Freshwater Lakes

Course anglers in Hua Hin have never had it so good. Numerous lakes are stocked with both native and non native species including Giant Mekong Catfish, Siamese Carp, Alligator Gar and Black Pacu. There are also a number of lakes in the surrounding area including Cha-Am fishing park, about 30 kilometers north of Hua Hin.

Hua Hin fishing Lodge offers great fishing for specimen hunters. Situated just outside of town in beautiful surroundings, they offer hourly or daily rates, and accommodation can be booked online via their website.

Another lake just outside of Hua Hin is Greenfield Valley Fishing Resort. This is a lovely spot with some top class fishing available. Equipment and bait are included in the day ticket price, or you can rent a bungalow or cottage and stay for a few days. Reserve your swim via their website here.

Beach Fishing

Beach fishing in Hua Hin is not so popular with the pickings off Hua Hin main beach rather slim. Even much of the local fishing fleet has moved south to Pak Nam Pran and Prachuap Khirikhan, but some locals still fish off of the pier and enjoy limited success.

If you have transport it may be worth driving a little to the north or south to find better catch opportunities. There are some stunning spots not too far from town! Pack a cooler box with food and a few drinks and you can’t go wrong. Many companies in town offer car hire if you don’t have your own vehicle.

Sea Fishing Trips

In the past it was necessary to negotiate with local fishermen to be taken out into open water, but in recent years a number of fishing tour companies have started up, taking out groups for a day’s fishing with meals and drinks offered , tackle supplied, and pickups from wherever you are based.  These companies often use local travel agents who will make all of the arrangements for you. Rates are very reasonable and local knowledge ensures a good day’s fishing.  Remember, prices in Thailand are often negotiable so you could save some money by waiting until you are actually here before booking your excursion.

Fishing Tackle and Bait

Hua Hin has two specialist fishing tackle shops with a great selection of course and sea fishing tackle for independent anglers. Cheap starter rods and reels can also be picked up from Tesco Lotus and a few smaller shops in town.

Lake & Sea – Hua Hin Soi 87, Petchakasem Road, Hua Hin

Pon Monimit Fishing Tackle – Hua Hin Soi 55, Petchakasem Road, Hua Hin

It is a popular destination with foreign tourists, especially those with families, or those looking for a more peaceful experience than is offered by other well known cities such as Pattaya and Bangkok. Hua Hin is also home to a growing community of expat workers and retirees, attracted by its beautiful location, modern infrastructure, huge selection of real estate opportunities and the visitor friendly attitude of its native community.

The climate in this part of Thailand is tropical, but Hua Hin is often much cooler and more pleasant than other parts of Thailand due to the wonderful cooling breezes blowing inland from the Gulf of Thailand. The cool season between November and February is the most pleasant time of year, while the wet season, generally between May and October (October is usually the wettest month) experiences short, heavy outbursts of rain followed by hot sunshine. Average daily high temperatures are between 29°C and 33°C, depending on the time of year. Again, the cooling sea breezes make for very pleasant evenings under the stars with comfortable temperatures.

Hua Hin is very well served by both public and private transportation. You can get here from Bangkok by bus, taxi or minivan, or you can even take the train directly to Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong station. If you plan to travel further south of Hua Hin, transportation is easily booked when you are actually on the ground in Thailand. There is no need to book ahead except during one of the Thai public holidays when residents of Bangkok will often flock to the coast to escape the noise and pollution of the bustling capital. If you plan to live here, Thai driver’s licenses are easily obtained and cars and motorcycles easily purchased. I will explain this process in a future article.

Hua Hin is itself a fairly new town. Although named in 1834, and frequented by the upper echelons of Thai society, the town only became popular as a tourist destination after the opening in the early 20^th century of the state southern railway allowed more people to visit for short holidays.

Hua Hin is home to many beautiful and interesting historic buildings. The old Railway hotel (now the Sofitel) was featured in the film ‘The Killing Fields’, and there are many stunning Buddhist temples to visit, including Wat Huay Mongkol, which is situated 10 km to the west of Hua Hin.

