V&T Daily
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royal retreat
Published in the January-March 2010 issue.
Nicola Corthay heads south from Bangkok for a seaside getaway to Hua Hin, Thailand’s oldest and most elegant beach resort.
It all began with fish, trains and royalty. The fish came first, hauled in from the warm seas of the Gulf of Thailand by villagers who’d lived for centuries on the edge of a sun-kissed beach, and who built rickety wooden jetties out over the sparkling ocean, the better to haul in their catch. Eventually, in the 1920s, a railway line meandered past this little village on its way south to Malaysia. A charming, miniature train station appeared under the coconut palms, with a tiled platform, pointy Thai roofs and a diminutive red-and-white waiting room: a little temple to progress.
Suddenly, 230 kilometres or so south-west of Bangkok didn’t seem so far, and the whispering breezes of the shoreline beckoned. The affluent began building villas behind the beach, and the colonial-style Railway Hotel, constructed in 1923, was soon the place to stay. In 1926, King Rama VII built a palace at the northern end of Hua Hin’s beach and rather splendidly called it Klai Klangwon, or ‘Far from Worries’ Palace. Other royals followed. The current king spends much of his time in Hua Hin, which explains the naval frigates lurking off the coast. The public can visit Marukhathaiyawan (‘Love and Hope’) Palace, outside town, a summer residence built of teak, with pavilions facing the sea.
Where royals set a trend, plebeians will follow. These days, Bangkok residents and expats alike flock to Hua Hin to escape the big smoke. The beach is lined with resorts that have turned ‘Far from Worries’ into a series of luxury spas, shady villas and lazy afternoons that involve little more than shuffling from swimming pool to cocktail. Golf courses, a lively nightlife and excellent seafood restaurants also lure visitors. If you really want a taste of the Hua Hin that existed in the 1920s, you’ll have to move farther down the coast to sleepy Pak Nam Pran.
Whether for fishermen or visiting kings, Hua Hin has always been about the beach. Nothing has changed: the beach is undoubtedly the focus of activity here, from watersports to horse-riding: you can rent a horse for just a few dollars an hour and canter along the full 5.5-kilometre stretch of sand. The beach starts in the north at a Chinese temple, and it’s near here you’ll find the old neighbourhood and fishing jetties that were once the sole focus of enterprise in Hua Hin. If you get up early enough, you can see the morning catch being unloaded and placed in ice, for distribution around the country – or perhaps simply to the numerous seafood restaurants nearby.
Head south and you’ll find that the beach is relatively quiet, despite being lined with resorts and condominiums. This is because there is no beach road or vehicle access, and jet skis and motorboats tend to be frowned upon, meaning you can listen to the waves upon the shore – or perhaps the flap of towels from adjoining resort pools. The best sands on the whole stretch are around the original Railway Hotel (now the Sofitel Central Hua Hin) and run south. The beach ends in a monkey-haunted peninsula that juts into the sea. Crowds are thinner here: there’s nothing much but a few fish stalls, at which you can sit with your toes in the sand and have a scallop-and-green-mango salad sprinkled with lime juice, green chilli and fresh herbs.
Beyond the beach and resorts, Hua Hin is a rather haphazard labyrinth of alleyways best explored on foot. Here, cheap guesthouses, backpacker joints, bars and restaurants jostle for street frontage, and beer-drinking, flirtation and seafood are the order of the day. The alleys around the Hilton are particularly jammed with beer venues, but if you want a quality drop, the Hua Hin Brewing Company inside the Hilton itself may be your best bet. This is a microbrewery specialising in many a fine drop, such as Elephant Tusk dark ale and Dancing Monkey lager. Otherwise, you can wander alleys full of sometime eccentric bars, where you may well find yourself dancing like a monkey before the evening is done.
Among the best evening pastimes is dining on seafood in one of Hua Hin’s seemingly infinite number of seafood restaurants. The village started with fish and, it seems, is still obsessed with it. The good news is that, with fresh catches being hauled from the ocean daily, Hua Hin’s eateries serve up some of the best seafood you’ll find anywhere in South-East Asia. At the basic level, you can enjoy your nibbles at the fish jetties or the night market along Soi 72 off Thanon Dechanuchit. Here you can fill up on the likes of baby clams in chilli sauce, sizzling hotplates of prawns and squid, and fish in red curry sauce.
