Visiting in March 2014

[Chromeman]

Nice one, hhfarang!


Big Boy, can you check out the picture gallery that is posted on the Hua Hin Balloning website and see if they are from the Hua Hin area?

http:// www. huahinballooning. com/ AboutBallooningPic.html

[Big Boy]

I would guess that those photos could have been taken during the festival that buksida refers to.

I must admit that I am personally very dubious, and would hate to think this might be an Internet scam i.e.:

- There was no feedback when I looked on Trip Advisor.

- The website photos indicate 4 balloons. I'm sure somebody would have spotted one.

- This site gets 3 to 4 thousand views per day - nobody has confirmed a balloon sighting yet. I've definitely not seen one here.

On the plus side, if this set-up is based in Bangkok, Thai labour and fuel costs probably make travelling to you a feasible proposition.

I sincerely hope you have a good flight, and look forward to reading your report.

[Chromeman]

Yes, I am a little bit dubious about them myself due to the lack of customer reviews. So I am not quite willing to send them 19.000 baht quite yet.

They do have a Facebook page that was created November 17. in 2012, https:// www. facebook. com /pages/Hua-Hin-Ballooning/297883030311375
and they have 103 likes. But no responses from any customers. They have posted a picture of a flight with an older, Norwegian couple.

They also gives these contact details: Nongphlab, Ban Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Thailand 77110 +66 83 838 0898

When I try to go to the website for the mother company, Flying Media Co., Ltd., my antivirus program here at work is blocking my access...

Malicious website blocked

http://www. balloonadventurethailand. com/
Rating: Dangerous Verified fraudulent page or threat source

It is starting to look like I can spend that money on something different... Too bad, since a hot air balloon flight would have been a great experience.

[Chromeman]

Looking at the mother company website from my home computer, it looks very professional. They say that they have hot air balloons in operation in Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Khaho-Yai (Kirimaya).

They have a contact form on their site so I am going to ask them a few questions like why no-one of you have heard about them or seen their balloons, and why the TripAdvisor page is without any user comments or feedback.

[Chromeman]

Got a short reply from them just now.

GoodDay ****
Ballooning in Huahin active only in winter time Oct-April. We not fly near sea shore so people cannot see the balloon.
Normally our main base location in ChiangMai where we fly almost every day.
Thank you for interest our balloon flight.
Mr.Terapat Tunsukarat
Managing Director

I have a friend and colleague that is going to Hua Hin with his wife end of November for 5 weeks, see if I can get him to try to check them out after they start flying this winter.

[Chromeman]

Doing some more googling about their operation in Chiang Mai, and found this video from 2010 posted by a Sheila Simkin from the Travel with Sheila travelogue. She has several posts about ballooning in Chiang Mai, and the pilot on the video below looks like the pilot Wouter Cornelis Bakker that is mentioned on Balloon Adventure Thailand's pilot page.

Also found several tour companies advertising the balloon trips from Balloon Adventure Thailand in Chiang Mai.



So I am starting to get a little positive feeling for this operation again...

So hopefully me and my girlfriend will be flying in Hua Hin in March.

[Big Boy]

They have a contact form on their site so I am going to ask them a few questions like why no-one of you have heard about them or seen their balloons, and why the TripAdvisor page is without any user comments or feedback.

It's been a couple of days - was there any feedback?

[Chromeman]

Yes, I posted it 2 posts above yours.

[Big Boy]

I read your bit, but ignored the quote - sorry

Sounds as if it might be as I suggested before - they drive from Bangkok as and when required.

[Frank Hovis]

I've never seen any balloons near here nor have I heard of anyone talking about it BUT most of the photographs on their website were most certainly taken around this area, see google maps 12.621996,99.758163.
http://www.huahinballooning.com/AboutBallooningPic.html

I'd still keep my money in my pocket until I got here if I were you.

[Chromeman]

Looking at the satellite pics on Google maps, that looks like a good area for flying with the forest and the lakes and little in the way of buildings and other infrastructure.

Just sent a short email to the owner/manager of my hotel in Hua Hin to see if he has any knowledge about this company.

Googling the name of the managing director of Balloon Adventure Thailand, Terapat Tunsukarat finds a lot of pages related to ballooning from all over the world, including this post about them flying with about 600 other balloons in Albuquerque, NM, USA last year.

[Chromeman]

The hotel owner/manager had not heard about them either.

I must say that I never heard of them or seen a balloon flying here. Seen you will be here for a long time I would wait with booking this and first check if they are for real. If there are any further questions please let me know.

[PeteC]

This whole balloon thing seems to be nothing but hot air.

[Chromeman]

Yes, it does prcscct!

But I am leaning towards the conclusion that this is a legitimate business. The owner of the company appears to be very active in the international hot air ballooning circuit, and there seems to be some activity with this company in Chiang Mai.

I am still a bit cautious, so I am not sending them any money, yet. I have a friend and colleague that is going to Hua Hin with his wife end of November for 5 weeks (I think this is the 15th year they are on holiday there), so have asked him to check them out when he gets there. Will try to get the company to allow him to visit and see them arranging a flight during his stay.

If I get a positive report from him, I will book a flight with them after I arrive in beginning of March. Probably do the flight then in week 11 or 12. And will then post a report and some pictures from the experience here for your benefit.

[Big Boy]

If they do prove to be genuine, maybe you should suggest to them that they might get a lot more business if they were to invest just a fraction of the cost of a single flight to advertise on Hua Hin's most active media, Hua Hin Forum with almost 4,000 readers daily.