There are also many incredible areas of natural beauty that can be easily reached from Hua Hin. Kaeng Krachan national park, situated in nearby Phetchaburi Province is at 2,915 square kilometers Thailand’s largest national park, and is just 60 kilometers to the west of Hua Hin. Well worth a day trip or you can rent a bungalow for a few days, or even hire a guide and trek through the forest, camping overnight.

If you’re a sporty type, Hua Hin is also a great place to live or visit. Golfers are spoilt for choice with world class courses in the district. Anglers, wake boarding enthusiasts and kite surfers are also well catered for.

Shopaholics are very well served in Hua Hin.  As well as two floating markets, there are many outlets offering locally made products and international brand names. European and American foods can be purchased at Tesco Lotus or Villa supermarkets.

The nightlife in Hua Hin caters for every taste. Although quieter than many Thai tourist destinations, there are hundreds of excellent restaurants in the district serving both Thai and foreign food. The freshly caught and landed seafood available in this coastal town is a great attraction for seafood lovers. There are also plenty of bars providing live music 365 days a year, and some very lively discotheques where you can party the night away with the friendly, welcoming locals.

All told, Hua Hin is a wonderful place to visit or live. If none of the above activities interest you, how about learning to cook Thai food? Courses are offered by numerous establishments in town, or you could even take a crash course in Thai language. The proud locals will be genuinely impressed if you make the attempt to learn their language and a few language schools offer very reasonably priced short or long term Thai courses.

Accommodation in Hua Hin need not be a problem. As well as the many guest houses and hotels in and around the town, long term rentals are also available in every price range. For those that wish to make Hua Hin their home, properties are also available to purchase at amazing prices compared to the western world. A small condo overlooking the beach can be bought for as little as 1 million Baht! More palatial properties can also be purchased in the hills around Hua Hin or on one of the golf course complexes in the district.

If this general overview of our wonderful town has you interested in coming to visit or live here, please read on as I will be going into more depth about the attractions, amenities and way of life here in Hua Hin.

Ibis hotels are modern but simple and rooms start at 1080 THB per night.

Situated at the entrance to the ever more popular Koh Takiab, just 5 minutes drive from central Hua Hin and a 5 minute walk to the fabulous beaches nearby, offering a perfect seaside get away.

Guest rooms are contemporary design, fully equipped with LCD televisions, Wi Fi Internet access, 24 hour a day room service and high quality and well priced International food being served at the signature “Taste” restaurant, with breakfast being served from 4am until midday.

The hotel also offers 2 meeting rooms for over 100 seated delagates.

Mr Nikolay Stoyanov has been appointed as General Manager, with extensive knowledge in the hotel chains operations having previously worked as chief of operations at Ibis Hotel Pattaya.

For more information and for bookings please find a link to their website here: http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-7276-ibis-hua-hin/index.shtml

Makro is a member based organisation, providing discounted goods to small and medium sized businesses as well as the general public.

Although mainly providing food and drink at wholesale prices, they also provide consumer and electronic goods as well as other heavily discounted products.

The new store in Hua Hin can be found just past the Hua Hin Hospital on the left as if you are driving towards Cha Am.

Lifetime fractional ownership in your own luxury villa located in the Black Lotus Resort – Hua Hin. Enjoy a 6 Star experience with your ownership of a fully furnished luxury pool villa.

• Example Pricing: 2 Bedroom Pool Villa 
• Buy 2 yearly weeks of lifetime ownership in April, May or June for the price of: 517,530.12 THB.
• Finance available with a deposit of 51,689.23 THB and 36 instalments of 12,902.21 THB

The Black Lotus resort includes: Clubhouse, Minimart, Spa & massage facilities, Salon, A la Carte Restaurant, Swimming Pools, Pool Bar, Tennis Courts and 10,000 m2 of tropical gardens and lakes.

