Hua Hin, sand and sea

Posted under Southeast Asia 2009

Cha Am and Hua Hin, sort of the Mediterranean of Thailand, — in a basic form. Also the home of the present king, Rama 9.. It seems as though the polluted air of Bangkok is not suitable for Royal lungs, so a palace was constructed at Hua Hin for he, his family and the royal entourage. Rama 9 was not the first Thai ruler to determine this, as Rama 6 also had a “summer” palace built in Hua Hin. Sort of the leader of the pack. Now if this area is suitable for the king, it must also be great for the royal “hangers-on”, and thus a summer exodus to Hua Hin for the clear air and sandy beaches. It also has the advantage of only being two and one half hours drive from the outskirts of Bangkok, so the residents, of some means, can scoot down to the shore for long weekends and vacations. This, of course tends to elevate the costs somewhat, but really, that is in Thai standards. All the big name resort hotels have a presence here, mostly scattered along the beach area between Cha Am and Hua Hin. In addition to these monolithic accommodations, they have, once again, shown that almost anything can grow on sand if you give it some water. Thus much of the area in between has been converted to golf courses. In the quest for the almighty tourist dollar, and abundance of smaller boutique-type hotels have also sprouted up in the landscape, with many more in varying stages of construction.

 

It is interesting to watch the construction workers, scurrying about on the bamboo scaffolding, and climbing from floor to floor like so many monkeys, clinging to the fragile structure perched in the shadow of a new development. The safety apparel, worn at this time, might include some type of hat (for the sun), and flip-flops for your feet. Blue jeans and a long sleeved shirt fill out the ensemble. Mikey, if ever you wish to remove your buddy Burt from your butt, you should send him over here. He would be as excited as a new puppy. He would piddle all over his sneakers in his haste to write-up a portfolio of workers infractions. It could keep him busy ‘till long past retirement, and wear out numerous government-issue pens. Just a thought.

 

With all this construction, you don’t immediately notice the strain in the general economy, but when you see the lack of bodies on the beaches, or talk to the tuk-tuk drivers and shopkeepers, you are aware of the decreased number of tourists this year. One wonders what will take place when all these new facilities are completed, and they all compete for fewer dollars. Bargains could be had. In the meantime we continue to do our best to sustain the local economy.

 

Hua Hin seems to be in a state of transition, sharing the modern new construction with the traditional standards such as the day market, (mostly produce, fly infested fish, and chunks of butchered animals of varying descriptions) and the night markets, with all the “brand-name” same, same items found at every night market in Thailand. Gives you a great feeling of accomplishment when you can “haggle” a vendor down to two hundred baht for a pair of new Bermuda shorts. This amounts to about $6.50, and the last 50 baht that you battled over was really a buck and a half — likely most of the profit in the sale. One tends to forget that the big denomination bills really don’t amount to much in the conversion.

 

The night markets also have a lot of craft items, such as carvings, paintings and other hand crafted items. The last market we were at had a lady, well a woman, (as her personal life style is her own choice), who would print a persons name on a grain of rice and then install it in a bracelet or necklace. Now even with my glasses I could scarcely see the itty-bitty letters, but there they were, all neat as can be. She was probably training for a position making telephone directories. I could certainly say that this would be no undertaking for the morning-after shakies.

 

On Sunday we will take a taxi back to Bangkok, and catch our flight on to Siem Reep, in Cambodia. A three-hour taxi ride seems somewhat extravagant, but by the time you do the taxi thing at both ends, and a train ride in between, there is not much difference. Only works out to about $60. bucks any way. Like going from the airport to Victoria, or there about. Only doing the Angkor Wat thing in Cambodia, an archeological temple complex, which, I believe, was erected for the Hindu god Vishnu. We’ll find out in good time., then on to Vietnam. Will keep you posted.

 

T