When we left Samui we were trying to fill a travel gap. We had a place booked for Bangkok but had 10 days to fill in. I had seen a lot of expat hype regarding Hua Hin so instead of heading right to the big city, we decided to head there.

Hua Hin is a beach resort town around 200 miles southwest of Bangkok. It has been accessible to Bangkok via train since the early 1900’s, and from that time has been a spot for Thai royalty to vacation outside of the city. Due to the proximity to Bangkok, it is also very popular for Thai vacationers and foreign tourists.

The area has a long coast line, dotted with sea pines, clear warm water and apparently a whole lot of wind in March. This makes for great wind surfing and fun people watching.

Our Accommodation

We booked our apartment fairly last minute which means we overpaid for an Airbnb. However, it was a highly rated 1-bedroom with a king size bed and a nicely stocked kitchen and a great community pool. We were 2 blocks from the beach and just a mile or so south of the main part of town. We were also nestled next to a golf course which means our neighborhood was quiet but it was easy to get to places that we wanted to go to. We paid $52 USD per night.

New Friends

One of our top highlights from our 10 day stay in Hua Hin was meeting so many wonderful nomads! Thanks to a Facebook group called Go With Less, we met a handful of like-minded travelers. Our meet-ups included dinners, drinks, live music, ladies brunch, and pool parties.

Leah, Chris, PJ, and Chris: it was a pleasure to meet you and hope our paths cross again soon! (In fact we did see Leah in Bangkok just a few weeks later!)

Markets

Hua Hin is well known for its night markets. We explored both Tamarind and Cicada on the same evening. These are close to each other, but there are also other night markets in the Hua Hin area that we did not get to.

Tamarind Market

Tamarind Market is food-focused, with various stalls set up in a vague horseshoe pattern, and a large seating area that faces a stage with live music throughout the evening.

Overall, we were underwhelmed with the food at Tamarind. The prices were a little higher than we found in other cities and the food we tried was bland. We tried skewers, crab fried rice, and pad thai.

Based on our experience we would not recommend dining at this market. It’s cool to walk around and watch the fun bands, but don’t go out of your way to try and have dinner there. Perhaps we ordered from the wrong vendors, or we needed to specify that we wanted our food authentically spiced? No farang spicy!

Cicada Market

This market has some food and beverage stalls, but the focus is on local arts and crafts. Different from typical Thai markets, the goods sold here are from local artisans with unique items being sold. We enjoyed strolling around and eyeing all the neat stuff. We ended up buying some handmade soaps and some small souvenirs.

There were food vendors at Cicada but they seemed to shut down earlier than Tamarind. There was also a small stage and live music. The market is quite large and offers everything from sculpture to handmade cell phone cases. I really enjoyed this market and if ever in the area again, I would spend more time vibing there in the evening.

Dining

As a whole we were not impressed with the restaurants in Hua Hin. We found the restaurants to be overpriced, and filled with and catering to westerners. For example, fried rice dishes were frequently priced at around 150 THB when these dishes should be 30-80 THB.

However, there were a handful of standouts.

The first one has a Thai name that we don’t know. It is a two-table joint right on the main road that seems to do a lot of take out business. The owners are a gregarious couple: the guy from England and the lady from Thailand. The restaurant is named for their baby daughter, possibly Boonma? They shared great stories, made us feel like family, and made awesome meals in a small outdoor kitchen. Plus, the prices ran around 50 baht per dish ($1.50 USD). There was no English signage and no menu, just a chat with the family about what you want to eat. There is no reference to the restaurant on Google Maps, but the coordinates are 12.524077255730067, 99.97310805019805 and we believe the address is either 35 Soi Hua Hin 87 or 35 Nong Kae-Takiap (two names for the same road), south of where Highway 4 splits from the main road. [November 2023 update: The October 2023 Google Street View now shows the restaurant signage, although Google Maps does not show the restaurant itself. Use the coordinates and you will end up at exactly the right spot.]

My second favorite place was a recommendation from an expat, a Vietnamese restaurant called Ga Hanoi. I was skeptical about ordering Vietnamese food in Thailand. It was a large operation in a garden setting. The service and food were outstanding! We tried some Viet favorites, and based on a recommendation, also tried a burger (of which they have multiple patty selections).

