parking

[whittler]

Hi guys, for the most part, I have read that a farang should not drive in LOS. If driving is safer in Cha Am, is there a place to park in Hua Hin,
and use local transportation ?

whittler

[lomuamart]

Unfortunately, parking is a nightmare in central HH. Having said that, you can park in the grounds of the main temple which is right in the centre of town. Can't remember what it costs - maybe 20/30 Baht? If you use it, remember to check closing time - 10pm? They lock the gates after that.
Alternatively, if you're coming from Cha Am, you could park easily a few kilometers north of central HH and hail a songthaew which come by on the main road every 15 minutes or so. Only costs 10 Baht to get to the night market. However, they stop after about 6pm.

[whittler]

Thanks, lomuamart, for the info. I take it traffic is not too bad Cha Am to Hua Hin .

whittler

[Randy Cornhole]

Its not too bad as long as you can handle trucks bearing down on you at 120kms per hour and mini buses tailgating you, cars undertaking and overtaking only to turn left at a moments notice.
The point I am making is that you must really have your wits about you at all times...

[T.I.G.R.]

Don't let 'em kid you Whittler.....if you can grow a couple of eyes in the back of your head you'll be fine.

Seriously, defensive driving isn't just a good idea here, it's mandatory.

I drove our new Ford Escape from the far side of Bangkok to Hua Hin after I'd been in LOS seven days.........damned near didn't make it to eight.

After you adjust yourself to driving on the other side of the road, and the hardest part for me was getting acclimated to what I was seeing in the rear view mirror, you just have to be very aware of what's going on all around you.

There are many more motorcycles here than you're used to and there are no rules, so you have to be ready for people to be coming at you from every direction, not just the ones you're used to. They drive on the wrong side of the road, cut in front of you, pass you on both sides, and seemingly are determined to kill themselves with you as the weapon.

Vehicles are considerably easier to deal with......for some reason the Thai adage of being "cool hearted" applies in reverse to Thai driving. Maybe someone told them the right lane is for going as fast as you can, it's hard to tell. Generally, especially for the time it takes you to adjust, stay away from the fast lane or grow those eyes in the back of your head. Thais don't like to wait for you to get out of their way so they are very adept at following people an inch or two behind........NO KIDDING.

After a little more than two years I haven't nearly killed anyone for a couple of weeks now......I have, however, continued to curse mightily nearly every time I get behind the wheel......I never did have a cool heart.

I'm sure my "fellow Americans" and I will enjoy the addition of your company when you finally get here.

BTW, the drive from Cha Am to Hua Hin takes twenty to twenty five minutes and because most of it is outside the city proper, it's pretty relaxing. Hua Hin proper is pretty congested, and there is little parking available. The tip from Louamart about parking in the Temple is a very good one. We used it almost every day before moving to Cha Am. The fee is 20 baht and it's open until 10.

See you soon?

[clive]

