Why Did You Choose Hua Hin?

[Big Boy]

I guess we all had different reasons for making the big move to live in Hua Hin. Having just read a resident's comment on another thread, it got me wondering the reasons people made their decisions. I won't try to understand people's reasons, but this is what got me thinking.

I always said that HH is a shithole.

[Big Boy]

I'll start it off. My daughter and grand kids were living in Hua Hin, and it was costing me a fortune visiting them as often as possible. As soon as I got the opportunity, I took early retirement and made the biggest move of my life.

[Jack_Batty]

Last year I decided that I would take early retirement at 50 and move to Thailand. Since I was about 35 years-old, I always knew that I wanted to retire here, but just didn’t know where exactly. There were a few requirements about the location that were not negotiable. The location needed to be on the sea, and there needed to be enough amenities; plenty of restaurants/nightlife, recreational activities/hospitals. After doing a lot of research, I found that Hua Hin seemed to check off most of the boxes on my list. I’ve been here for a week now and I am settling in, making friends, and loving my retirement!

[HarryVardon]

After many years spending our golf holidays in the USA my friends and I decided to try Asia instead. The first two years we stayed in Malaysia (KL & Langkawi) and visited Thailand whilst there. After that we tried Thailand (twice in Phuket and once in Hua Hin). After that my retirement was due and for several reasons I wanted to move from my homeland. Several of my friends chose to buy houses in Spain or Portugal. I visited those countries many times but didn't fancy moving there. I chose to leave my friends behind and move to Thailand. I hated Bangkok and was not very impressed with Phuket. I had then never been to Pattaya but its reputation put me off. I have visited there since and am very glad I didn't move there, I hate it. That left me with a choice between Chang Mai & Hua Hin. The fact that Chang Mai is so cut off from everything and Hua Hin is by the sea made me choose Hua Hin although, looking back, I think Chang Mai would also have been a good choice. 10 years ago Hua Hin was a completely different place than it is now. It was a large village with a village atmosphere. The centre, although dead during the day time, was quite pleasant in the evening. There was no loud music in those days. Prices were cheaper and restaurants were better. There were also very few restaurants out of town. Over the years Hua Hin has grown enormously. The centre has become very noisy and unpleasant. I am still very happy in Hua Hin as long as I keep away from the central area. Market Village and Bluport have both arrived, Khao Takiab, Soi 94 and Soi 102 have become much more sociable areas and there is no need whatsoever to go anywhere near the old centre.

[handdrummer]

My wife & I were living in Bangkok for about 6 months and every month I would get ill: coughs, colds, flu symptoms. I hadn't been ill since I had a headache in 1978, so I knew it wasn't me. I told her we have to move somewhere else. She said, her parents used to take her to Hua Hin, when she was a young girl and she liked it. Long story short; we came down one weekend, stayed in a friends condo, contacted an agent, looked at 3 houses to rent. The 3rd one was unlocked, we walked in and said we'll take it. We've been here 5 1/2 yrs.
The restaurants are OK, the beach doesn't interest me, (I grew up, mostly, in Los Angeles, that's a beach! I've had enough night life to last forever, so the peace & quiet suit me.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have stayed in the US. But I'm here for the duration.

[HHTel]

I moved to Thailand almost 20 years ago without having heard of HH. Someone in the UK mentioned that they'd noticed it in a travel brochure. Being in BKK at the time, we set off to have a looksee. As soon as we got through Cha-Am onto this dual carriageway with not a car in sight, I was already warming to the place. Stayed a couple of nights in HH to get a feel. Very quiet, virtually no traffic or tourists. Before MV, McDonalds, Burger King, Bluport and the like. Fell in love with the place. Of course that was then. Very different place now. Could park my car anywhere in the town, day or night. Difficult to park a bike now.

But, I have a house and family here so I'm stuck here for a while.

[PGS]

Interesting to read the reasons for settling here. I havent reached that point yet, but I might in a few years. 6 years ago my first visit in HH, on recommendation by friends. I liked the place, not to big city, still had the most things that I would want to have within reach. But what attracted me most, was the more relaxed way of living, compared to the overorganised, overregulated, stressed daily life at home. I can see myself moving to and living in HH in the near future.

[Dannie Boy]

I first visited HH back in about 2001 with a colleague from work. We had a couple of nights in Bangkok and then decided to venture out somewhere - I can’t remember why we decided on HH (it was probably my colleagues recommendation) but I’m glad we did rather than say Pattaya (even to this day I’ve never been there). I’d previously been to Phuket and Koh Samui (Koh Samui was really nice back in 1997) but there was something about HH that made it feel special and so it became my favourite destination and where I eventually met my wife to be and the rest as they say is history!!

We now live just outside of Cha Am so we’re away from the hustle and bustle of daily life in HH, but when we need to go to Makro or Market Village/Blueport, everything is less than a 30 minute car ride, so in many respects, we have the best of both worlds.

[oakdale160]

There are a significant number of HH ex-pats who would move on if they could sell their house or condo but are trapped here by the slow and low RE market.

[Big Boy]

Not being able to sell their property in Hua Hin is not a reason for choosing Hua Hin.

[buksida]

I can't add much to this thread as I moved away from Hua Hin years ago because all the things that attracted me to the place no longer applied.

Luckily we had a rental property otherwise I'd probably still be there

That said, I do like to visit for a weekend now and then.

[Ttmike]

I came to hua hin on a 2 week holiday and stayed at what was then the royal garden hotel, while here I saw the tuk tuks which were much bigger than the bangkok ones and had daihatsu car engines.
Decided to make an export 2 for sva test in uk and the rest is history, sadly the place is not the same anymore (progress).
Used to be a great community of ex Pat's here in them days.
The ones that stand out were Bear a big fuck off aussie and pete wilson among others.
Bars were basically in the binta and the old shopping mall was really all we had,
Happy days!.

[migrant]

Our move to Hua Hin, from Bang Saphan, was the wifes choice. It was too slow down there. Initially we were going to move back to the states but I suggested a 3 month trial in HH.

We found ourselves renting in a nice moo baan with good people up soi 6. It was very quiet yet we could get into town quickly. She liked all this so we decided to stay and bought a house in that moo baan.

I miss the quietness of Bang Saphan and our beach but do like being able to get more variety of foods, and goods, than down there. This is also what mrs migrant likes plus the malls, of course.

I guess it's a mid way compromise between Bang Saphan and the states.

[bigston]

We are building a house,not exactly in Hua Hin, but just south in the Pranburi area, on 2 rai.
Peaceful, no immediate neighbors, great views, and only 20 minutes or so from any special needs and requirements, ie medical, etc.
Looking forward to winding down, growing lots of produce, and enjoying the area and all it has to offer.

[europtimiste]

From all those comments, I agree that HH was better 20 yrs. ago, it was more Thai and now plenty of farangs with cars and running in special shops for products coming from their country, we can see that by the non ending topic about cheese.