Some advice/opinions please on moving to Hua Hin

[KhunLA]

40 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

I quite liked the southern part of Hua Hin, Kao Takiab. South of the big hill on the coast that divides the city. Access to a great beach, nice walkable sand all the way south for about 5km.  Quiet area but some decent little resaurants on the beach.

Agree, and later years, when overnighting in HH, usually stayed at Ibis (pet friendly), and about as far North we'd go, is simply to Bluport Mall, or to Market Village, if wanting something actually there.  Spent most time on Southern end also.

 

First 15 ish years here, quite the opposite, and stayed sort of central off main road from RR station to Centara (soi 61).  Cheaper & quieter than the main area, with easy access to everything.

 

Way less tourist (and cheaper) than now, and we stopped going to the area for that reason.  Along with favorites closed up (suspect rent hikes) and everything else, catering to tourist's taste (crap), with higher pricing.

 

Really lost interest in HH, especially after Heineken stopped sponsoring the Jazz Festival, as regularly attended, think ~8 years in a row, since it's start.  As stated earlier, not really a fan of HH now.

[jojothai]

4 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

One just has to see the amont of foreigners selling away their houses bought in Hua Hin, to understand it's not the best.

 

It is overpriced for anything to everything  (real estate, food, restaurants,bars and the overaged ladies) Even prices in the few Malls of Hua Hin are sometimes higher compared to similar brands elsewhere.

 

The main town area around Hilton is plainly a tourist trap and the restaurats and small shops seen to have got spoilt with the guilable "ohh wow" type tourists who foolishly just pay because they got a good exchange rate for the cash.

 

The beach is filthy and full of jellyfish so if you come to check things, make sure you rent a place with a pool.

 

I would definately look at other places with cheaper housing and more friendly people. Hua HIn is becomming a ghetto for retired foreigners and soon you will only find costly fish and chips all over and less and less quality cheap price thai food.

I find your comments do not represent what it is here.

Hua hin a ghetto? FFS.

When you know hua hin, you do not go for the beach.

Its not over expensive unless you want to be cheap charlie or live around Pattaya or out in the sticks with nobody for expat  talk.

i know pattaya very well and decided to move out of a good location next to jomtien beach and we bought in hua hin.

Too much noise, too many russians, too many people with bad attitude.

Too many druggies and possible robbers, ( on motorbikes)

No regrets.

Where are the places as good as hua hin that are cheaper to rent?

Unless you want to go to the estates around pattaya that are insecure and get robbed often. Or live out in the sticks.

I am referring to rent a house, not a condo.

[jojothai]

4 hours ago, SingAPorn said:

Hua HIn is becomming a ghetto for retired foreigners.

Try telling that to all the tourists that come here repeatedly and love it.

And the thais that are buying up all the 30 sqm condos and  swarm here on holidays. Thats more of a problem to note. Especially for the traffic.

From what i know here. I honestly cannot understand where the hang up comes from .

Pattaya has far more retirees and i know some places that may be considered ghettos.

There maybe many retirees here and for good reason, but IMHO after 2.5 years  here i dont believe that it should be considered a ghetto.

[Captor]

5 hours ago, Middle Aged Grouch said:

Unless you need to have a hospital close for daily use, Hua Hin is not the best choice.

 

Things in Hua Hin are more pricey then elsewhere in Thailand. Worse sometimes then Phuket mainly in restaurants that openly overcharge and I found prices to be similar as those in some areas of Spain in good restaurants.

 

For living, stay aroung the main town area. Don't fall for those swanky developpments in Hin Lek Fai or arond Black Mountain area despite all the publicity that is all around. Mainly stay away form those farang run developpments with their houses often  full of badly built defective plumbing, walls or electricity or roofs. 

 

It won't show on the nice photo or when you see it but at the end of the day you won't be making a bargain on that wonderful "pool Villa" of some developpment having the name of a flower for exemple.

 

Above all when you leave town, are, you will have no public transport. So either you drive your own car, or will have to pay for a taxi each time.

 

You will be shelling out huge "common fees" monthly plus shelling out around 4000 THB per month electricity and water for the pool when you are not in the premises. As these villa developpements charge a bit extra for the water and electricity in Hua Hin.

Not sure how legal it is thoug .....

Not to forget the price of food in Hua Hin. The supermarkets like Villa Market and similar selling foreign packed food are just an open scam. Even dishwasher powder costs double of what you would pay for it at home. And 40 for a bar hooker in Hua HIn is considdered young...

