Hua Hin: A fantastic beach resort town
No visit to Thailand is complete without a trip to the beautiful resort beaches of Hua Hin. Located 200 miles south of Bangkok, Hua Hin is one of the oldest and most popular sandy destinations in the country.
While many of the other beach resorts in Thailand – including Phuket and Samui – have been over developed and overrun with tourist hotels and restaurants, Hua Hin has retained its traditional charm as both a resort and a working fishing village.
The beach is over five miles long and surrounded by some of the best, yet least expensive, golf courses in the entire world. The city itself was discovered more than 80 years ago by King Rama VII. He chose the place as his home away from home when he wanted to escape the heat and humidity of the capital city.
Once King Rama built his palace in what had up until that point been a fishing village, other Siam nobility were soon to follow – which fueled the growth and popularity of Hua Hin.
The king's palace – called Klai Kangwon, which means “Far From Worries” - remains an official royal residence and popular attraction to this day. Public tours are easy to arrange – even when members of the royal family are staying there!
Be careful outside the palace, however, because security is very tight and any type of public intoxication or other bad behavior near the palace is dealt with very strictly by the local police officers.
While the main tourist activity is to lie out on the sandy beach and have locals bring your drinks or provide massages, there are sites to see when you've decided you've had your fill of fun in the sun.
Most of the wealthiest families in Thailand have built their summer homes near the palace or on the beach, which means there is beautiful architecture to see as you stroll around and explore Hua Hin.
Khao Takiap is a large hill that is filled with beautiful Buddhist temples and offers the best overhead view of the city, the port and the ocean. It is a four-kilometer hike, so you may want to rent a bike or motorcycle to take you to the top.
The Hua Hin railway station is one of the oldest stations in Thailand and is so beautiful that it is considered one of the country's landmarks.
The Spirit Houses of Brassiere Beach has a really odd history. Legend has it that the daughter of a local fisherman was eaten by fish because she was too beautiful to live in the world. Today, men and women leave brasseries on the beach in order to ask the gods for good luck.
Namtok Pa Lau is an 11-tier waterfall located about 30 miles outside of town. It is easy to get to by bus, and is particularly popular on hot and humid days.
Wat Huay Mongkol was where famed monk Luang Phor Thuat lived his life. He was known for performing miracles and his former residence is now a large public park featuring a giant statue of him as its centerpiece.
At night Hua Hin comes alive with a large open-air market where you can buy nearly anything under the moon, and see what types of interesting fish and fruits the locals like to eat. You can also sample any of the many excellent seafood restaurants that surround the market.
If you want to sample local products, look for things made from Khommaphat, which is a type of cotton unique to the Hua Hin region. They use it to make everything from shirts to large decorative pieces of art.
The one downside of Hua Hin is that it does not have as active a nightlife culture as the other beach resort towns in Thailand. Your best bet is to hit the Soi Bintabaht and Soi Selakam areas where you can find local beer bars. By royal decree, there are no go-go bars in town.
Hua Hin has three important regional festivals, including:
The Thailand’s International Kite Festival is held from March through May in Hua Hin during even numbered years. It features stunt kites, big kites, little kites, high tech kites, traditional Thai kites, and displays of international kites. Hua Hin Jazz Festival is held through the month of June on the beach. It attracts world-class Jazz musicians and is considered one of the most popular events in Hua Hin. Hua Hin Vintage Car Rally. Sponsored by Vintage Car Club of Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the car rally is held every December. All of the cars in the rally are vintage from the 1920s, in celebration of when the King discovered the city.
Getting to Hua Hin is easy from nearly any part of Thailand. It is hooked up to most of the major rail lines and you can get a direct train from Bangkok. There are also several bus routes from both Bangkok and Malaysia.
Overall, the weather is temperate. There is a brief rainy season in the spring, but the showers tend to be very short and are often over in five minutes or less – so you can get right back to the sun and fun!
You will notice that there are many, many more Thai tourists in Hua Hin than in the other national beach resorts. While westerners do come to Hua Hin, there are far fewer of them here than in Phuket or any of the other beach towns.
This leads to a certain charm, because Hua Hin has yet to be completely corrupted by tourists - and you can feel like you are having a very authentic Thailand vacation experience!
So, next time you are in Thailand, hop on the train and check out the beautiful beaches, waterfalls and temples of Hua Hin. Consider it a royal experience!
You'll be glad you did!
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Michael Allen is an expat who lives abroad and loves travel and adventure. For all the current information on traveling to Thailand and visa and immigration to this country, go to: http://www.thailandvisa.com
Hua Hin beach & life
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Is White Sand beach in Koh Chang nice?