Located in Soi 112, 2 kilometres before the Banyan Golf Course.

Included in the offer is 3 days maid service per 7 days, pool cleaning service, gardening service, 24 hour security, full insurance cover, electricity and water (no surcharge), internet and Wi Fi plus 4 free shuttle bus services every day to central Hua Hin. A weekly maintenance fee is approximately 130 Euros.

Please contact us at mail@thailand-property.biz  or on +66904059016 for further details and more accurate pricing.

Brand new leisure facilities have just been opened at the world class Black Mountain golfing complex in the shape of a water park and wake boarding park.

These new facilities adding a new dimension to Black Mountains already enviable status after being named back in November last year as Thailand’s best golf course and top championship course in the Asia/Pacific region.

The Black Mountain Complex is just a short 9 kilometre drive from central Hua Hin, situated in beautiful surroundings amongst sweeping hills and mountains.

The Water Park

Black Mountain Water Park has a capacity for over 1000 people and is situated on 55,000 square metres of land. It is deemed to be one of the safest and most up to date facilities in South East Asia.

The main focal point of the park is a 17 metre high tower with 9 water slides from beginner slides to slides for the more daring adrenaline junky type ! The slides run into a series of pools and the “Lazy River” that flows around the park and there are hundreds of inflatable’s for people to sit on and float around the river with.

Other features include a beach pool with an infinity edge that overlooks the mountains towards Burma and a great view of the Wakeboarding Park as well as a big pool with a great wave machine which proved very popular amongst the youngsters on our recent visit to the park.

Amenities also include locker and shower rooms, toilets, ice cream stalls, a restaurant and pool bar.

A big emphasis has been placed upon safety by the Swedish managed park and over 30 highly trained staff working at the park at present have had 1 month’s intensive training in safety and first aid and lifesaving skills.

Myself, Wife and 11 year old son visited the park for its soft opening launch and it is a great and fun day out in a very safe environment.

Prices for all day entry to the park are:

750 Baht for adults and 375 Baht for children aged between 5 and 12.

The Wake Boarding Park/Facility

A sport that has become massive in Europe and other parts of the world is becoming increasingly popular in Thailand, a cross between snowboarding, skateboarding and water skiing !

There is only 6 wakeboarding parks in Thailand, the park is basically a huge man made lake covering about 500 Rai of area. There is a cable system that pulls the riders around the lake, one circuit is approximately 1 kilometre and riders are pulled at about 30 kilometres and hour, features include jumps and sliders giving riders a chance to improve their skills and for experienced riders to show off the repertoire.

Prices for the Wake Board Park are 400 Baht for 2 hours, 750 Baht for 4 hours or 1000 Baht for the whole day.

As well as offering Championship golfing facilities Black Mountain is now becoming a complete destination for families, including tennis courts, a new par 3 golf course and a top class restaurant as well as these 2 new leisure facilities.

The Sixth development for Hua Hin Property Developers, Orchid Palm Homes has recently started construction with 17 of the 21 properties having been pre-sold. This new development is named (Orchid Palm Residence)

The companies 5^th project having sold out in just 3 months is due for completion in July of this year (2012)

Managing Director of Orchid Palm Homes – Stephen Ayling believes that in this current economic crisis the high level of sales are down to the high quality of construction and high end finishing within his developments.

We work with our customers and their wishes throughout all stages of the building process allowing them to move into a totally bespoke property built specifically for their individual needs.

Graham Beecham, Sales and Marketing Manager at Orchid Palm Homes say’s “Customer care and safety is paramount to our high levels of success”

He Says “Its no longer just about selling a good property, you have to put in place securities and give the customer confidence to purchase”

Within the Orchid Palm Residence development new design features have been incorporated, including lowering roofs on the homes in order to avoid obstructing views of the development and the company have plans to introduce new energy saving packages within the coming months. The package includes details on the latest energy saving features such as Thermo siphon hot water systems, 3-speed inverter pool pump with energy saving controller, LED lighting and air condition heat converters for hot water systems.

