wolf81

A want to add an update to our stay in Hua Hin.

We stayed only 6 days sadly, due too me having to travel to Australia for work, but we did enjoy our stay in Hua Hin. I really feel Hua Hin could be a good place to live for us in the future. Sadly for the coming 5 years I feel we will likely stay in Chiang May so my girlfriend can stay close to her elderly mother and I have some time to increase my savings. Hua Hin certainly seems like a lot nicer place than Pattaya for a small family, due to a variety of reasons. Of course it's not as seedy, the beaches seem relatively clean and there's still plenty of choices for entertainment (waterparks, cinemas, beaches, etc…). There also seems to be a lot less traffic, also compared to Chiang May, Bangkok and Pattaya, perhaps maybe in the evening when it gets quite busy on the roads. I also like that Hua Hin seems to be a relatively small city still.

We stayed in the Hua Hin Centara Grand Beach Resort hotel, we used one of their villas. Very nice, much recommended. Every day I swam a bit with out daughter in our own small swimming pool. Right now our daughter is crying, she doesn't want to go home.

So what did we do in the past few days:

- Went to the safari, was ok-ish, though a bit small. I do feel sorry for the tigers though, they didn't seem happy and the walkable areas seemed quite small.

- Went to the statues of kings, which is something that was very important for my GF. Nice wind there, probably due to the flat terrain.

- Went to the military beach opposite the statues of the kings, one of the high points to our holiday for me, due to me enjoying playing on the beach and in the sea with my daughter.

- Went to a temple of some important Thai monk. Mongkol or Mongkut or something like that. Was also nice.

- We went to the monkey mountain temple, was quite ok. I am sure the view on top can be quite nice, but for us the weather was a bit "misty" I guess, so not a very clear view. 

- Went shopping at Bluport shopping mall. Played a bit with my daughter in the play area at the top floor. Again my daughter didn't want to leave, enjoyed playing. there too much, even though she had to pee. Eventually she peed a bit inside and I dragged her kicking and screaming to the toilet ????

- We went to the old palace of King number 6 (IIRC), was very nice to see. Sadly the top rooms were closed, only accessible on some days of the week. Still was nice to see how the old kings used to live and quite beautiful area.

- We played a bit on the beach in from of the hotel and made a photo on a pony. Also fun.

I might have missed something.

All in all was a very nice time and I think we'll be back here in the future.

Bit weird to hear the chauffeur sitting on the back-seat. Of course we don't know anything, but I wonder if the mayor was driving and if so, why?

I don't have concrete numbers, just anecdotal evidence. In my village from what I understand there's a girl that moved with her wealthy farang to Brasilia. The wealthy farang also built a house for his wife's parents. 

There's also a Thai lady that moved to the USA with her farang husband and is working as a doctor. Bought some land recently for her parents.

And there's a lady that now lives in Canada with a farang husband. They seem to have a nice middle-class home (I saw the Facebook photos). From what I understand the lady used to be married with a Thai husband, but didn't work out. Had 2 daughters and those daughters are living and studying in Canada as well.

Then there's a lady that has married a German man. She still lives in our village, but I've never seen the German man come here. Did see some photos of the wedding in Germany some time ago. I believe these two people have a marriage of convenience, perhaps to allow the German for an easy marriage visa. I believe this German man works on oil platforms. From what I understand he does send his wife money each month though. 

So those are the stories I know of from our village. All seem reasonably to very successful. I haven't hear bad stories of Thais with farangs over here in our village in the North-West part of Chiang Mai province.

Som property? Doesn't "som" in Thai mean naughty? 

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. And ye @emptypockets, I'm sure it's not the best place for adult entertainment, but that's fine for our small family right now.

I will be going for a holiday to Hua Hin in January with girlfriend and our 2.5-year old daughter. We'll be staying for a week and we'll be renting a car (if possible), but otherwise taxis will be fine as well for getting around the area. We'll be staying at the Cantera hotel.