Hello, i wanted to know if the beach in koh chang is nice because me and my parents are planing going there but we want to be sure that the beach is nice and clean, so for you people who has been to white sand beach in koh chang, thailand, do you think the beach is clean? is it clean so you can see the sand through the water? thank you in advance?!!!
Ko Kood , beach views from a speedboat
Approaching with the speedboat att another beach of Ko Kood island, eastern Thailand. The "theme" as with everywhere in Ko Kood is the same: Sea, sand and traditional bungalow/beach huts ,only a few yards from the water
Title: Nightlife at Patong Beach, the Place That Never Sleeps
Phuket is an island surrounded by an ocean, which is located southern of Thailand and resides in Andaman. By its natural geographic, the spot is perfect for tourism industry. The island has been made a destination point and opened for tourism business since early 1980. Various hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops are striking for overwhelming number of customers. Although many sites have been constructed to support the tourism industry projects, its original convention and geographic are left undisturbed. However, for more on a conservative tourism, beaches on the north and southern part are recommended.
Travelers may try transportation by land. It is 886 kilometers distant away from Bangkok to Phuket province. The most reliable buses can be booked at the Southern Bus Terminal (Sai Tai Mai). At Phuket bus terminal, travelers can find themselves to the next destination via motorcycle taxi, tuk-tuk, meter-taxi, or bus. Price varies from 10 – 100 baht, according to the vehicle and negotiation. Most local bus to one of the main beaches usually charges lesser.
Patong beach locates 15 kilometers away from Phuket Town, resides between Karon and Kalim beaches. Patong is the party capital of Phuket mostly made up with hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, banks and accommodations. Aside from nightclubs, the major highlight of this coast is shopping. Patong also offers cosmopolitan of eating array, including Arabic, French, German, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Scandinavian and pretty much any countries that send tourists here. However, the prices can be inflated so it is recommended to seek aids from local to bargain price or ask your way around.
There are ways to get around in Patong, however the place is also covered on foot. The minivan (songthaew which is bright red minibus style) charges as much as 20 baht from downtown to Patong and vice versa. The trip should take around 45 minutes. Tuk-Tuk or the three-wheeled minivans have no meters on them so the price should be agreed beforehand and do not forget to bargain hard. A short hop shouldn’t take more than 100 baht per trip.
There are lots of things to do during you stay. At daylight, business is opened for jet-skiing, parasailing, scuba diving and many other watersports. It is also nice to pay to see the world famous ladyboy show at cabaret show or see for free at Bang La road. For boxing fans, you can take Muay Thai kickboxing for 2 hours at 300 baht. After practicing you may want to check out the real boxing at Bangla Stadium. There are even Thai language schools around to for those who are curious pick up few words. At night, Bang La road is flooded with mixtures of pubs, beer bars, disco clubs, and go-go bars. The place can be jammed with human traffic but it is also nice to sit back and relax with good music. Although there is a heavy nightlife at Thanon Bang La, the place is still suitable for spending with your family since Bang La is just a small portion within Patong and is in fact easy to avoid.
Finding Patong beach hotels is easy since the beach is the famous capital of the island. Price for staying at Patong hotels is affordable for an average backpacker to money spenders.
Cabbana Beach
Here is a video of Cabbana Beach near Chumphon (Chumporn) in the South of Thailand. It's a quiet and pleasant place to relax and enjoy the sunshine. The sand is fine, clear and clean(ish). Just wear your sandals and you won't step on metel bottle tops.
Asias Premier Beach Resort
Pattaya is 147 kilometres southeast of Bangkok, and faces the Thai Gulf. It is Asia's premier beach resort, and caters with equal appeal to families, couples and single visitors. One of the largest centres of tourism in Thailand, with some 5 million visitors arriving in 2004. Tourists visit for many reasons including luxury hotels, excellent shopping beautiful beaches, reasonable prices, friendly people. Others come for the world renowned night life and prostitution.
Its long curving beach is one of its attraction, stretching to the south, the hill rises and extends well into the sea. There is a good panoramic view of beautiful Pattaya bay from the hill top temple
All major water sports are on offer from many outlets along the beach. There is windsurfing, jet and water-skiing, scuba diving readily available. You can also charter deep sea fishing from one of several places near the pier. There are three bowling centres, go karts, bungee jumping, several golf courses, and even an International Formula 3 Racing circuit.
For the shoppers, there is fashionable boutiques and shops of ready made garments, handicrafts, silk, paintings, gemstones, jewellery and trinkets which are centred in the main street of Central and South Pattaya.
Muay Thai Thai Boxing matches aimed at the tourists and can be seen at many of the open air beer bar complexes.
