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Posted

Are you a westener living in Hua Hin with children? How is it going? The good/the bad? How is the contact with other westeners with families? The children loving it?

I'm looking to relocate in Thailand possible Hua Hin with my wife and 15month son. We are looking at renting a place for 6 months before deciding about buying.

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^ What about the 3 month burn from February to May? We love Chaing Mai and were considering living there but I have asthma and the air quality, at least during the spring is deadly, so we chose Hua Hin which has some of the cleanest air in Thailand. At that time there were no quality schools in Hua Hin so we left our 15 year old daughter to live with another (Thai/foreigner) family in our home country during the school term until she finished high school. I don't know about that now but many new schools have opened in the last few years so maybe it's better. I still don't think there is a certified international school though.

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Posted

The Hua Hin Hill winery is a nice place to visit, the wine sucks but it is a beautiful place to go for lunch, but the drive out there has a very rough road, lot's of pot holes, so be careful, I stay out of the tourist area, and live in a Thai condo when am there, with a salt water/ & fresh water pool right on the beach it's very nice and peaceful. Love listening to the ocean at night. Great place to get away from Bangkok.

Posted

Not clear to me... Is your wife Thai? Do you & she live or have lived in Thailand? If the answer is no & no, then no amount of advice here would be enough for you to make a decision. Certainly coming to rent is the best idea.

If either answer is yes, then the reply is "Same same but different" to whatever else you have experienced in Thailand.

Posted

6 months is a long commitment if your unhappy. When first came here I went from Krabi to Hua Hin to BKK to Chiang Mai for 5 days each. That's all I needed to do to decide I wanted to be in the south, which is where I am and I couldn't be happier. To specifically answer your question about HH, I didnt like it. I'm a beach person and there is no way those mud flats were gonna do. And not having a fully functioning airport is not a plus.

Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

That's all very good, I do believe that Chang Mai would be a great place to live, but what may prevent me from ever living in CM is the air for a few months each year, that can't be healthy.

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Posted

The Hua Hin Hill winery is a nice place to visit, the wine sucks but it is a beautiful place to go for lunch, but the drive out there has a very rough road, lot's of pot holes, so be careful, I stay out of the tourist area, and live in a Thai condo when am there, with a salt water/ & fresh water pool right on the beach it's very nice and peaceful. Love listening to the ocean at night. Great place to get away from Bangkok.

where is it? Sounds good. Would like to see it. Can I have the adress?

Posted

The Hua Hin Hill winery is a nice place to visit, the wine sucks but it is a beautiful place to go for lunch, but the drive out there has a very rough road, lot's of pot holes, so be careful, I stay out of the tourist area, and live in a Thai condo when am there, with a salt water/ & fresh water pool right on the beach it's very nice and peaceful. Love listening to the ocean at night. Great place to get away from Bangkok.

where is it? Sounds good. Would like to see it. Can I have the adress?

Head out the Pala U road up to the bypass. Go straight on as if you were going to Pala U waterfall. The turnoff is long before there though. I thinks it's the second town you pass through, at the end of the town it is signposted left, turn off there and follow the signs.

Don't go on the weekends as it gets busy.

Posted

To answer the OP's question:

yes, I'm a westerner living in Hua Hin - early 30s, married to a Thai wife of the same age and we have a 2 year old daughter.

We moved here in Jan 2014 and are absolutely loving it. Very nice place to live, good restuarants and still very affordable in my opinion. We rent a a very nice 3 bed place for 10k per month! I know that these rental deals are few and far between but for 15-20k per month you can rent a very nice place.

We don't really go out drinking so much so not exactly sure what the bar scene is like but as I said, for restaurants, cafes etc, there is lots of choice and the prices are still pretty good.

Hua Hin is also close enough to BKK if you ever have to go there for one reason or another and there are also many nice spots worth exploring south of Hua Hin and into Prachuap Khiri Khan.

There are a good number of foreign food shops when you fancy a taste of something back home and the large Market Village shopping centre has a good selection of stuff.

Maybe it's because we're still pretty new to the area but I like HH. We're currently looking at kindergartens for our daughter and there a few bi-lingual options available to you when the time comes.

As for the downside, the traffic through town can be lousy at the weekend. And the water situation is a bit of a nightmare. Where we live, sometimes the isn't enough water to fill up our tank, and the only way we can get more water is if we pay the water company an extra 300 Baht for a refill - I'm convinced it's the biggest scam going!

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Posted

Hua Hin is nice quite place the King spends much of his time there they have a good night market great food train station airport close by short hop to Bangkok And ok cinema Hope you understand Thai all movies in Thai only. Immigration just outside main town no lines Can walk from main road to beach got a Mickey D's

Posted

Do you enjoy playing chess...are you the kind of guy that does knitting while sitting on the beach...Hua Hin is the place for you...nothing interesting ever happens there...IMHO

Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

From your comments Chiang Mai sounds good but I keep hearing about flooding, land-slides and earthquakes in that area. Is it only certain parts or is the whole area affected?

Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

That's all very good, I do believe that Chang Mai would be a great place to live, but what may prevent me from ever living in CM is the air for a few months each year, that can't be healthy.

Plus the fact that it's freezing as hell (compared to Hua Hin) in the winter months. Last time I was there I had to invest in woolies....

  • Like 1
Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

For sure CM has a lot going for it, but you're dead wrong about CM's traffic. It's terrible in both rush hours ... and is much, much worse than HH. Granted HH traffic can get bad on weekends when the Thai tourists arrive, but that's when I lay low at home ... and then go out during the week.

