Still haven't gotten the responses about what is BEST about HH. I don't play golf. Wanderlust told me how he got there and why. I can relate, I'm twice divorced and lost my house to the 1st wife who parlayed that into 5 more in Oregon. Didn't know she was that smart. It left me broke.
Is there is nothing exceptional specifically about HH as opposed to say Phuket, Patong or other towns on the Andaman coast? ( barring more Tsunamis)? I've gathered that Phuket is more expensive.
More than anything else I was hoping that a change of environment would give me a change in mindset after all these years of media blitz focusing on the dramatic and negative. (and celebrities. Yuk!) It has given me a very negative view of humanity, has helped isolate me from others in self protection, and like others have mentioned here, leads one to be cautious if not suspicious of strangers or anyone who is friendly. Perhaps the Americans there don't like it and are unhappy, or maybe they are from New York where IMHO they have little to smile about and that is normal "face"for them. Maybe they don't like the food, too spicey for them. It is impossible to tell, but growing up in a crowded metropolis makes one annoyed with people in the way making your life difficult.
I'm hoping that my travels have led me to have an open enough mind to be able to accept the culture, altho' with a Protestant upbringing I will have difficulty with the "shades of grey", what I would call corruption. But I have basically abandoned the religion of my childhood anyway, just not some of the values.
Still looking for great things about HH. Am currently leaning towards Cha Am or Jomtien.
Thanx to all for your responses.
Cheers
LA NAtive
questions from a potential expat
L.A. not Los Alamos
Jayhawk - I am a Los Angeles born native, not from Los Alamos. That was the comedic wit of another blogger going off on a tangent for comedic effect, quite funny I thought especially the glowing part.
Have only been to NM once as a child and have NEVER lived in snow. 40F is cold to me.
But thanx for the encouraging words. I will have a dependable gov't pension, not big but enough to live well enough there, hence my reason for emmigrating. I'm sure there are things I will miss but there are things there that I can do that I can't do here (like dive a coral reef or see a Manta Rayor a Buddhist temple like the ones there)
Cheers
L.A.Native
Have only been to NM once as a child and have NEVER lived in snow. 40F is cold to me.
But thanx for the encouraging words. I will have a dependable gov't pension, not big but enough to live well enough there, hence my reason for emmigrating. I'm sure there are things I will miss but there are things there that I can do that I can't do here (like dive a coral reef or see a Manta Rayor a Buddhist temple like the ones there)
Cheers
L.A.Native
LAN -
No coral reefs here or manta rays.........you'll have to go further south.
IMHO, with no humor or dis intended......you're a little high maintenance dude. I think we've given you all we have to give.
C'mon down and try it out like the rest of us have. If you like it, stay. If you don't like it.....you'll have to go to plan B, and you sure as hell better have more than one or you are kidding yourself.
You can't say this is your one and only option then expect everyone here to make it come true for you, life doesn't work that way.
One last piece of wisdom.........no-one can tell you whats BEST about any place. What's best and worst is up to you, it's your life, not ours.
No coral reefs here or manta rays.........you'll have to go further south.
IMHO, with no humor or dis intended......you're a little high maintenance dude. I think we've given you all we have to give.
C'mon down and try it out like the rest of us have. If you like it, stay. If you don't like it.....you'll have to go to plan B, and you sure as hell better have more than one or you are kidding yourself.
You can't say this is your one and only option then expect everyone here to make it come true for you, life doesn't work that way.
One last piece of wisdom.........no-one can tell you whats BEST about any place. What's best and worst is up to you, it's your life, not ours.
best?
LA, this American is VERY happy here. ( See the other active thread on happiness for some of my reasons.)
As for Hua Hin being the best place in Thailand to live . .obviously IMHO here. . . it is still small town enough not to be Bangkok or Chaing Mai, decent enough not to be Pattaya ( why anyone would ever even GO there is beyond me) or Phuket ( the only charm there is that it is on the crystal clear Andaman sea as opposed to the tea colored slop which washes up on our beaches here. )
Hua Hin has a nice a variety of tourist type activities, some of which I still find entertaining from time to time, things to visit, parks, restaurants, the mall and if you plan your trips well, the traffic is bearable. People here are used to farangs too, which might not be as true in Petburi say. .though of course you will always and forevermore be taken for a tourist. ( That has its own plus and minus sides). Forget about integration though ( just read back a few posts here) Never happen. Every new Thai you meet will take you for a tourist and you will always be a "foreigner" even to Thai friends and family.
I have better TV than I did in the US . .and cheaper too. I have decent internet connections, a year round garden ( after eight months of winter in New England that alone is heaven for me!) I like my gym ( closer and cheaper than in the US ) And my dollar generally goes much further. I dont like Thai food though, but there are so many other options it is seldom a problem.
Yeah, things like the crooked bureaucracy and poor Thai driving skills can get you down, and I have developed a few pet peeves here that I didnt have in the States. But I had peeves back there too and probably would have them anywhere. Life comes with frustrations . . .part of the package.