Sunni Plaza, The Boyztown, and Jomtien Complex areas are famous for their many cabarets, gay nightclubs, and go-go clubs. Pattaya is known for its cabaret revues featuring kathoeys male to female transsexuals, with Tiffany's and Alcazar being the largest and most elaborate.
The night life caters primarily for the foreigners, some of this is unrelated to prostitution, the central Pattaya Beach Area is known as a destination for sex tourism. The city has hundreds of night-clubs, discotheques, beer bars, go go bars. Virtually all of these are venues for in some form. Most notably, nightclubs and discos are venues for freelancers. There are also several large massage parlors. Since the social order crackdown of 2004, there are very few sex shows. Go go dancers may be seen fully nude, topless or in bikinis on different days or weeks.
The Nongnooch Tropical Garden are a tourist attraction in natural surroundings. Nongnooch Village gardens with flowering plants orchids and orchids, mangoes and other types of flora. There is also a Thai Cultural Centre show casing the art of Thai performing art, martial arts, folk sports, zoo and performances by elephants. Thai style teak wood houses are also available for rent
Douglas Scott writes for The Car Hire Specialist. and is a free lance writer for The Thai Villa Rental Site
Karon Beach and Resorts – Right in Front of Your Fingertips!
Trains, planes and automobiles or even boats
Depending on what kind of person you are, getting to Phuket can be achieved by any of the above. The veteran backpacker would use the coach perhaps, the high-end traveller the plane and the adventurer would surely use the boat. Well when I say adventurer, I mean it in the loose sense of the word.
By Boat
Arriving at Phuket by cruise ship is certainly an option if you are thinking about sailing the high seas. Ships arrive regularly from all over the world. The down-side is, these cruises are hugely expensive. A slightly cheaper alternative though, might be to travel to Phuket via the Malacca Straits or Singapore.
By Road
The island of Phuket is actually 885km south of the City of Angels, and is connected to the mainland by a 1200meter causeway. If you donât mind a fourteen hour journey, then bus is the way for you, they run daily from the Southern Bus Terminal in Bangkok. The good thing about the bus is that itâs reasonably priced, comfortable and cold! Beach life awaits but with this trip comes a complimentary high power cold air-condition unit above your head, so bring warm clothes for this journey. Apart from the length of the journey, the bus could be compared to an airline. They have cabin attendants bringing drinks and snacks, thereâs even an in-trip movie. The trip itself is an overnighter and you arrive at Phuket early the next morning.
By Rail
Another way of getting to Phuket overland from Bangkok is the direct train route that is available. Again, itâs an overnight journey but it can be somewhat more comfortable than the bus. Sleeping births allow you to get a good nightâs sleep but before going, a welcome nightcap in the buffet car at the end of train wonât go amiss. The train leaves from Hua Lumphong Station in Bangkok and then on to Surat Thani where you need to take a bus to complete the rest of your journey. Be prepared to rise early on the day you arrive at Surat Thani, Thais get up very early on most days so donât expect a lie in.
Flying by Air To Phuket, Karon
Finally planes. Easily the most comfortable and quickest way to get to the island. The international airport at Phuket receives flights from all over the world as well as domestic flights from other cities including Bangkok. If you are on a time budget or you just simply yearn comfort, then the plane is the way to go.
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Arriving and leaving
Now that you have arrived, itâs time to shake off travel fatigue and hit those beautiful palm fringed beaches and golden or white sands that stretch for miles. Resort destinations like Karon offer the sight of tiny palm coves and bays that inundate the coastline. This is where some of the most gorgeous and luxurious hotel resorts blend in with the natural beauty of Thailand. Horizon Karon Beach Resort and Spa located at the southern end of the beach and just a stoneâs throw away from the famed Kata beach boast excellent service and wonderful views.  The resort itself is set on some 16000sqm of land surrounded by a rain forest of lush vegetation. It is slightly set back from the main drag and offers a haven of peace and tranquillity and yet not so far from Karonâs entertainment and shopping districts. A complimentary bus service to Patong beach is also available. Other activities you might find yourself interested in around the Karon beach area are the extensive choice of marine activities such as diving and snorkelling. Honeymooners who stay more than four nights at the resort can enjoy extra service at the Karon Beach Resort Hotels where they will receive complimentary honeymoon gifts on arrival. Why would anyone want to leave.
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Enjoy a dream holiday in the Pearl of the Andaman, Phuket at the 5 star Horizon Karon Beach Resort a beautiful Karon Resort in Phuket, Thailand.
Whats the most luxurious beach hotel in Dubai?
Am thinking maybe its cheaper than Hawaii or Thailand for a honeymoon as Alcohol is not really needed..
from your own experiences, which are your favourite hotels in dubai?
no dont like it.. was thinking more like sandals in dubai...?
btw i know theres no sandals in dubai 