Will Hua Hin Become More Polluted?

[Dan Swift]

Sawadee!! I'm a retired teacher planning to move from Chiang Mai to the Hua Hin area or, perhaps, to vicinity of Kata Beach in Phuket.

Chiang Mai is too crowded, noisy, and dirty. Its urban area has at least 800,000 motor vehicles and will have more than a million in two years.

I wonder if Hua Hin will become like that or...even worse...like Pattaya. I'm encouraged by the article below from Hua Hin's local newspaper. At least the Mayor is asking the right questions. Of course, that does not mean that the city has money to spend for needed improvements.

Yet, Hua Hin is too close to the millions who want to flee the hopeless mess in Bangkok. Will they overrun this town?? Will the beach become filthy, the streets choked with vehicles, and sidewalks and alleys lined with litter?

What do you predict??

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Hua Hin Municipality Visits Japan

Posted by Admin / 3. November 2005, 19:10

Khun Siraphan Kamolpramote, Hua Hin Municipality Mayor, and his crew visit Japan on states duties visit. This trip benefit Hua Hin greatly as the Municipality is taking a big step to improve living quality for Hua Hin residents.

Khun Siraphan Kamolpramote, Mayor told Hua Hin Today newspaper that Suwannabhumi Co., Ltd. a private business firm had invited him and Khun Siwa Sirisaowalak with local authorities to visit Japan. The trip related to the city environmental management + refuse collection, environment and town organizing. The trip has brought many managerial ideas to the authority, especially on the waste separation area e.g. the electrical appliances such as fan, television, fridge and so forth. In Japan these appliances will be accepted back by the producers such as Mitsubishi and Toshiba for recycle.

In residential areas, the government provide trash cans labeling dry waste, wet waste, glass waste, plastic waste, for dwellers to separate their waste and dispose those into prepared bins. Waste separation makes the municipality’s work much easier. Glass and plastic items can be sent to a recycle factory. The waste separation will soon be applied at the Chatchai market to improve daily waste disposal in Hua Hin city.

Big cities in Japan such as Tokyo and Osaka have public toilets with hygienic conditions in places around the city and they also have parks with large green trees and Sakura flowers. Japan has disciplined people that mark special recognition to the world.

Even in a crowded city they have low numbers of road accidents. They strictly follow traffic laws and they have separate bicycle lines.

Hua Hin is designated as a Paradise City therefore in 2006 Hua Hin Municipality promise to adapt working policy they learnt from Japan and the city will be changing to a better place in the near future.

[ayakiawe]

more pollution

Thailand and the people here cant understand the limits to growth (you would actually have to think a bit right?) and looks like will learn the hard way........

Som Na Na

[tuktukmike]

Hua Hin is growing at such a fast pace that no one knows what the situation will be like in say 5 years time.

Everywhere you look they are building more houses or housing estates, why so many people want to live in estates like these is mind numbing.

You cant find anywhere to park anymore as it seems that if there is a street that was good for parking they will open another night bazaar in it. (ie, behind city beach hotel)

In fact Hua Hin seems to be more of a Scandi area more and more, we also have more property agents than you can shake a stick at.

The problem is that these agents sell not a dream home but an illusion as we all know the Farang and owning property issues in Thailand.

If you want peace and quiet then dont move to Hua Hin.

Mike.

[bakachan]

Big cities in Japan such as Tokyo and Osaka have public toilets with hygienic conditions in places around the city

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

lol now thats funny.... obviously the writer of this article has not been into

a public restroom in japan

ive not been to hau hin yet but have been to kata. i tried walking around the city

streets of cm and found it impossible to even cross the street because the

traffic was so heavy.

after a few smog filled days I flew directly from cm to phuket and headed to kata. what a difference kata made. especially kata noi, aka little kata. So i know exactly

where you're coming from.

I guess if they keep paving over paradise your only option is to keep on moving

where the pavement ends

[Dan Swift]

Reply from Dan Swift: Thanks for the feedback you've given me so far. The comments here from Bakachan certainly concur with my experience:

Bakachan: "....ive not been to hau hin yet but have been to kata. i tried walking around the city streets of cm and found it impossible to even cross the street because the traffic was so heavy.

"after a few smog filled days I flew directly from cm to phuket and headed to kata. what a difference kata made. especially kata noi, aka little kata. So i know exactly where you're coming from.

"I guess if they keep paving over paradise your only option is to keep on moving

where the pavement ends...."

Dan Swift adds: I was warned by a friend here in Chiang Mai that the beaches in Hua Hin were dirty. Yet, I got another e-mail from someone in Hua Hin that a nice, secluded beach lies a few kilometers south of Hua Hin. All this is encouraging to me. My Thai wife and I will explore both Hua Hin and the Kata areas. Then we'll decide. Thanks for any more feedback!!

[think_too_mut]

Last time in Hua Hin, October 2004. I went along the entire beach (6-7km), from the Hilton down to Khao Takiab every morning and evening.

Then, rainy season as well, the beach was not dirty in the sense Pattaya Jomtien can get (plastic bottles, bags, junk, marking the waterline).

The water was not really clear but not muddy as it gets in Pattaya.