“We are always planning for the future and looking at how we can improve on our properties and what we have done before in order to stay one step ahead of our competition” Says Beecham. “We like our competitors to chase us and play catch up rather then the other way around”

Orchid Palm Homes was vetted and approved to become members of AIPP (the Association of International Property Professionals) promoting the highest standards of professionalism in the international property industry.

The company were also shortlisted for “Best residential development in Hua Hin” in the 2011 Thanachart Bank Thailand Property Awards.

Major property developers in Thailand are looking to invest heavily in Condo developments in Hua Hin in 2012 – 2013.

It is projected that around 8000 residential units are set to be developed at a value of around THB 50 Billion (US$1.65 Billion)

These units will mostly be targeted at the domestic market as access to Hua Hin from Bangkok is a very straight forward journey and a massive selling point.

Construction on Baan Ratchaprasong condominium complex named (Energy Hua Hin) is set to begin this year, the project is worth THB 10 Billion (US$330 Million) and when finished will have 5000+ units. Priced in the medium to low range bracket with units starting at 1.7 Million THB to 7 Million THB.

The 8 storey project will consist of 33 separate buildings as well as featuring a Luxury 177 room hotel resort in the same location.

Sansiri Development Company are developing a low rise Condo project named (Chelona) at Koh Tao Beach which is set for completion late next year, comprising of 174 Units.

SC Asset Corporation are set to launch a Condominium project in Hua Hin later this month with a value of an estimated 2 Billion THB (US$66 Million) and also in the latter part of the year will launch Detached home and townhouse projects in the area.

Issara United, a joint venture between Charn Issara and ICC International have recently launched a Condominium project called (Baan Thew Thalay) worth 2 Billion THB (US$66 Million) The second phase of the project will begin later in the year when they have reached 40% sales of the total project value. This will also feature a Community shopping mall, a hotel as well as detached homes and townhouses. The project is worth an estimated 10 Million THB and will take around 5 years for completion.

Land in Hua Hin and particularly Beachfront areas is becoming increasingly limited pushing prices extremely high with prices rising at an average of 15-20 % per annum and Prime beachfront land is now fetching prices of about 50 Million THB (US$1.6 Million) per Rai.

Beachfront land in Cha Am is selling at present at around 30 – 35 Million THB per Rai an increase of about 20% on last years prices.

Over supply within inland areas of the town risk becoming exacerbated by progressive building that is planned over the coming years, but good quality developments can overcome this challenge.

An important niche for developers to try and market their properties too over the coming years would be retirees from Europe and the increasingly aging Thai population, Hua Hin’s mountainous regions only a few kilometres west of the town is a compelling one which includes great beauty and countryside living yet only 15 or 20 minutes drive to the Sea !

The ever increasing growth and expansion of new shopping centres and malls within the district are making Hua Hin ever more popular with visitors and the area of Cha Am risks being left out due to the lack of tourist attractions and a centre within the town.

Condominiums represent the main source of property supply in the Hua Hin, Cha Am and Pranburi areas, the development of Houses and villas only really took off in 2006 after developers started looking at land away from the coast towards the hills to the west of town to target foreign buyers and build affordable second homes for Thai’s. Coastal locations have always been the most sought after but with land prices rising on a monthly basis condominiums become the most feasible option for property hunters in Hua Hin and the surrounding areas.

As land prices started to increase in the coastal areas after the big Asian financial crash in the 1990’s developers started to look elsewhere for suitable land to develop and this encouraged growth within the inland areas on Hua Hin. These areas of growth were either developments in the less attractive low lying areas catering to low income buyers or in the hills often with a sea and Mountain View that were in the higher price brackets and targeted European and American buyers.

Are “Little Sweden’s” a thing of the past ?

It sounded like a recipe for success, develop a housing development on land in the hills above the coast of Hua Hin and set your sights on targeting one nationality, hence little Sweden’s and Germany’s were created which allowed for easy communication through a common language and a feeling of a community and togetherness.