Another favorite was a small restaurant, Chom Suan Noodle, that we dined at on our way to explore the northern Hua Hin coastline. I found it on Google Maps along with rave reviews. It is located on a side street in an area that we were not ever likely to pass by. As we walked into their garden patio area, we could smell the Chinese five spice and knew we were in a good spot. We were the only guests and we had a great meal of roti, pad thai, pork noodle soup, and Chinese black-olive fried rice. It was delicious and the owners were very kind and friendly and eager to converse about their family connections to America and the Pacific Northwest.

Scooter Rental

We rented a special scooter this time! Corey is (rightfully) terrified of driving a scooter in Thailand but he trusts me to do the driving. So we splurged on a scooter with a sidecar!! Mundane errands became exciting and we even filmed a cheeky video in this “Batcycle”.

We only had one minor issue which occurred about 30 minutes after we drove off the lot. We had immediately driven out of town to visit a large monk statue (at Wat Tuay Mongkol) and then planned to go on to wine tasting.

We briefly stopped at the statue complex, but when we went to leave we could not get the bike to turn back on. We tried everything! Then we called the rental company and they walked us through some instructions. They were pretty convinced that we had drained the battery, so they sent someone out to assist. When she arrived she tried to troubleshoot but also could not get the bike started. So she swapped her batcycle for ours and we continued on with our plans to wine taste.

We later found out that they had given us the wrong key!! It was a remote start bike, and I was able to start the bike because the correct key was nearby in the shop. But when we were 20 miles away, no such luck! I was a bit annoyed to receive a lecture on battery usage after standing in the hot sun for an hour, and we only received a perfunctory apology for the hassle and inconvenience. But the new bike ran great and we didn’t let it ruin our fun!

Wine Tasting

This is probably the most shocking thing we did in Thailand. I had no idea that there was a reasonably good vineyard and estate winery in the foothills of mainland Thailand.

We sat outdoors on the beautiful Monsoon Valley Vineyard patio, with large vistas of the rolling hills and vineyard. We ordered small plates and wine pairings from their tasting menu. The food was excellent and each wine paired well. Additionally, the wines ranged from good to very good. Grapes grown include Chenin Blanc and Colombard (an acidic blending white), and Syrah and Sangiovese. We also had our introduction to Dornfelder, a dark-skinned German variety that seemed to handle the Thai sunshine well.

Although Thailand is in the Northern Hemisphere, wine grapes grow in the “winter” and are harvested between January and March, before either the monsoons or the oppressive heat arrives.

The winery makes a lot of different wines and I think they offer a wine for each palate.

Following food and wine we toured the grounds on their “train”. The winery also offers jeep off-roading, horse riding, and elephant feeding. We skipped all of those though to focus on the culinary side.

They have several different packages and some that include round-trip transportation from Hua Hin (in case you don’t have wheels of your own). They have several different tasting options as well. If you’re around the area, you should add it to your list. Enjoy the wine, food, and/or views.

Mangrove Tour

Like Batman and Robin, Corey and I hopped on our batcycle and headed south one morning to Pranburi Forest Park. We first stopped for a delicious coffee at the campground’s coffeeshop, and admired the young pines around us. Again it hardly felt like Thailand! Because I was driving I did not get a photo, but trust me, we were surrounded by evergreen trees, just like home. After some meandering around the park’s roads, we found the path to the mangroves.

There is a long boardwalk that takes your through the forest.

We came at low tide and there thousands of crabs hanging out in the mud.

About halfway through we came up to the river where there is a dock for boat tours. The prices are posted and were fair, so no need to negotiate. We boarded a small long boat for a water experience. Our captain effortlessly steered us through the stream while talking on his phone, smoking a cigarette, and pointing out wildlife to us.

We spotted a few river monitor lizards. A small one swam right past the front of our boat going to the opposite bank. Why did the lizard cross the river?

To get away from civilization and back to the shore? Who knows, but he was moving swiftly and with a purpose. I would not want to try to outrace a hungry monitor lizard, whether on land or sea!

The stream merged into a larger river and there were hundreds of almost identical fishing boats lined up along the shore. It smelled like my first HR job… for a commercial fishing company. The paperwork from the boats always stunk like fish guts and cigarettes.

We saw the bits of Thailand off the beaten path, things tourists do not experience from their all-inclusive resort in Phuket. Small dilapidated shacks on stilts, rustic fishing villages, bridges that have seen better days, and unfortunately, littered beaches.

Here are some photos from our boat tour:

Rajabhakti Park

On our way back home, we stopped to check out the famed giant statues of past kings as warriors.