Couple of tips you might find useful, number 1 treat motorbikes as skittles! firstly they will usually jump off when you toot your horn and then when they do see you they will crash into someone else instead. They will not know you are there, because if they take off the mirrors they can do another 1 km per hour. When turning left take no notice of them, after all they are taking no notice of you or your signals. If they are coming straight at you on the wrong side of the road just bear left a little bit, they will either find a gap where they can jump off or if there is a ditch, preferably with water in it they seem to enjoy going for a swim. Also the insurance companies refuse to pay out to any motorcyclist who has either no licence, no tax or cmi or as is usual none of them. Number 2 treat all Thai car drivers and most of the farangh drivers as if they are murderers, they will either kill you with a mixture of excessive speed and no brains or they will bore you to death whilst they wait for a 1 km gap to pull out at a junction. Car drivers seem to think that mirrors are for checking your zits and they are so used to having 90% tint on the glass that they still think that they cannot see out of the windows so they do not bother. Just remember that most of them cannot read which is why they are coming at you the wrong way down a one way street, or turning right where it says you cannot. If the want to turn at a junction they start the manouvre as they finish the last manouvre, so when they get to the junction they are conveniently placed on the wrong side of the road so that you have a head on coming round the corner. Toyota Fortuners are the Thais delight, built for bullying, they are expert with them. When behind you they have to get on your bumper so that they can see your speedo and travel at exactly the same speed as you, just rest your left foot on the brake pedal that will bring on the stop lights, thats them gone, or try washing your windscreen, 50% of the water will hit there screen and as soon as they think it is raining they all go down to 10kmh and put their hazards on. When they are coming the other way, unless they were in the tank division they just freeze and clench their cheeks, your best bet here is to turn left and go swimming in your new 1.2 m baht car! Pick up trucks seem to be bought for competition use, there is the see how high you can get the load, the see how heavy you can get the load, how many skinny little builders can you get in one, and lastly see how many dents you can get in one. Faced with profesional pick up drivers your best bet is to emigrate. Minibuses should be renamed kamakaze bus's, after all they are nearly all made in Japan which is where they also seem to teach the drivers. Monument or bust is the motto, use every lane, the hard shoulder and centre reservation is the rule, and all for a couple of thousand baht!! Big bus's creep along causing massive congestion untill they are half full and then race the kamakaze bus's, minimum speed appears to be 120 kmh and have you ever seen a driver in one? you can see the steering wheel, that is about all. Bit difficult these but you could always try getting up beside a truck and then slowing down to the same speed as the truck, no where for the bus to go! By the way have you noticed how all the trucks are now keeping left and to the speed limit? Seems the police have been targeting them for a few months. except of course for tippers and ready mix trucks which I beleive all belong to police officers! Lastly please do not forget that road signs in Thailand are for advise only, similarly lights use electricity and we would not want to waste it on silly things like lights, better to keep it for charging up your mobile, after all being brought up on a honda dream in the rural areas they rarely experience the delights of meeting another vehicle, well not untill it is too late and they have a one way ticket to move in with Budha.

[sandman67]

Clive

as a resident troll I am pretty much out on a limb here.....

let me put it like this you idiot

I ride a bike here in HH....small bikes, big ones, chops and mopeds.

As I also rode in the UK for a long time Im probably one of the few in Thailand that rides with a lid and body protection all the time.

Feel free to try treating me like a skittle. Thing is....knock me down and pray to god I stay down.

Im sure you will feel equally free and easy when, after you knock me off, if I do get up, I pull you out of your tin can and use your head as a football at the end of a steel toecapped motorbike boot. As your head bounces off the grill of your big hard dick extension SUV truck you reconcile yourself that I am a "psycho biker" and therefore a skittle. A second class road user that deserves your ignorance and stupidity.

And dont fool yourself.....Id pit you and the front half of the All Blacks against a single pissed off knocked down English biker with boots, helmet and gloves....I know where Id put my money.

Like I said....make sure I stay down or you just might get a lesson in Newtonian physics.

I write some stuff on here but man......you just way way crossed my line.



Im passing to troll crown to you

congrats....you are now the tw*t in the hat

[whittler]

I want to thank all of you for your input. Is there transportation from

Cha Am, to Hua Hin, and back. If so how much would it cost ?

whittler

[sandman67]

whittler

my mate used to catch the bus...said it cost about 20bht? takes abt 30 mins?

Taxi its a 200bht ride each way from a mate who drives me everywhere....plus a 100bht plus beer for waiting time

a night out is 500 bht both ways, som tam and a few beers

[whittler]

Thanks sandman, I think the bus, or taxi will be my choice.

How late do they run ?

whittler

[crazy88]

As a founder member of the Asulraguy MC I must concur that SM reaction to being knocked off his bike by some clueless moron is fairly standard .I must also point out that Clives' post was quite amusing, well written for 11.30 at night and that he was referring not to sensible bikers but rather to the tossers who drive 6-up feeding babies and talking on their mobiles with a shitzu in the basket sporting a pink hairdo and a silly bow on it's canister .

Crazy 88

[Randy Cornhole]

Whittler, there is plenty of transport from HH to Cha Am (both directions). I personally would not consider it a problem to travel between the two anytime day or night...

[whittler]

Thanks, Randy, I really have no desire to drive. Sorry for all the dumb questions. But now that I am getting close, I hope, I am thinking of
more and more questions that I didn't think of before.

whittler

[Randy Cornhole]

May I suggest you try typing - hua hin afterdark (then your question) into google, you may find it has already been answered...