Hua Hin and the neighbouring town of Cha-am are best described as small sleepy seaside resort towns. They are to Bangkok what Brighton is to London or the Hamptons are to New York. Initially for the rich and famous, the area flourished with the expansion of the railways giving access to the masses. Being only 2 to 3 hours drive down the Gulf of Thailand, the towns offer a close retreat of sharp contrast to the hustle of Thailand's capital and as such their personalities change as the hordes arrive at weekends with many hotels being full. Hua Hin has the added credibility of being the favoured resort of the Thai royal family; indeed the current king spends much of his time in residence there.
The skyline of the coast has been somewhat blighted by the indiscriminate building of high-rise condominiums in the building boom of the early 1990s. Predominant between Cha-am and Hua Hin, these holiday homes for the city folk are complete eyesores on what could be an attractive coastline. The subsequent Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s has led many to become run down and quite unattractive.
The skyline of the coast has been somewhat blighted by the indiscriminate building of high-rise condominiums in the building boom of the early 1990s. Predominant between Cha-am and Hua Hin, these holiday homes for the city folk are complete eyesores on what could be an attractive coastline. The subsequent Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s has led many to become run down and quite unattractive.
More recently the area has opened up beyond the local market to an evolving international audience. Favoured by cheap package tours, especially from Europe and in particular Scandinavia, it is not uncommon to see coach loads pouring into hotels to escape the European winter. Cha-am is aimed particularly at the cheap end of the market whilst Hua Hin, with a wider range of hotels and spas, caters for all markets. Increasingly more sophisticated independent travellers are also seeing Hua Hin as an acceptable escape especially during the peak seasons of Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter - to cater for this market international chains are opening up new top end quality resorts.