The reality is somewhat different according to Antony Picon, Associate Director of Research at Colliers International Thailand.  “These communities are somewhat isolated and residents’ social lives can often be limited to a small group of people and personality clashes result”, he said

Picon pointed out that within the communities there can be peer pressure to act in the same manner as they do in their own countries.  “People choose to live away from their home country for many reasons and escaping from the confines of their home country is one of them but they end up jumping out of the frying pan into the fire”, he added.

The fact is high net worth individuals tend to prefer multinational developments. Picon believes that such buyers are normally very international in perspective and comfortable in more than one language.  “They are more than happy living with people from different nationalities due to their previous cosmopolitan lifestyle and this enhances their experience of living in such communities”, he pointed out.

With such nationality based projects starting to become very unpopular residents are finding it tough to resell their properties when they decide to move on for whatever reason.

Half finished construction sites representing ghost towns

The image of a luxury villa within the compounds of a luxury development in the hills overlooking the coast might seem a picture of paradise, however this ideal can be put sharply out of focus due to the phasing of the project and the neglect of a properly managed rental system according to Picon.

The first problem, ironically relates to an event that happened in Phuket in 2004, after the tsunami that ravaged the island many developers turned their attention to alternatives, “especially Koh Samui and Hua Hin”, said Picon.  This led to extensive land acquisition and the launch of many new projects including villa developments in the hills.  “However Phuket bounced back, western currencies fell and the worldwide credit crunch emerged ! This collapsed the market and developers were left with a mix of completed and partly constructed units and plenty of unsold land”, Picon said.

The market has picked up and things are now much better but it’s nowhere near to what it was before the global credit crunch and recession. And Picon is concerned with the liveability of some developments, the current market is likely to simmer for some years and so you are likely to see ongoing construction within projects for some time to come.  What this means is that an occupier of a villa will have the vision of his “paradise” home being surrounded by undeveloped land, cement and construction workers for the foreseeable future”, he warned.

Some property developers also put all their focus on sales and construction without paying any attention to setting up and managing good quality rental programmes and this could create big problems in the future Picon warned. The main concern is buyers do not put their properties into rental programmes and only spend a few weeks of the year visiting in many cases, Picon explained, and when many buyers act in the same fashion the development in the quite periods of the year is deserted.

Picon pointed out that for any long term resident or tenant who remains this can become a depressing and un-enjoyable experience. They like to be in a quiet and peaceful environment but not a deserted one and the atmosphere can become eerie and such a ghost town effect will create a vicious circle with the remaining residents packing their bags”, he added.

Picon suggested a properly managed rental programme be introduced from the start and buyers encouraged to put their properties into the programme straight away, also another option is the developer retaining ownership of a certain number of units for rental purposes only, this would make the development much more appealing, long term.

The Scandinavian connection in Hua Hin

The district of Hua Hin is particularly attractive to Scandinavian visitors accounting for nearly 44% of foreign hotel guests in 2010.  Also in terms of residential purchases this group accounts for the biggest market although interestingly Sweden, Norway and Denmark represent a significant buying market but not Finland, despite recording the highest number of visitors out of the four countries.

There are a number of reasons for the connection according to Patima Jeerapaet, Managing Director of Colliers International Thailand.  “Scandinavian travel operators were particularly active in Hua Hin in the 1990’s and the Swedish monarch Carl XVI Gustaf makes regular visits to Hua Hin thus cementing a strong bond between the two countries” he said.

In general Scandinavians tend to be more family orientated but independent minded and also prefer the outdoor lifestyle.  “This is what could lead them to Hua Hin rather than the other more commercial resorts in Thailand” added Patima.

As a result not only are many Scandinavians purchasing property in Hua Hin but also a number of developers hail from the region.  The social security systems in these countries allow for generous retirement provisions and this will mean that many of the retiring baby boomers in Scandinavia will have the capital to buy a second home in order to escape the Arctic winter weather. (Source Colliers International Thailand).