Last week I had a chance to revisit Hua Hin again after many years of absent. Hua Hin used to be a small fishing village in the southern part of Thailand, two and a half hours from Bangkok, now is a resort town full of high-rise condominiums and super luxury resort hotels. I used to describe Hua Hin as a quality resort town until the Super Malls and Beer Bars started to creep in and then I stopped going.
I guess the cross line between mistake and success is so thin. For the investors in many resort towns and cities in Thailand, it is a huge success, but for me it’s another sad story that keep repeating itself again and again. But you could say, which side of the coin I am looking at, right?
However, hidden amongst high rises and billboards announcing new property developments lie 2 very charming venues.
First, is Cicada Market situated toward the south side, on the way to Khoa Takeab.
Cicada market in Hua Hin
Hand-made T shirts
It’s a park-like-open-space offering variety of venue and activities within one place. Ranging from playhouse, art gallery, free stage, open air café, a proper restaurant, small boutiques and gift shops plus every Friday to Sunday street market that offers handicraft and artifacts and funky one-off designed items.
Art Space
Second place that impressed me was Hua Hin Animal Rescue Center. Initialized by the Majesty the King, its objective is to rescue, hospitalize and look after the wild street dogs in Hua Hin area.
Although the place is not completed yet, but I could imagine this place can end up to be the first open air Dog Zoo in the world, where you can do more than just looking at the dogs running freely insides those open air cages in a natural environment but if you are kind and keen, you can offer them new homes as well.
If Hua Hin is a brand, what visuals pop up in your head that captured the true essence of Hua Hin?
For me, certainly not high-rises and condo, but the visual of classical Thai style wooden sala at Hua Hin train station, follow with the colonial wooden houses along the beach front and Chat Chai Market with local produces and the best sticky rice and mango.
Why do we have to sacrifice these charming uniqueness for the better off of Hua Hin? Can’t we have both, just like the islands in Greece, small villages in Scotland or small towns in the cote d’azur along the southern coast of French Riviera where millions of tourists are still yearning for to experience their unique characteristics and at the same time, the land prices continue to rise just the same. Ummmmm