I dont do the bar scene, but it seems like Hua Hin has some nice places to hang out and some decent folks to become friends with . .as you can tell from this forum.
I have been told in the past by friends that I seem to be able to be happy anywhere ( I have lived outside the US for much of my adult life) and I am pretty adaptable. But I agree with a couple of the others . .it is your life and your choice.
As for Hua Hin being the best place in Thailand to live . .obviously IMHO here. . . it is still small town enough not to be Bangkok or Chaing Mai, decent enough not to be Pattaya ( why anyone would ever even GO there is beyond me) or Phuket ( the only charm there is that it is on the crystal clear Andaman sea as opposed to the tea colored slop which washes up on our beaches here. )
Hua Hin has a nice a variety of tourist type activities, some of which I still find entertaining from time to time, things to visit, parks, restaurants, the mall and if you plan your trips well, the traffic is bearable. People here are used to farangs too, which might not be as true in Petburi say. .though of course you will always and forevermore be taken for a tourist. ( That has its own plus and minus sides). Forget about integration though ( just read back a few posts here) Never happen. Every new Thai you meet will take you for a tourist and you will always be a "foreigner" even to Thai friends and family.
I have better TV than I did in the US . .and cheaper too. I have decent internet connections, a year round garden ( after eight months of winter in New England that alone is heaven for me!) I like my gym ( closer and cheaper than in the US ) And my dollar generally goes much further. I dont like Thai food though, but there are so many other options it is seldom a problem.
Yeah, things like the crooked bureaucracy and poor Thai driving skills can get you down, and I have developed a few pet peeves here that I didnt have in the States. But I had peeves back there too and probably would have them anywhere. Life comes with frustrations . . .part of the package.
I dont do the bar scene, but it seems like Hua Hin has some nice places to hang out and some decent folks to become friends with . .as you can tell from this forum.
I have been told in the past by friends that I seem to be able to be happy anywhere ( I have lived outside the US for much of my adult life) and I am pretty adaptable. But I agree with a couple of the others . .it is your life and your choice.
Well, one difference with Phuket is that Hua Hin's weather is better - not as stormy during rainy season, and in my limited experience, not as hot in the hot season. Tsunamis are pretty darned rare so I wouldn't make that a serious consideration.
I have never been to Pattaya so really can't comment on Pattaya/Jomtien except by what I've read in the papers and on web sites. It sounds like it has a better selection of international foods than Hua Hin, but it also sounds more dangerous. It's probably less expensive than Hua Hin, and from my experience, Hua Hin is less expensive than Phuket, or at least less expensive than the Kata Beach area. I should add that I always rent, I do not buy.
I don't play golf, but I do scuba dive, and Hua Hin is not ideal for that - if you want to do a lot of diving, go live in Phuket. However, the costs add up unless you restrict yourself to shore dives - there are a few, and in the right conditions, diving right off Kata beach can be very nice, except for all the dead coral...
For me, Hua Hin was a compromise. I needed to be near Bangkok for business and travel, but didn't want to live there. I wanted to dive sometimes, but didn't have to go every day or even every week. From Hua Hin I can go to Koh Tao in about seven hours or Phuket in only a little more (an overnight bus trip). You can also dive in Bang Saphan or Chumphorn, about three hours south, but I haven't been diving there. Buksida seems to know that area well, and would probably help. I didn't want to live in Pattaya because it sounded a little scary to me. I know people dive there, but I've never heard great things about the diving. Maybe it's better to the east of Pattaya.
Living here, I rent a small but nice bungalow a few hundred meters from the beach and maybe a kilometer south of the King's Palace. There are numerous restaurants nearby if I want to eat out and plenty of markets if I want to buy food. The 'bar area' is five minutes from here if I want to go, but it's never in my face.
I'm not going to try to 'sell' Hua Hin to you, because that's stupid and it's up to you where you want to live, and honestly, I don't care - I'm just trying to answer your question. I would recommend that you visit as many places around Thailand as you can, and decide which is best for you. Certainly try Pattaya and Phuket - I love Phuket from November through February. If you're thinking of visiting Hua Hin, visiting Cha Am too is certainly a good idea. I've thought of moving there.
Edit to Add: Jayhawk - I lived in Santa Fe 1976 - 1985 and went to NNMCC in Los Alamos for a while. Thai food is good, but d*mn I miss good green chile and that smell of pinons up in the Sangres, and those blue skies.
I have never been to Pattaya so really can't comment on Pattaya/Jomtien except by what I've read in the papers and on web sites. It sounds like it has a better selection of international foods than Hua Hin, but it also sounds more dangerous. It's probably less expensive than Hua Hin, and from my experience, Hua Hin is less expensive than Phuket, or at least less expensive than the Kata Beach area. I should add that I always rent, I do not buy.
