‘Bangkok’s Hamptons’: why Thailand’s elite are buying beach properties in Hua Hin

[Stargeezr]

I enjoy spending time in both Hua Hin and Jomtien Beach in south Pattya.

  One thing that Hua Hin has is a noisy railway running through the city.

  I try to find a room facing away from the tracks so it means I need an ocean

view room.  I do drive a motorcycle in Hua Hin so I do enjoy my time and freedom

a bit more than in Pattaya.  I have seen many gated communities around Hua Hin that have

some development, but a lot of them are only partially finished, and there are a lot of new, but abandoned 

houses.  in lots of those developments. In Hua Hin there are 3  hospitals, and being older, it is one thing that I appreciate. I am not sure that there

are much real beach front properties available, because it seems that hotels, and other buildings are already

on the beach from south to the north part of Hua Hin city. If the hills are developed, then there are ocean view

places that can be developed, I guess.  Being out of the pollution of Bangkok must be a big draw for the rich from

that city. Having a major high way in the area is also another nice draw, and the airport if it gets a longer runway

and some airline that has service around the country would be nice to have as well.

  All in all, I do not blame people for wanting to go live in the Hua Hin area, I guess we will all see if there is lots of

new development for the rich and others, or if this pandemic will affect everyone.

Geezer

[newnative]

2 hours ago, Caldera said:

Strange, all the wealthy Thais I know have had "bolt-holes" in Hua Hin for decades, yet they make it sound like this is news or Covid related. Replace "Covid" by "flooding" and this article could have been written in 2011 - there have always been reasons why getting out of Bangkok for a while looked like a good idea.

   Ditto for Pattaya.  After the Big Flood the Bangkok developers came to town--Lumpini, Sansiri, Supalai, Raimon Land, and SC Asset all built big projects.  Several built 2, Sansiri built 3, Lumpini built 4.  

[chilly07]

1 hour ago, jvs said:

I used to live in Hua-hin,nice place but getting too crowded.Hard to park a car any where.

moved to just outside Cha-am,cheaper everything,closer to Bangkok and close enough to HH

if i want or need to go there.

The new Phetchaburi imm office is being build very close to where i live.

Yes Cha-am does not sound as upscale as HH but i like it here a lot better.

Yes Cha Am is greatly preferable to Hua Hin. Definitely not as Touristy as Hua Hin and much less crowded. It has a long and attractive beach contrary to Hua Hin where the beach is diminutive and dirty.

[KhunLA]

Apples and oranges.   Do the Hamptons look like a slum and have a beach most wouldn't swim in.  Pier restaurants that smell of the sewage below on low tide.....I think not.

[moe666]

5 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

so you are saying that if you take an average beach city with average beach and get rid of the sleaze.. the rich will flock there?! hmmmm..

 

maybe they not so crazy after all ????

 

That was the talk years ago the word was futher up the road at the beach town with the air force base. Cannot remember the name but the rich got over Hua Hin years ago

[Barefootknobby]

Word of advice, don’t believe a word, do your own research 

[The Hammer2021]

Hua Hin is a Royal resort. No story here. Nothing new.

[aBigSmile]

2 hours ago, rickthompson said:

Have to call BS on this article. I've lived in Hua Hin for the past 5+ years. While it's a nice, less hectic place to live, it certainly isn't where you would go if you really want the beautiful beaches Thailand is known for. Beach here is average at best and is in need of frequent cleanup. As far as real estate booming, another BS call. Everywhere you look here house prices are being lowered.  I have had a house for sale for 2 years and still not many buyers despite dropping the price to what are now the lower competitive levels.  Real estate for the average home seller here is not booming.

I agree with the reduced real-estate prices and stalled market in general. Some properties have been up for sale for years, and heavy discounts have made no difference. Still, the article focuses on high-end beach front properties, so that niche might be thriving. Hard to tell; humans have long mastered the art of deception. 

[Burma Bill]

Please note and for reference, this article was from Jack Ma's South China Morning Post and not Thai media - propaganda????

 

The South China Morning Post, with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is a Hong Kong–based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. (wikipedia)

 

And this quote will not go down well with the authorities in Pattaya expecting high spending rich tourists to visit their "world class" resort:-

"without the sleazy reputation of the eastern resort of Pattaya" 

[bradiston]

5 hours ago, newnative said:

   Pattaya is also getting lots of Bangkok people on weekends.  The north Pattaya Beach area is busy with those staying at the nice hotels there, with Terminal 21 steps away.   Jomtien and Wong Amat are also busy with Bangkokians who own getaway condos in those areas--in projects like Lumpini Park Beach and Baan Plai Haad.  

Not sure how you know the people are from Bangkok. Try driving around Na Klua or Jomtien or Na Jomtien at night. Lights out, definitely nobody home in thousands of apartments. Sure, there are some nice looking condos in both places, but is anybody there? No Russians, no Chinese, no anyone. And with all night life extinguished, no real reason to come back.

[PETERTHEEATER]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

The old town is known for its seafood restaurants on wooden stilts over the sea,

Oh, you mean those illegal structures.....?

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, moe666 said:

That was the talk years ago the word was futher up the road at the beach town with the air force base. Cannot remember the name but the rich got over Hua Hin years ago

The provincial capital Prachuap Khirikhan.

[ed strong]

Can't compare the Hamptons to Hua Hin! Other than they both start with H that's where the similarities end.

