusit Resort and Spa, Hyatt, Cheevasom Spa and Resort, Veranda Hotel. Those are 5 star hotels which are the best, if you want a bit lower grade, try Chom View Resort, which is near Kao Takeab and cheap. To go to any of these hotels you can ask the truck to take you there easily.

Many guest houses are available, walk in, no need to make reservations. A room is 150B and up. For 400B per night we got a very nice and clean room with modern AC and TV.

Lucky, located around the corner from the Hua Hin Hilton, has small clean rooms with shared bathroom available for 150B per night.

Chom View Resort - very nice, not big, cheap, clean. Near Kao takeab, private beach.

Veranda Resort - very nice, cozy resort, not too big, service is excellent and all rooms are unique.

Chevasom Resort and Spa - one of the best Spa resorts in Thailand, very private. And well known to tourist as well. Pricy but the quality you get back is the best.

Stay Safe
As the King has a palace (residence) here, the security in Hua Hin is very tight, with a lot of cops around.

Extracted from Wikipedia: Hua Hin

My Little Report on Hua Hin

I’ve been there several times in the past few years, as I use it as a seaside getaway when I've had too much of Bangkok (when I used to work there).

It's a great little beach, and I much prefer it to the one in Pattaya. I usually grab my fave BG of the moment and spend a couple of days on the beach, drinking eating partying and shagging.

Getting there is easy, I usually catch the bus from Sai Tai Mai, I think it costs about 140 baht, and takes around 2 and a half hours, the last stop on the bus stops at downtown Hua Hin near the 'City Beach' hotel, which is a decent place to stay (around 1600baht a night). The hotel has a great Jonnie Walker nightclub in the basement which is full of young Thai’s (not a FL in sight). There is always a live band playing (some of the girls in these bands are super cute) and a dj. Don't be surprised if you’re the only farrang in there, but don’t worry about it as everyone seems to be friendly and if you have a camera they all want their photo taken with you!!!

I usually stay at city beach, although it’s not on the beach itself, its well located and only a few minutes walk from the sea and the sand.

As far as mongering goes there is a street downtown which is full of bars (Soi Bintabat), it reminds me of one of the soi's in Pattaya and as mongering is increasing in the area, more and more bars are opening. The last time I went to Hua Hin there where about 40+ beer bars in operation, I did not see any go-go's or any show bars. Prices are around the same as Pattaya, the BG will try to get more but you will have to negotiate. On average the BG's in HH are of a lesser quality then what’s available in Bangkok or Pattaya.

FL's are available in the Hiltons nightclub, after 11pm is probably the best time to get there. A friend of mine negotiated a FL down to 500baht LT at the Hilton, and she was a cutie... I should have outbid him!

I Recommend the following activities in HH:

Kat Sarin Seafood Restaurant – Freshly caught seafood, fresh of the boats, at reasonable prices.

Elephant Thai Massage – A proper Thai or Oil massage, none of that hanky panky stuff in here. It is also a good place to get a manicure/pedicure done, for you boys (like me) who like to look good for the ladies.

Star Planet Nightclub – For the reasons mentioned above.

The bar on the beach – I’m not sure what it’s called but there is only one… get there around lunchtime, order you beer and food, and lay out on a sun lounger until its time to go hunting. The have a great Thai band which performs covers of classic western music mostly reggae and rock. Band are really friendly, and if you fancy yourself as a performer they let customers on stage and sing or play the instruments. They also do requests. When they see me they play ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane’ because I sang it once on stage with them.

Overall a nice place to go and chill if you want to get away from Bangkok for a couple of days.

:Grin6:

I'm thinking of going to Hua Hin in the spring. Is the Hilton girl friendly? I'd like to stay there but I don't want any hassles over a TG. Can anyone who has stayed there advise?

The Hilton is girl tolerant, I'm not sure friendly is the word - LOL

Best ask front desk if you bring a friend back for the night will they charge you the price of a double room Ive stayed in a few Hiltons and yes they charged me double best to always ask if you dont want a fright with your card when your checking out

Hi

You can all read it on

www.huahininthailand.com

This post has been edited by jaakroejaakhen: Apr 27 2008, 06:14 PM

dạo này Thailand xãy ra chiến tranh bạo động nên sợ quá kô dám đến

seems like your writing vietnamese, we are an english language forum, except for the specific language forums

Having recently visited Hua Hin for 3 days I can report that the place is one of the most boring places in the whole of Thailand.

There are bars but all the beer bar type unfortunately the girls are either very old or fat,and most are ex of Pattaya and Puckett.

For some reason there seems to be a large number of Lady boys every where and they are the most manly looking I have ever seen.

I would say give Hua hin a miss unless you want a quiet beach holiday with the family.

Hua hin is the place for retired bar girls and men in drag.

Hua Hin is No Pattaya for sure..I lived there 18 months when I first retired to Thailand..Theres more to do then you think but it takes time to find these places..Cheaper and the beaches are Rocky and water is dirty..
If your looking for the night life and ladys its maybe not the city for you..If you want to retire and have a wife then its Perfect..The temptations are not there and your Thai wife will have many more friends..
As far as LadyBoys go--There Everywhere not just Hua Hin..There all over the place incl Isan..Its a part of Thailand so accept it..If your looking for a wild night with Go Go bars then Come here..If you want a Quiter more laid back holiday then Hua Hin is the place..

In my opinion the best way to avoid extra charges, if you have a regular girl is to book in advance online with price confirmation for 2 people. Works everytime for me when staying at Holiday Inn in Bangkok.

I agree for the most part. I hated Hua Hin. I think however that if you want a nice quiet holiday with nice beach, and yes, sometimes even mongers want that, go to Cha Am. It's VERY quiet, but a lot nicer, cleaner and the people are better. Bring a girl, don't expect to find good bars in Cha AM!