I don't play golf, but I do scuba dive, and Hua Hin is not ideal for that - if you want to do a lot of diving, go live in Phuket. However, the costs add up unless you restrict yourself to shore dives - there are a few, and in the right conditions, diving right off Kata beach can be very nice, except for all the dead coral...
For me, Hua Hin was a compromise. I needed to be near Bangkok for business and travel, but didn't want to live there. I wanted to dive sometimes, but didn't have to go every day or even every week. From Hua Hin I can go to Koh Tao in about seven hours or Phuket in only a little more (an overnight bus trip). You can also dive in Bang Saphan or Chumphorn, about three hours south, but I haven't been diving there. Buksida seems to know that area well, and would probably help. I didn't want to live in Pattaya because it sounded a little scary to me. I know people dive there, but I've never heard great things about the diving. Maybe it's better to the east of Pattaya.
Living here, I rent a small but nice bungalow a few hundred meters from the beach and maybe a kilometer south of the King's Palace. There are numerous restaurants nearby if I want to eat out and plenty of markets if I want to buy food. The 'bar area' is five minutes from here if I want to go, but it's never in my face.
I'm not going to try to 'sell' Hua Hin to you, because that's stupid and it's up to you where you want to live, and honestly, I don't care - I'm just trying to answer your question. I would recommend that you visit as many places around Thailand as you can, and decide which is best for you. Certainly try Pattaya and Phuket - I love Phuket from November through February. If you're thinking of visiting Hua Hin, visiting Cha Am too is certainly a good idea. I've thought of moving there.
Edit to Add: Jayhawk - I lived in Santa Fe 1976 - 1985 and went to NNMCC in Los Alamos for a while. Thai food is good, but d*mn I miss good green chile and that smell of pinons up in the Sangres, and those blue skies.
Dude, stop waffling, rent a place for a few months and see if it's the place is for you or not. Do the same in Jomtien or Phuket and then you can make up your own mind instead of hashing and rehashing the same things.
It's not like you're getting married to the place, you can leave anytime... You make it sound like it's life changing and you can never go back.
It's not like you're getting married to the place, you can leave anytime... You make it sound like it's life changing and you can never go back.
needed details
HHADFan Thanks for the direct and needed details about life there. Precisely what I was looking for. All the questions I have are just ways of building up my courage. It seems most of the other bloggers can't focus well enough to answer questions directly and succinctly
I have read diving at Koh Samui is pretty good and that this is the season for it.
I am now convinced that Cha Am is a better place for me after some of the jerkwad responses I've gotten on this blog. Glad I won't meet most of them.
Thanx again
LA Native
I have read diving at Koh Samui is pretty good and that this is the season for it.
I am now convinced that Cha Am is a better place for me after some of the jerkwad responses I've gotten on this blog. Glad I won't meet most of them.
Thanx again
LA Native
At least three of those people who attempted to answer your questions and tried to help you with "jerkwad" responses live in Cha-Am so you may not be able to stay away from all of us there either!I am now convinced that Cha Am is a better place for me after some of the jerkwad responses I've gotten on this blog. Glad I won't meet most of them.
My brain is like an Internet browser; 12 tabs are open and 5 of them are not responding, there's a GIF playing in an endless loop,... and where is that annoying music coming from?
thin skin
I was warned about having a "thin skin" in LOS. It seems others need to take that advice as well. I said SOME responses were far off track, unfocused tangents. But no worries. After considering all the pro's and con's of HH, and Thailand in general, especially the harrassment by immigration of a 3 month check and annual renewal of visa plus the theft/muggings I have given up on my Plan D (this is my 4th plan) Even tho' I have been studying Thai for over a year and can actually understand some of it, I will instead break out my Spanish and go to Panama where retirees are welcome. Many discounts and no taxes there for Gringos. Low cost of living, the Caribbean for diving, immigration not bent on removing foreigners, you can own land there, and it's a former American "colony". Don't like the food much (much prefer Rad Na to frejoles negro) or the culture or religion but at least they won't kick me out capriciously.
I seriously think that there is so much envy of Farangs there that the Thais would rather they weren't there. I also believe IMHO that the entire developing world is very envious of America especially Al Queida, and that they want us on our knees. Well we are there. America is down for the count. I don't believe it will ever get up and that is why I want to leave. What killed the Roman empire was DEBT because of wars. Ditto for America. Glad I don't have any grandchildren because THEY and their kids wil be stuck with the bill. It is tough living at the end of the Roman Empire!
LAN
I seriously think that there is so much envy of Farangs there that the Thais would rather they weren't there. I also believe IMHO that the entire developing world is very envious of America especially Al Queida, and that they want us on our knees. Well we are there. America is down for the count. I don't believe it will ever get up and that is why I want to leave. What killed the Roman empire was DEBT because of wars. Ditto for America. Glad I don't have any grandchildren because THEY and their kids wil be stuck with the bill. It is tough living at the end of the Roman Empire!
LAN