 

Dont fall for what many say or who rush to HH just because others did it....many far better areas in Thailand, with more polite people who will not be cheating you from morning to night.... then boring Hua Hin, believe me. And if you can, avoid those falang run villa developpments that are just out there to drain out money from foreigners who cannot buy on freehold. But as they say...it's up to you...

Can you mention other far better places? Not meaning the normally tourist traps Phuket, Phattaya, Samui etc.

[jojothai]

5 hours ago, Middle Aged Grouch said:

Unless you need to have a hospital close for daily use, Hua Hin is not the best choice.

 

Things in Hua Hin are more pricey then elsewhere in Thailand. Worse sometimes then Phuket mainly in restaurants that openly overcharge and I found prices to be similar as those in some areas of Spain in good restaurants.

 

For living, stay aroung the main town area. Don't fall for those swanky developpments in Hin Lek Fai or arond Black Mountain area despite all the publicity that is all around. Mainly stay away form those farang run developpments with their houses often  full of badly built defective plumbing, walls or electricity or roofs. 

 

It won't show on the nice photo or when you see it but at the end of the day you won't be making a bargain on that wonderful "pool Villa" of some developpment having the name of a flower for exemple.

 

Above all when you leave town, are, you will have no public transport. So either you drive your own car, or will have to pay for a taxi each time.

 

You will be shelling out huge "common fees" monthly plus shelling out around 4000 THB per month electricity and water for the pool when you are not in the premises. As these villa developpements charge a bit extra for the water and electricity in Hua Hin.

Not sure how legal it is thoug .....

Not to forget the price of food in Hua Hin. The supermarkets like Villa Market and similar selling foreign packed food are just an open scam. Even dishwasher powder costs double of what you would pay for it at home. And 40 for a bar hooker in Hua HIn is considdered young...

 

Dont fall for what many say or who rush to HH just because others did it....many far better areas in Thailand, with more polite people who will not be cheating you from morning to night.... then boring Hua Hin, believe me. And if you can, avoid those falang run villa developpments that are just out there to drain out money from foreigners who cannot buy on freehold. But as they say...it's up to you...

I agree that the swanky developments out of town may not be what they appear, and there is the issue of transportation in and outof town.

However, some developments are very good. People must rent here before buying. Rents for houses are cheap IMHO, and as a renter you do not pay CAM fees 

Even then CAM fees in houses are often cheaper than condos.

I pay just under 30,000 baht a year in a village that is run excellently and i have a 3 bed villa.

You will pay that or more in a 100sqm condo.

Estates do not all add cost to utilities.

Where i have the villa we pay what the utility charge is and no extra.

Your comments are valid thanks, because people need to know these things when they look around.

[delgarcon]

Thank you all for your input, lots of opinions to digest, as a lot of you say, I'll see for myself.

[Hummin]

On 10/22/2024 at 5:41 AM, Mike Teavee said:

You don't mention anything about having your own transport, if you or your GF doesn't drive then I wouldn't recommend Hua Hin as from what I've seen on my 5-6 visits there, things are quite spaced out.... Pattaya may serve your needs better. 

 

Before people jump in about Pattaya being a "Cesspit", it is possible to live here without being exposed to the "Nightlife", I live at Wongamat beach which has nothing like "That" but does have Bangkok Pattaya Hospital (Private) & Bang Lamung (Government) Hospital approx. 10 mins away + a pretty decent government school 5 mins away.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the foreigner "villages" do have transport, as well condominiums. It is a few central placed condominiums you do not need any transport at all if you manage to walk 3-400 meter. 

 

Check out condochain, old, but will be perfect for as long you need. 

[spidermike007]

15 hours ago, jojothai said:

Hi mike

Air quality is not bad that long in my experience. Is the 7 months quoted online?

We get a bad spell peaking in march/early april just like most other places.

But not as bad as bangkok, and places like chiang mai.

This year has not been bad. I have not had to clean the solar panels like last year. In 2023 the pollution in march laid enough dust to reduce my power by nearly 50%.

I suppose the wind has a big influence. Fairly windy half the year, especially in the next month or two. We get enough wind where i live 3km west of centre, going partly up the hill.

It may be less windy in town / more built up areas.

 

Talking of AQI. Definitely better than Bangkok, or CM, which is horrific when it comes to air for 6 months or so. Also, too over developed for my taste. Hua Hin are has alot going for it. 