 

Beach front properties will always be in demand however there are not many available in hua hin.

 

There's plenty of resorts out of town for sale but overpriced and pretty tacky type places which certainly won't attract Thais that have money.

[steevjee]

8 hours ago, Greg O said:

They're talking about beach front properties of which availability is slim to nearly none and the prices of these few properties are horrendously expensive and definitely on the rise. 

The term Beach Front isn't mentioned?  It's a con job

[steevjee]

5 hours ago, Dart12 said:

you mean the the reason why they have pushed the false plague worked?  

Who could have seen this coming...

"false plague"??    take your meds and go back to your padded room

[johng]

1 hour ago, bradiston said:

Not sure how you know the people are from Bangkok.

Because  their vehicle number plates say "gungthep mahanakon" on them ????

[Dart12]

25 minutes ago, steevjee said:

"false plague"??    take your meds and go back to your padded room

Read a dictionary buddy.  Talk less, learn more.

[Zikomat]

I wish all the Thais flocked to the streets of the puritan and boring Hua Hin and leave the sleazy and vulgar Pattaya for us, foreigners. Somehow - this never happens in reality and thousands and thousands of Bangkokians keep flooding Pattaya at the first opportunity. 

 

[Tony125]

8 hours ago, Catoni said:

Foolish rich people.  Beach front property prices climbing?  Rich people buying for resorts and to build and live in expensive luxury homes with beach property?  
     Don’t they realize that pretty soon their beach front properties are all going to be underwater from catastrophic sea level rise from Global Warming?  Those beaches are all going to be gone soon, and they will have sea water and waves in their bedrooms.  
  Mush smarter and safer to build nice homes in the mountains north of Chiang Mai. 

Only if they can somehow do away with the burning season, not very productive to have to wear masks to be able to breathe because of all that PM25 and airpolution (smoke)

[shy coconut]

6 hours ago, Charlie Halliday said:

Hua Hin is not about its beaches which are very average. But having lived here for 10 years, I can say its safe, got all the amenities such as good intl school, intl hospital, great shopping, fantastic golf courses and great variety of restaurants. Add that all together and its hard to find a better place to live well in Thailand. And the Thai people in Hua Hin are some of the best people about. Really friendly and helpful. Don't knock it til you've tried it. 

 

Pattaya has all the above and more.

 

It's also very easy to avoid the fleshpots of Buakhow,soi 6 and walking Street if you're 

not interested in that kind of thing.

 

Bangkokians won't be hassled on beach road by the girls and ladyboys, they know 

their customers. 

 

There are plenty of sleazy places in Bangkok and they are somehow capable of 

avoiding these too.

 

I think the easy access to Pattaya is a big reason why it will remain a draw for people 

from the capital.

 

 

I'm not knocking HH it is a nice town, I have seen some YouTube videos of some of 

the beachfront condos and the asking prices were eye watering!

 

Also I saw a video of ordinary looking pot plants (not the wacky type!) with an asking 

price of 2 million baht, so it appears some people have plenty of cash to spend!

 

 

 

 

[PremiumLane]

Hua Hin has always been seen as a getaway place for Bangkok people, nothing new. 

[johng]

2 hours ago, Zikomat said:

thousands and thousands of Bangkokians keep flooding Pattaya at the first opportunity.

That is because it's much closer.

[3NUMBAS]

never endng BS in desperation ,load of tosh

[Liverpool Lou]

11 hours ago, henry213 said:

Some how i don't believe a word of it, Why now? covid? think not, I rekcon they say this sh_t hoping foreigners will rush there to buy buy buy! I'd call it  B S...............

"I rekcon they say this sh_t hoping foreigners will rush there to buy buy buy! I'd call it  B S.."

.You're assuming that it is Thailand saying that, it's not, it's the South China Morning Post!

[Liverpool Lou]

11 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

As soon as I started reading it, sounded like an add as if it was on the move, I would know, as I have my nose in the air waiting to catch that smell.

Pity you didn't catch the smell of South China Morning Post article as opposed to a Thailand "add" [sic]!

[Liverpool Lou]

11 hours ago, baansgr said:

They have copied and pasted most of this...

The SCMP has copy and pasted what, from whom?

[Alotoftravel]

Sometimes I think articles/news needs to be fact check . Article says the propoerty price are rising , where are the facts? Imho, i think it is irresponsible to just copy and paste from other news source without first checking it is a fact. 

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, ezzra said:

Yeah right, and Pat Pong is like Las Vegas, i have been to the Hamptons and to HH, nothing to compare, but horses for courses and the in the eye of the beholder...

No one is comparing Hua Hin as a resort to the Hamptons, there's not one word about that. 

 

The article is comparing the actions of some Bangkok residents to those of Americans buying in the Hamptons, that's all...

"As with the New York getaway, many Bangkok residents want to escape the traffic and pollution, with the coronavirus pandemic nudging them to make a move"

[Liverpool Lou]

10 hours ago, Catoni said:

Don’t they realize that pretty soon their beach front properties are all going to be underwater from catastrophic sea level rise from Global Warming?  Those beaches are all going to be gone soon, and they will have sea water and waves in their bedrooms.  

I thought that false and misleading information was not permitted on this forum?

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, Caldera said:

Strange, all the wealthy Thais I know have had "bolt-holes" in Hua Hin for decades, yet they make it sound like this is news or Covid related.

That's Hong Kong's journalists for you!