From Bangkok the BF and I took route 35 south, some road construction made it slow going. The road between Cha am and Hua Hin is excellent and well maintained. It took about three hours to reach town and we stayed at the Hua Hin Suites
recommended by Smiles. Great location and nice large clean room but the water pressure was miserable and the hot water at times would slow to a dribble. Easy walk to the beach. No off street parking but the guard saved me a place on the street.
This was my first trip to Hua Hin and I was impressed by the order and controlled sea side development. The public beach has an access road that is choked with tourist junk vendors, it would be nice if they just had a walkway to the beach without all the lean-two vendors. The beach is mostly hard pack sand and easy to walk. I did not see many renting the horses that are available, might be expensive. I also noticed songtows and motoycy taxies but did not see many farangs using them, since I had my own transportation, so I don't know how much they cost.
The Hua Hin beach vendors are more spread out than Jomtiem. There was a nice breeze, it seems cooler than Jomtiem. A single lounge chair cost 100B. Food and drink reasonable but not as cheap as Jomtiem. I sat in blue chairs only because that was run by an attractive Thai guy. Not a lot of customers. Mostly retired aged Euro couples and very few families. I did see the odd lady boy walking the shore but no sighting of PLU. The Euros were mostly Germans and pretty much ignored us. There are a few walking vendors but very polite, you don't have to say no, no, no want every few min. like Jomtiem. If you want a massage or manicure you have to ask.
The Beach was sparse on customers but the restaurant along Naresdamri Road were full of Euro couples, in groups of two and four. They cater to the German taste and the Thai food is very bland. We found a much better place on the main road, route 4, going out of town north about 8km, on the left, called Kow Sway, set in a garden.
We took in the show at the Blue Angel gay bar. It's basic lady-boy lip-sync and a few all male dance numbers on a very small stage. This may have been my one sighting for PLU but I was not sure, the majority of the customers were straight couples. Mixed drinks are 500B and beer 300B. I don't know if they have boys for "off-ing" or not, I got out quick after the show with drink prices so high.
There is another gay bar, Faqthong or something, that offers massage, I did not go in.
The highlight of the trip for me was going to Phra Ratchawang Markukhathaiyawan, north of Hua Hin. An very nice restoration of a former Royal palace.
On route 4 just north of town is a huge disco/ karaoke center that according the the BF is number one and he knows some Bangkok in-crowd that makes the trip to Hua Hin just for this place. I don't see the attraction. There is a hotel attached to the disco.
Hua Hin has a shopping center with a big movie center, good roads, a few open air markets and lots of restaurants with a lot less traffic and disorder that is Pattaya and Jomtiem. What Hua Hin does not have is go go bars and boys walking up and down the beach looking for farangs.Similar Threads:
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Originally Posted by Trongpaiexpat