[chiang mai]

I've lived in a few places around Thailand and have visited loads more so I can make realistic comparisons. I don't know about others but I didn't move to Thailand to live in a farang ghetto and associate with farangs, I could have stayed home and done that. I was horrified to read that some of the farang ghetto's have buses into town, jeeze, a complete farang support infrastructure.

 

I'd move to Hua Hin in  heartbeat except I like where we are in the North. We visit HH twice a year and have for many years. The aiur is usually cleaner than other places, especially during the burning season. Shopping is good, facilities are good, location is excellent but for goodness sake, don't restrict yourself to farang ghetto's. Go find an area that you like and live there, probably not right at the beach since that's become very pricey nowadays. But there are plenty of nice none farang areas, go check them out and make Thai friends.

[KhaoTakiab]

7 hours ago, chiang mai said:

But there are plenty of nice none farang areas, go check them out and make Thai friends.

I am about to buy a house or condo.

Do you have a suggestion of a nice non-falang area in Hua Hin where I can buy a place? The places I have found so far have all required Thai citizenship  😞

[chiang mai]

9 minutes ago, KhaoTakiab said:

I am about to buy a house or condo.

Do you have a suggestion of a nice non-falang area in Hua Hin where I can buy a place? The places I have found so far have all required Thai citizenship  😞

I'm sorry I don't but I can ask around and will come back to you if I hear of any.

[KhaoTakiab]

34 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

I'm sorry I don't but I can ask around and will come back to you if I hear of any.

Thank you 🙏 

[nofarang]

22 hours ago, KhaoTakiab said:

I am about to buy a house or condo.

Do you have a suggestion of a nice non-falang area in Hua Hin where I can buy a place? The places I have found so far have all required Thai citizenship  😞

I live in a small soi around the Index area. Try these sois around the Hua Hin hospital. There are a couple of nice houses. My neighboring house is empty since 9 years. It is for sale only (not rent). As far as I heard they reduced the price but still should be around 4 M. And, of course, buying a house in Thailand requires Thai citizenship.

[RocketDog]

On 10/22/2024 at 10:48 AM, KhunLA said:

You're going to get mixed reviews / advice on Hua Hin.  I'm not personally a fan, but can see the attraction at times.  

 

#1 plus for you ... Hua Hin Hosp (govt) is quite good, from experience (1), possibly life saving, or not.  Though not familiar with the dialysis dept.  Also a couple private hosp., which I have no experience with.

 

Others love that it caters to the western palate, though fails miserably IMHO.  Along with bland Thai food offerings.  Good shopping, 2 large malls, & Villa Markets.  Couple Makro s in the area (N & W).

 

My negatives are congestion, little to no parking, and crap beach, I wouldn't swim, or even wade in.   Does look nice though, from a distance.

 

There's a decent baht bus system, that will take within walking distance of most things, in case you don't drive, or simply don't want to.  Actually you can park at either mall, and that would put you in walking distance to most things.

 

Have a few night & weekend markets.

 

Immigrations is friendly and not too crowded.  Extension done within 1 hr +/-. (wait time + processed)

 

Strangely AQI (75-150) & PM2.5 #s (unhealthy), during smog season, as only 1.5 hrs. north of us.  Nothing like Krung Thep & north of, but higher than I'd expect, being a bit south.

 

Hua Hin is a decent choice, although you might take a peek at Chumphon (muang), is decent also.   Never warmed up to Surat Thani (muang).   NST also is worth a peek.

 

 

I live in pranburi just south of huahin, maybe 15 min.

I agree with all you said. Beaches and a few other things are better in Pranburi yet I'm  still near enough Hua Hin for convenience.

 

I got a colonoscopy at San Paulo private hospital in hua hin last year for $600. Excellent staff and equipment. Bangkok Hospital also top notch.  Nana Dental is superb especially for implants.

 

I personally can't understand why anybody would live directly in hua hin especially in those chicken towers overlooking a deplorable beach..

 

OP: PM me and we talk at length on phone if you desire. I own a house and lived here for 6 years; never plan to move.

[Patong2021]

7 hours ago, RocketDog said:

I live in pranburi just south of huahin, maybe 15 min.

I agree with all you said. Beaches and a few other things are better in Pranburi yet I'm  still near enough Hua Hin for convenience.

 

I got a colonoscopy at San Paulo private hospital in hua hin last year for $600. Excellent staff and equipment. Bangkok Hospital also top notch.  Nana Dental is superb especially for implants.

 

I personally can't understand why anybody would live directly in hua hin especially in those chicken towers overlooking a deplorable beach..

 

OP: PM me and we talk at length on phone if you desire. I own a house and lived here for 6 years; never plan to move.