Chao Lay is perhaps the best-known of Hua Hin’s restaurants, so expect it to be packed. Still, it deserves its reputation: the blue crab and rock lobster are delicious, or try the mixed seafood platter if you can’t quite choose. For elegant French fare, again with an emphasis on seafood, try Brasserie de Paris, which sits out over the water: here, guests nibble on coquilles St Jacques and Hua Hin crab as they watch the sunset. Other upmarket eateries serve Thai dance, cabaret or music with their food and, though touristy, make for a very pleasant evening. Among the best are Sasi Garden Theatre and Tarachan Restaurant.
The night market isn’t just a good place for cheap eats: it is terrific for shopping, too, with plenty of stalls selling cheap accessories, batik, handicrafts and clothes. More refined shops are clustered around Night Plaza, nearby and, as Hua Hin is a favoured resort of Bangkok’s well-heeled, you’ll find plenty of big-name boutiques in the resorts as well, plus a few antique shops selling interesting old opium pipes and furnishings. Leather goods such as belts and jackets are a reasonable buy; the local leather isn’t as soft or as fine as European leather but it will certainly look good and will save you a packet. If you’re into serious Thai silk, make the effort to get to Rashnee Thai Silk Village, north of the town centre. You can get a free guided tour that will explain the silk-making process if you want, or just browse the various workshops and have some splendid silk attire made to measure.
Where the leisured classes go, golf is sure to follow. The game that originated on the chilly, windswept coast of Scotland has transplanted itself rather well onto the sultry, rainforest-backed shores of Hua Hin. The Royal Hua Hin is the country’s oldest international-standard golf course, having been founded back in 1924, and is notable for the whimsical topiary hedges along its fairways, which give you the feeling you’re Alice in Wonderland as you make your way around its 18 holes. There are another five golf courses near town. Many reckon the best is Springfield Royal Country Club, where a course designed by Jack Nicklaus meanders through a scenic valley.
Talking of scenery, take the opportunity to head out of town and explore this corner of Thailand. A popular day trip heads to Pala-u Falls through pineapple plantations and across lush hillsides: though the waterfalls themselves may disappoint those expecting high drama, you’re surrounded by countryside filled with flitting butterflies and monitor lizards, and some of the pools in the series of waterfalls are filled with fish. You can also do nature treks in nearby Ban Huay Sat Yai to see wild elephants.
Some 60 kilometres to the south of Hua Hin, Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park is a small coastal national park, notable for its secluded beaches and the limestone crags that rise dramatically from the sea and forest. It also has an extraordinary cave system filled with the usual stalactites and stalagmites, but unusual in that many of the cave roofs have collapsed, leaving sunlight to filter through and lianas to grow like a scene out of Tomb Raider. Birdwatchers may be more interested in the national park’s mudflats, which are a breeding ground for migrating birds from as far afield as northern Europe and Siberia. Take a hike through the park and you might also encounter barking deer, squirrels, lizards and crab-eating macaques. Even the monkeys, it seems, are into seafood hereabouts. •
Photography courtesy Tourism Authority of Thailand.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
getting around
- Creative Holidays, phone 1300 747 400 or visit www.creativeholidays.com.au
- Essence of Asia, phone 1300 365 355 or visit www.essenceofasia.com.au
- Explore Holidays, phone 02 9423 8080 or visit www.exploreholidays.com.au
- Freestyle Holidays, phone 1300 799 197 or visit www.freestyleholidays.com.au
- Infinity Holidays, phone 13 3133 or visit www3.flightcentre.com.au
- Intrepid Travel, phone 1300 364 512 or visit www.intrepidtravel.com
- Jetstar Holidays, phone 13 1538 or visit www.jetstar.com.au/holidays
- Qantas Holidays, phone 13 1415 or visit www.qantas.com.au/holidays
- Royal Orchid Holidays, phone 1300 369 750 or visit www.thaiairways.com.au
- Travel Indochina, phone 1300 138 755 or visit www.travelindochina.com.au
where to stay
where to eat
- Tarachan Restaurant, 67/2 Thanon Dechanuchit, phone +66 32 511 423 or visit www.tarachan-huahin.com
- Sasi Garden Theatre, 83/159 Nhongkae, phone +66 32 512488 or visit www.sasi-restaurant.com
- Brasserie de Paris, 3 Thanon Naresdamri, phone + 66 8 1826 6814 or visit brasseriedeparishuahin.com
- Chao Lay, 15 Thanon Naresdamri, phone +66 32 513 436.
- Hua Hin Brewing Company, 33 Thanon Naresdamri, phone +66 32 538 999 or visit www.hilton.com
further information
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