I'd like to know what are the best things to do and to see in Hua Hin with our small family. And also what are nice places to eat. Fine with both Thai and Western food. We'd also be interested to know of clean beaches in the area.

One thing I think my girlfriend will like, is the statues of the kings, so that'll be one place to visit. My girlfriend likes gardens and our daughter likes swimming, so suggestions in those areas would be welcome as well.

Personally I'm also trying to figure out if Hua Hin could be a nice place to live, so perhaps in the future might be looking to buy a condo there near the beach. Are there any nice sea-view condos of good quality (well maintained, strong structure, etc…) that might be worth checking out?

On 12/5/2019 at 2:23 PM, Just1Voice said:

But they are world class when it comes to playing video games on dad's computer or their mobiles. 

I believe you've got Thais mistaken with Korean.

13 hours ago, Caldera said:

I don't think that they'd cancel it outright, but that they might change the rules down the line in a way that affects existing visa holders is a legitimate concern. As with pretty much everything in Thailand, you pay your money and you take your chances - there will be no recourse if anything goes wrong.

I believe the rules of the visa state that all extra benefits (taxi service, discounts at some places, etc…) could be removed at any time, but the basic visa shouldn't change for the duration.

My GF used to rent a small apartment in Pattaya for 3.500 Baht a month (utilities paid separately). It was basically a bedroom with a small balcony and bathroom. 

On 11/11/2019 at 5:07 PM, RedPill said:

The world is going mad ... a few days ago someone told me that there is an increasing trend in the Netherlands that ambulance helpers are getting physically attacked.

 

I couldn't believe it, but true ... https://nltimes.nl/2018/04/10/suspects-violence-dutch-emergency-workers

 

Some people must be seriously f$# up in their minds if they make no space for ambulances, give them a finger ... or even physically attack them.

 

 

In The Netherlands it's often Muslims who get angry if male ambulance personnel touches a Muslim woman in need. Man can't touch woman unless married or closely related (e.g. father, brother) in Islam. Makes it difficult for ambulance personnel to help Muslim woman in need if they're not female themselves.

In Sweden its even worse, often ambulance personal need a police escort when entering some minority areas.

https://www.rt.com/news/379121-sweden-ambulance-attacks-nogo-zones/

I believe at this very moment there's a Thai soap opera on television every night that is partially filmed in either Austria or Switzerland (can read some German signs in villages and such). The country itself is portrayed in this Thai soap as some fictional Thai-speaking country with some Thai leadership. I can understand why such a developed country can be inspiring for the Thai public. I think miss Davika Hoorne is one of the leads.

I occasionally "manscape".

Shaving the armpits seems to reduce sweat and thus bad smells. In The Netherlands didn't bother, but here in Thailand with all the humidity it seems like a good idea.

I also shave hair on my shoulders. Did the same in The Netherlands. I just don't like the look of hair on my shoulders. And of course trim nose hair, ear hair, etc… now and then. 

I also shave public hair a bit if it grows too long, otherwise it might itch a bit. But if I shave, I keep at least a few millimeters of hair … don't want to look like a baby.

I also don't shave my chest hair, of which I have plenty.

On 11/4/2019 at 2:24 PM, baansgr said:

Old pictures posted months ago

What is this place called, opposite Pattaya?

5 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

What's with this woman. Not attractive, not funny, not even a good actress.

And what was the thing with 'Friends'...I watch it a couple of times and it left me numb.....telegraphed punch lines and canned laughter. I suppose some people will watch anything.

For what it's worth (I admit: not much,), I've always found her quite attractive. 

I don't live in Mae Hong Son, but a bit more to the north. Perhaps 60 kilometers to the North-East of Mea Hong Son province.

In my area the burning season is horrible … or at least was last year. But it might still be better than Chiang May city (not sure). At least less traffic and such. Mea Hong Son might be a bit better. From what I read air quality around Pai is among the best in Thailand.