 

The beach in HH is not bad. It may not be a beautiful as Karon in Phuket, but it is lightly  populated, clean and very walkable. The best swimming in the HH area is at the Pines beach at the military golf course, hotel and military holiday villa location.The beach here is often deserted and very swimable.

 

Living inside the city is convenient. Everything is walkable or within reach by 15 satang sangthaew or 100 baht tuk tuk ride. I like being able to pop down to Villa or Tops whenever I want to. Bluport supermarket is nice because of its plentiful parking. Yes, the  retail prices are slightly higher than Pattaya, but then the products are not the usual cheap quality and one doesn't have to battle the hawkers occupying every major street.

 

HH's best feature for the older person are its easy access to health care, an immigration office and soon its high speed rail option. It offers quality dining at a much more affordable cost than Samui or Phuket.  Best of all it is a higher end socio demographic.  The key word is convenience.

Everything is closeby.

 

And no the beach is not deplorable. It is still superior to much of what is on offer elsewhere. best of all, no jet ski thugs.

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

 

The beach in HH is not bad. It may not be a beautiful as Karon in Phuket, but it is lightly  populated, clean and very walkable. The best swimming in the HH area is at the Pines beach at the military golf course, hotel and military holiday villa location.The beach here is often deserted and very swimable.

 

Living inside the city is convenient. Everything is walkable or within reach by 15 satang sangthaew or 100 baht tuk tuk ride. I like being able to pop down to Villa or Tops whenever I want to. Bluport supermarket is nice because of its plentiful parking. Yes, the  retail prices are slightly higher than Pattaya, but then the products are not the usual cheap quality and one doesn't have to battle the hawkers occupying every major street.

 

HH's best feature for the older person are its easy access to health care, an immigration office and soon its high speed rail option. It offers quality dining at a much more affordable cost than Samui or Phuket.  Best of all it is a higher end socio demographic.  The key word is convenience.

Everything is closeby.

 

And no the beach is not deplorable. It is still superior to much of what is on offer elsewhere. best of all, no jet ski thugs.

Opinions are like noses, everybody's got one.

[jojothai]

On 10/26/2024 at 12:12 PM, KhaoTakiab said:

I am about to buy a house or condo.

Do you have a suggestion of a nice non-falang area in Hua Hin where I can buy a place? The places I have found so far have all required Thai citizenship  😞

You may have a problem if you want it to be nice.
There are a lot of predominantly Thai areas but they are primarily either older town houses or run down and insecure housing estates.

I would not trust living in most of the town houses you have no idea what neighbours you will get or security.
Many places have barred windows. The housing estates i have seen that are more thai are very poorly maintained.
Look along soi 102 about and the Sois off it, about 3km out.
If you want to be close to the beach you need to look around the area into Khao Takiab. Right at the end not far from the temple. Past the turning point for the SongThaews
That is an area i remember that may meet what you want. I looked at a couple of houses there that were not bad, but we chose a beautiful peaceful and well maintained village 3km out that does have many falangs but it is Thai run..
Your best bet may be to get a condo, but condo prices in my opinion are relatively more expensive.
Maybe look at cha-am if you want to be away from people.

If you want thais, then be prepared to put up with the potential noise.

The so called Ghetto area is mainly around the Hilton which gets crowded with older people. That is not representative of Hua Hin. There are some of the bar areas such as soi 88 and 94 also frequented by a lot of older falangs but many places in Thailand have similar.
When i go into town on soi 88 there are very few falang places until you get into town. But, very few places to think of living.
Some people may think that Market Village is crowded with older falangs but that is not the case, unless that is all you want to identify.
The restaurant on the pier that we go to often is adjacent to the Hilton "Ghetto area". It often has just as many thais or younger tourists as there are older tourists. It can hardly be declared a ghetto.

 

[jojothai]

23 hours ago, nofarang said:

I live in a small soi around the Index area. Try these sois around the Hua Hin hospital. There are a couple of nice houses. My neighboring house is empty since 9 years. It is for sale only (not rent). As far as I heard they reduced the price but still should be around 4 M. And, of course, buying a house in Thailand requires Thai citizenship.

Its a good suggestion. That area north of town and out to Soi 2 has houses.
Beach side you could also look around Naebkehart  Road soi 41 to 51. I think there are houses there, but not too many.
Me and my thai wife need to go out regularly to the south and looked primarily at south and west side of Hua hin.