No man-made rubbish in noticable quantities.

I would not call Hua Hin beach "dirty".

[johnnyk]

Last time in Hua Hin, October 2004. I went along the entire beach (6-7km), from the Hilton down to Khao Takiab every morning and evening.

Then, rainy season as well, the beach was not dirty in the sense Pattaya Jomtien can get (plastic bottles, bags, junk,  marking the waterline).

The water was not really clear but not muddy as it gets in Pattaya.

No man-made rubbish in noticable quantities.

I would not call Hua Hin beach "dirty".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

samesame me last month.

no horse poop, no condoms, no burger boxes, no plastic bags etc etc

[baht&sold]

Chiang Mai is too crowded, noisy, and dirty.  Its urban area has at least 800,000 motor vehicles and will have more than a million in two years.

I wonder if Hua Hin will become like that or...even worse...like Pattaya. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In a word, No. HH has a unique legacy combined with undisputed charm and strong civic pride to name but a few advantages. Because of this (and despite rapid growth) they still have the best opp of any resort area to get it right. Let's hope so

[Pundi64]

Sawadee!! I'm a retired teacher planning to move from Chiang Mai to the Hua Hin area or, perhaps, to vicinity of Kata Beach in Phuket.

Chiang Mai is too crowded, noisy, and dirty. Its urban area has at least 800,000 motor vehicles and will have more than a million in two years.

I wonder if Hua Hin will become like that or...even worse...like Pattaya. I'm encouraged by the article below from Hua Hin's local newspaper. At least the Mayor is asking the right questions. Of course, that does not mean that the city has money to spend for needed improvements.

Yet, Hua Hin is too close to the millions who want to flee the hopeless mess in Bangkok. Will they overrun this town?? Will the beach become filthy, the streets choked with vehicles, and sidewalks and alleys lined with litter?

What do you predict??

88888888888888888888888

Hua Hin Municipality Visits Japan

Posted by Admin / 3. November 2005, 19:10

Khun Siraphan Kamolpramote, Hua Hin Municipality Mayor, and his crew visit Japan on states duties visit. This trip benefit Hua Hin greatly as the Municipality is taking a big step to improve living quality for Hua Hin residents.

Khun Siraphan Kamolpramote, Mayor told Hua Hin Today newspaper that Suwannabhumi Co., Ltd. a private business firm had invited him and Khun Siwa Sirisaowalak with local authorities to visit Japan. The trip related to the city environmental management + refuse collection, environment and town organizing. The trip has brought many managerial ideas to the authority, especially on the waste separation area e.g. the electrical appliances such as fan, television, fridge and so forth. In Japan these appliances will be accepted back by the producers such as Mitsubishi and Toshiba for recycle.

In residential areas, the government provide trash cans labeling dry waste, wet waste, glass waste, plastic waste, for dwellers to separate their waste and dispose those into prepared bins. Waste separation makes the municipality’s work much easier. Glass and plastic items can be sent to a recycle factory. The waste separation will soon be applied at the Chatchai market to improve daily waste disposal in Hua Hin city.

Big cities in Japan such as Tokyo and Osaka have public toilets with hygienic conditions in places around the city and they also have parks with large green trees and Sakura flowers. Japan has disciplined people that mark special recognition to the world.

Even in a crowded city they have low numbers of road accidents. They strictly follow traffic laws and they have separate bicycle lines.

Hua Hin is designated as a Paradise City therefore in 2006 Hua Hin Municipality promise to adapt working policy they learnt from Japan and the city will be changing to a better place in the near future.

The answer is:

More people, adds more polution.

[egeefay]

best to come down to Hua Hin and check it out for yourself.

It's impossible to predict what Hua Hin will be like in the years to come.

While the King is living there I guess there will be less crime and pollution than in other areas of Thailand.

[justwilliam]

A few random comments on pollution and infrastructure from a resident.

I have lived in the area for 3 years, and Hua Hin itself for the past 8 months. I have walked the southern part of the beach every day for the past 3-4 months, and seen very little evidence of pollution. There was one period of 2-3 days when the usual garbage appeared, presumably an accident of the tides bringing it from elsewhere.

But as mentioned above, the rate of growth is quite staggering, and this being Thailand, it would seem doubtful that even with the best of intentions (and large sums of money) the local authorities will have their hands full keeping on top of the infrastructure needs.

I tend to be in the tuktukmike camp regarding housing. The promoters, of which there are swarms here, will tell you that Hua Hin has a long-term advantage over other places because of the extensive availability of land for development, which may indeed be true. But if you are making a residence decision, I would think about the implications of that development on the need for infrastructure.

In addition, most of the new developments are in the foothills to the west (the other side of the railroad tracks and the canal) and not especially convenient for the main beach, where there is very little parking anyway.

Other posters have mentioned traffic problems elsewhere, and it is hard to see how the center of Hua Hin will be able to escape total gridlock in the next few years -- although the sea breezes will likely keep the smog at bay. There has been talk of a by-pass being built, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

Having said all of the above, the brightest ray of hope here is the presence of HM the King, which one suspects may cause the worst excesses to be tempered and a degree of reason to prevail.