A day in Hua Hin

Sunday is my day off. I "work" 6 days a week on my thesis but one day a week, I want to explore and have fun.

Today, me, the bf and the bf's classmate, a Chilean-Belgian guy who's lived in India, decided to head to Hua Hin. With not much expectations.


Hua Hin

I had been to Hua Hin before, and it seemed little more than a watered-down Pattaya, the girly-bars a bit less loud and obvious and less Russians, but more Scandinavians.

In Thailand, wherever there are tourists, there are whores, boys and girls. That means everywhere in the country - basically. Demand and supply, you know.

We arrived at Hua Hin at midday, and headed straight for the beach. The sky was beautiful, the blue was intense, the clouds were mushrooming, the contrasts were amazing - a typical rainy season sight.


The clouds, amazing!

Whoever thinks, Thailand in the rainy season is not worth visiting, think again! The air is cleaner, the skies are amazing, the sunsets colourful - and the rains cool things down a bit.

Then, we walked on the beach for nearly two hours and the result is visible on my arms: red, red, red. I never get sunburnt, and I used SPF 30 sublock, to no avail. While walking on the beach, quite a few old farang fags ogled us with a gaze that said: "WOW, three young boys, I feel peckish!"


The beach.


We arrived at some mall, it could have been in Sydney, Manila, Grand Rapids or Cape Town. It was a big white building with Starbucks, KFC and Mister Donut. We decided not to eat there and took the songteaw to the centre, eating on the pier.

The food was average. In Thailand, the food is the worst where it's expensive and where tourists eat. I have never, I repeat: NEVER eaten a good meal at an expensive Thai place. I am sure they exist, but I havent seen any.

The bf and his friend wanted to go up the hill to the south of Hua Hin, where a monastery overlooks the whole bay. I was feeling lazy, but joined them. At the end of our songteaw trip, we reached a fishing village.


The stinky fish place

It was really Thai place. Little shops with snacks in plastic bags hanging from the roof, 1L water for 5 baht, a lot of rubbish, tiny construction workers (why do they never choose the bulky people???) fixing roads with bags of sand, and ultra-fresh seafood on sale for rich Bangkokians.

And then there was the stench - I nearly threw up. Rotten crabs is not what you want to smell, I can only tell you that much. I dont like the smell of dried fish in the first place, but that was a few level up from dried fish...

Up on the monastery, the view was really gorgeous, and worth all the pains. You be the judge:


Nice view!

We got the songteaw back into town, and hopped on the minivan back to Victory Monument - a fun day!

I do have some thoughts on Hua Hin. It's a very odd place. Probably the most European place I have ever seen outside of Europe. It might as well be Ibiza...


Indian-made suits for Europeans

The average age in Hua Hin, among the non-Thais (and there are MANY of these) is roughly 85 years. Not quite, but it seems to be a very popular retirement place. I saw an old (like really old) Frenchman with his Nouvel Observateur (a magazine) in the songteaw.

It made me think about my retirement. I would be so bored, if my daily routine would lead me to the bookshop, to buy a magazine from back home, have a coffee, look at a few young boys and then retire to my condo.

I think I want to retire somewhere where I can do something, like own a guesthouse, or a restaurant, or whatever. Ok, I need to wait a few more decades for that to happen, but I found the farangs in Hua Hin a bit of a sad lot. (especially the ogling fags, there must not be a lot of gay action to be had...)

The centre of the town is so beautiful, with old wooden two-storey houses, and the natural setting of Hua Hin is actually amazing. Yet, the old part is full with Danish, Italian, German, Swiss restaurants and Indian men vying for your baht for a "suit sir, suit sir".

A bit more outside of town, there are dozens of 30+ storey condos. The view from in there must be amazing, yet at the rate they are building new ones, I wonder whether they are all going to be empty, or whether the economy is not so bad after all. Either will have to apply...


it says it all...

All in all, I cant develop so many feelings for Hua Hin, neither negative ones, as for Pattaya nor positive ones, as for Lopburi...what do you think?