[jojothai]

Another note to add for people thinking of moving here.
It gets extremely hot several months of the year. Just like many parts of Thailand.

 

Think of the orientation of the house / condo.
Look at a adjacent places to see how crowded they are with blinds for the sun and in which directions.
Its nice having a sea view condo, but you can have unbearable heat through windows.

 

Sun comes up south east in the morning and is very hot. Sun sets to WNW, hottest mid afternoon around west.

You may not think it too important, as we did when we bought our place.
However we found the heat getting into the kitchen area and some other rooms  was much higher than we like.
There were blinds inside the windows but they don't do much. 
The aluminium window frames get so hot you should not touch them.

In hind sight I should have noticed all the houses in the village with blinds outside and windows obviously covered on the inside.

I fitted roller blinds outside and they stop the problem, sunblocking 99%, that you can see out but not see in.

 

[jojothai]

1 hour ago, jojothai said:

If you want to be close to the beach you need to look around the area into Khao Takiab. Right at the end not far from the temple. Past the turning point for the SongThaews
That is an area i remember that may meet what you want. I looked at a couple of houses there that were not bad.

 

if you want to be near the beach but out of town. See map for Khao Takiap area where i looked for houses.
Some places town houses, but at the lower part there were some fairly good looking houses. Not that many but worth a look if you want to be near the beach. 
Its not far to the songthaew turning point for getting into town, up to about 500m.

[KhaoTakiab]

I was under the impression that you can buy a house as a foreigner, it is land you can't own? So I was hoping to find a house and lease the land, but no luck so far 😞

 

I don't have to live near the beach. The area north - northwest of Royal Hua Hin golf course looks promising?

[ThaiPauly]

On 10/25/2024 at 2:45 PM, TheFishman1 said:

I would also think about Chiang Mai. They have good hospitals, many different restaurants. Everything‘s very easy  here in CM  

I moved outta CM as since 2010 the air quality is unacceptable to me .....but the Healthcare is superior with much more choice of hospitals.....(you need 'em to cope with the lung cancer cases that abound in CM.) Did not wanna leave, 20 years invested .

Now live in Hua Hin, some pluses, but agree the sea is dreadful and jellyfish abound in great numbers ar some times of the year, just walked on the beach for 5 mins a week ago and saw 2 on the sand  very easy to miss and get a nasty sting

[Phillip9]

On 10/28/2024 at 12:07 PM, jojothai said:

if you want to be near the beach but out of town. See map for Khao Takiap area where i looked for houses.
Some places town houses, but at the lower part there were some fairly good looking houses. Not that many but worth a look if you want to be near the beach. 
Its not far to the songthaew turning point for getting into town, up to about 500m.

 

The beach in that top section gets worse and worse every year.  The land is either sinking or the sand is getting washed away.  There is now only beach at low tide--usually in the middle of the night or very early morning.  The rest of the time the beach is gone and the water goes all the way to the seawalls in most places.  

 

There is better more usable beach further north past blue port.

[1happykamper]

On 10/22/2024 at 10:28 AM, delgarcon said:

I`ve been living in Koh Phangan for several years as a retiree, but the time has come for me to move to the mainland. I`m 80 years old and my gf is in her 50`s and we are looking after a young schoolgirl (a relative of my gf), who needs regular hospital treatment, which she can`t get in KP. I, myself will probably need dialysis soon, which, again I can`t get in KP.

The 3 of us are very happy together, but we need to be closer to  essential amenities.

I own a 2 bedroom house, which I can rent for around 60,000 tbh and from what I see, rentals seem to be much cheaper in Hua Hin.

I`m a Brit btw and still pretty active and don`t speak Thai.

I`d be grateful for opinions (pros and cons) on living in Hua Hin, which we will probably visit next month for the first time.

Many thanks

Tony

Any update from you? A trip report. Curious. Thanks 

[delgarcon]

1 hour ago, 1happykamper said:

Any update from you? A trip report. Curious. Thanks 

Nothing yet hk. We`ve had our house painted and a few repairs here and there taken care of, but the road where we live is flooded at the moment and the concrete road that the authorities have promised us is on hold until the rain abates. When we get round to a visit, I`ll certainly give you an update

[1happykamper]

12 minutes ago, delgarcon said:

Nothing yet hk. We`ve had our house painted and a few repairs here and there taken care of, but the road where we live is flooded at the moment and the concrete road that the authorities have promised us is on hold until the rain abates. When we get round to a visit, I`ll certainly give you an update

OK. All the best. Greetings from Chiang Mai city... Hua Hin before.