Apart from the burning season, it's ok-ish for me. I'm staying in the village because my girlfriend likes to stay close to her mother. Not many people to talk to as I don't speak fluent Thai, but I'm an introvert so that's ok with me. Not many foreigners here … probably in my village none at all, but occasionally I see one on the market in the nearby "city" (Chaiprakan) in the weekend. A few more foreigners must live in Fang, since I often see a few walking around the Tesco Lotus shopping center there. On the Sundays it can be nice and quiet in the village, I love that.

From my perspective:

- For now good enough, at least a very cheap cost of living which will allow me to semi-retire early (aiming for 45 years old).

- For our 2.5 year old daughter good enough (for now). We'll send her to a public school soon. But I would want better education for her when she's a bit older. At least she'll learn the basics of Thai properly at school.

- In the future I would love to move to the city again near the sea, perhaps Pattaya, perhaps Hua Hin (never been there before). Still would like to have a nice sea-view condo at some point with a large swimming pool. Also just more stuff to do, like go to the cinema, more choice in restaurants, more and better western food choices etc...

2 hours ago, Moti24 said:

Nice way to treat your neighbours!

From the article it seams the flights aren't really shut down. Instead they'll be handled by Thai SMILE which, I guess, can provide the flights at lower prices.

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

I can only judge from what I see myself. I live in Thailand but travel back to the UK every 9 months for a hospital check up and see my rented out  property is ok. When I first did this, the planes were always full to the brim. Now, I regularly sit next to no-one, and recently on a BA flight had an entire row of seats on a 25% full plane only. And as a cheapskate I always pick the cheapest non-stop, I travel on a few carriers, so see it on all airlines. So, going by that I would presume travel to Thailand is down way more that some fairy land 1.5% figure, My own eyes see a 20-30% figure, and that is giving them the benefit of the doubt

When I fly to/from the Netherlands I always fly KLM and those planes are full every time I fly. Even midweek.

9 hours ago, davehowden said:

Looks like the "unsafe drinking water" is to blame ??

I thought the drinking water issue was kind of weird when talking about competitiveness. But if I understand correctly it's a Swiss study, so perhaps Nestle subsided it or something.

15 hours ago, olfu said:

not bad for a sense of humor but, seriously, couples should start making prenuptual agreements.

Just not get married at all. And certainly don't be more valuable dead than alive. 

On 10/6/2019 at 11:19 AM, maxpower said:

What I like about the Indians is they really take the "sharing economy" to a whole other level. Europeans could learn a thing or 2 from the Indians.

On 10/6/2019 at 10:58 AM, villerupt said:

don't forget the question please ...

anybody to explain clearly, without too much technical details, why the THB is so strong?

thx

Perhaps the question should be why the Euro is so weak. My guess is that the ECB policy of printing money (Quantitative Easing) isn't helping. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2019/09/12/what-to-expect-from-the-european-central-bank-decision/#1cf536123df9

On 9/27/2019 at 12:28 PM, HeyHeyHey said:

Correct, plenty of countries with open arms to people like that

 

I'm not paying 500,000 fee for permission to spend more money (actually more than I would spend back home)

Staying in Thailand saves me at least 35.000 EUR in taxes each year, so in that regard the ~15.000 EUR for a 5-6 year stay is a pittance. 35.000+ EUR a year vs. 3.000 EUR a year. Not a difficult choice for me.

15 hours ago, Airalee said:

I’ve never used the app myself, but a couple business owners have sent a grab car to pick me up and deliver me to their location.  The cars were more comfortable than most taxis and not much more expensive than the taxis here in BKK.  The drivers were definitely more “professional” than the average taxi driver.  However, since I live directly on Sukhumvit, it’s easier for me to just flag down a taxi.  If I lived more than a few hundred meters from Sukhumvit I would no doubt use one of the apps.

I've used Grab in Chiang Mai, to get from the main bus station to the airport. It might be a little bit more expensive than other options, but it's speedy and comfortable. And the thing I like the most: don't need to negotiate price. I hate doing that when dealing with taxi drivers or the red busses.