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Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

For sure CM has a lot going for it, but you're dead wrong about CM's traffic. It's terrible in both rush hours ... and is much, much worse than HH. Granted HH traffic can get bad on weekends when the Thai tourists arrive, but that's when I lay low at home ... and then go out during the week.

Last time I was in Chiang Mai (December), the traffic at rush hour *was* absolutely terrible, much worse than I've ever seen in Hua Hin. Granted, that was in the centre of town around the old walls, but still...also in Hua Hin, I usually avoid rush hour (which can be bad), but I reckon the traffic here is nowhere near as bas as CM. Even as a seasoned motorcyclist, I still felt slightly uneasy driving shoulder to shoulder through the traffic jams in CM. Probably out of town it is quiet though (just like here - where I live 12 km from Hua Hin city centre, it's pretty much all country lanes).

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Posted

Thanks for the replies. I will take note of the tips offered for when we arrive.

To answer some questions, My wife is Thai and we have lived in Switzerland for 12+ years but now want to escape the hectic lifestyle in europe. We want to find a nice place to bring up our son... not in the city and not in the bush. Hua Hin seems like a quiet yet developing community from what I hear.

Near the beach would be nice... not too far from airport as I need to fly out a lot for work. Close to markets and in a safe neighbourhood. I'm looking at rentals with my wife now.

We haven't seen CM yet but may drive up for a look.

Posted

Hua Hin is nearly fully developed into a small city now though the infrastructure is sadly lagging behind. Forget near the beach close to markets in Hua Hin unless you are a millionaire or want to possibly rent a small condo or townhouse on an older soi. As far as an airport, yes Hua Hin has one and I think one airline is running right now to some other small city in the south. The only real airport is 3 hours away in Bangkok. Several airlines have tried to do the Hua Hin/Bangkok run in the 10+ years I've been here and have all failed to get enough customers to make it viable because of the ease and lower cost of going by bus or van.

Chaing Mai is much bigger, but you can live in the suburbs in a nice community that has shopping nearby. The problem with Chaing Mai is air quality. While Hua Hin has some of the best air quality here generally, Chaing Mai has some of the worst outside Bangkok because of the burning off of fields that lasts from late winter to early summer.

I suggest you come here when you have some time to really look around, time to check the schools, the cost of renting a house in a neighborhood where you would be happy and the drive time and distance to and from the Bangkok airport. Before you up sticks completely and cut your lifeline to Switzerland (wish I could live there!) you need to spend a month or two here to make sure you are making the right decision.

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Posted

There is a new small airline running flights between Hua Hin and Chiang Mai a couple of days per week. Maybe that would make it easier to check out both cities in one exploratory trip.

Posted

Always amazed at how some "leave" their children places - different levels of attachment I guess...

Yes, if you're talking about the comment I made, you're right. I feel the same way but many Thais feel differently. A lot of Thai children are raised by relatives, friends, or "the village". I wanted to stay in the U.S. until she was 18 and could be on her own but I got caught between her Mother wanting to move back to Thailand, and both her and her daughter (my step daughter) wanting the daughter to stay in the U.S. to get a better education than she could get here and have better opportunities in life afterwards. So, we left her with our best friends who were also an American/Thai couple who had a child of their own and we visited once a year during the school year and she came here for a couple of months during summer. Not ideal, but she is living in the U.S. now, 25 years old making decent money and enjoying life in a beautiful southern California beach town, so it turned out good for her. Who knows what would have happened to her if we had dragged her here against her will and forced her into the then only Thai school system. She'd probably still be living with us, unhappy, with little or not prospects for the future.

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Posted

Lots of for's and against's you will find on hundreds of threads throughout Thai Visa. I'd say........

As a single man go for it.

With a family, I'd say stay where you are and just come for holidays. Yes the way of life is so much slower, but so is the education and that will effect your kid long term. As much as Thais love their country, its no coincidence that any Thai with real money will send their kids to Europe/US for their education if given the opportunity.

Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

From your comments Chiang Mai sounds good but I keep hearing about flooding, land-slides and earthquakes in that area. Is it only certain parts or is the whole area affected?

Yes... Chiang Mai is a dangerous and inhospitable place... Better to go somewhere else...

Sent from my iPad in Chiang Mai...

Posted

I had the same decision to make. Where? I chose Chiang Mai. Why?

No traffic - you can actually get around on your own motorcycle, great nightlife (we own the LOLLIPOP Bar in Loi Kroh Entertainment area), good private schools, housing much cheaper (but the rest is not necessarily cheaper - but for sure housing is significantly cheaper), great golf, very nice gated communities, cooler weather (I think it is really cooler all of the time compared to the rest of Thailand), many more cultural sites (great zoo, night safari, tiger kingdom, elephant rides/park), mountains, strawberry farms (many), nice get away resorts, monkeys kingdom, etc.

If you have a family I cannot believe there is a better place. If you come to Chiang Mai to check it out stop at the Lollipop (in the same building as Thai boxing) and ask for Ed. I will give you the low down on Chiang Mai from a single mans point of view and from a family view. I have a family but was single.

Yep. I really agree with you wink.png

Posted

Me too regarding Chang Mai, with a kid in school we can't move away when it's bad and wearing a face mask isn't my plan of living "the dream".

OP don't rule out Pattaya, yes it got the red light districts but also many many other things suited for a family.

Many schools to choose from and we live in a nice quirt village and life is good.

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