The statues were erected in 2015 along with the surrounding plazas and small buildings. It was pretty late in the afternoon and the place was deserted except for a handful of other tourists. This was great as we did not have to dodge a bunch of Insta models. But since the park is on Thai Army property, we did pass by like a hundred of young Thai soldiers out for a group run, and it was funny to hear them shout “hello” in unison as we rode out into the sunset with our sidecar.

Maruekhathaiyawan Palace

North of Hua Hin is the site of a royal summer palace, with multiple buildings made of teak wood. However, this has been closed since 2019 for renovations, and as of 2023, the website is also down. Not knowing this, we drove onto the military base where it is located and proceeded to drive around trying to get through locked gates. The military base was interesting as there seemed to be stretches of retail (restaurants etc.) that were closed and possibly abandoned. Perhaps the base comes to life during training actions?

Once we figured out that the summer palace was closed and no longer accessible, we stopped for a beach massage then drove back into town.

Venezia Hua Hin

Imagine someone saw the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas and decided to recreate that, but only the shopping mall portions. But then all of the actual shopping areas failed and the facility slowly crept into disrepair. That’s the Venezia development, now around 10 years old, and badly affected by COVID.

The exterior does look impressive, in that way that themed shopping malls do. Assuming it was still a mall, we tried to walk through, but were told that there was now an entrance fee. Packages were available for the few attractions that remained, including an upside-down house, a 3-D art exhibit, and other things that can be found in many urban tourist centers. (We did not see them in Venice, however.) There may be a gondola ride, tram tour, or horse-and-carriage tour, depending on the day, but none of these will be worthwhile.

We chose not to pay the admission fee but instead drove around a gate and through the parking lots of the property. We could see the large Instagram-friendly sculptures that were really the sole point of admission. There were multiple wings of retail, with faded signage and an aura of despair. In the rear parking lot appeared to be an attempt to nurture the facility’s fauna: trees and other plants were on the asphalt and were surviving better than the mall they were decorating.

Since we were already driving by, this was an interesting stop for us, and would be of interest to those into the “dead mall” phenomenon. But it is certainly not worth a special trip for the remaining attractions, and be wary of any online write-ups (or tours) that hype the facility: it is not what it used to be.

Hua Hin Onsen & Spa

On the last night of our stay, we splurged on an outdoor spa experience that included a one hour massage. An onsen is Japanese for a hot spring, and I believe this spa may technically be a sento, a hot bathhouse. But it was outdoors and well-maintained.

We arrived around sunset to enjoy the hot and cold pools plus the steam and sauna before the massage. Afterward we soaked in the tub again to relax.

The onsen offers a variety of spa packages and was a great deal. I really liked that we went during sunset to enjoy both the cold and hot pools spanning both day and night (the temperature fell around 20 degrees F once the sun disappeared). The facility was also nearly empty which made for a private, relaxing experience. It was a really nice way to fully unwind before the hectic, crazy, city vibes in Bangkok.

Final Thoughts

We did not love Hua Hin. We had an enjoyable stay but would not feel compelled to return.

There is a large expat community and lots of snowbirds, and while we enjoyed meeting other English-speakers, the city does not feel authentically Thai. Hua Hin seems like a great city for someone to explore if they were new to international travel or did not have time to go to Thailand’s gorgeous beaches in the south. Again, wind surfing is quite popular and if that’s your jam then Hua Hin might be a good place for you to check out.

Hua Hin was more expensive compared to Samui and Phuket. Everyday stuff like food and laundry cost more in Hua Hin! This surprised us since it’s not on an island, and we suspect this is a product of the expat consumer base in the area.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the beach was just okay. It’s a narrow strip and there are large tide swings in the area. This means that for some portion of the day there is no sand to sit on. The water comes right up to the steps leading down from apartment complexes. Not to mention there are a lot of horses for rent on the sand, too.

Even when the water recedes, the sand remains moist. Thailand literally has thousands of better beaches!

But because it is close to Bangkok, it was only a 2-3 hour drive to get back to the city. We hired a private car/driver to take us back to Bangkok (which is also what we used to get to Hua Hin from Bangkok Airport). There were cheaper train/bus options but we found it not much more to splurge (~$60) on a private car that would take us directly to and from our destinations. Otherwise we would also need “last mile” transportation to get to and from the bus and train stations.