Hey everyone,
I must say before I begin, that this post is entirely my own experience and therefore my own opinion. While I would like to think that I am being objective, I am reminded that objectivity (at least from the academic perspective) seems to be an unattainable goal.
I have traveled to Hua Hin three seperate times ( 5 months in Spring 2003, 5 months in spring 2004, and 4 months in spring 2006). I found that my being separated from Hua Hin for almost 2 years contributed to some very real misconceptions. I will not go into depth about my own shattered ideas, as they were a bit specific, but I will continue on about the overall cause of these preconceived notions.
Having been separated for almost 2 years between my 2nd and 3rd trips, I found myself forgetting the incessant problems that come with living in a country such as Thailand. The lax attitude that I could deal with in trips prior seemed to grate upon me a bit more. At the same time, I found myself inflating the great memories I had of the area, until they became almost unattainable entities. Whatever I did, I found myself comparing my activities to trips prior.
Both of these things are a personal issue. Mind you, I still had an AMAZING time in Thailand, but something was not quite there. But one thing is not contestable: Hua Hin is growing very quickly. The period between 2004 and 2006 saw the rise of the Index Living Mall, The Tesco-Lotus, and more than one major car dealership (this despite the lack of parking). I remember thinking how wise of an investment it would be to pour money into the area 3 years ago. Now it seems a bit bloated.
The real complaint that I have is that this expansion seems to come at the cost of the personal nature of the city. Gone are the very friendly smiles I received from people working in the sois and in the markets; they have been replaced with grabbing hands. It makes me wonder, are the bars interested in my patronage, or simply the baht that I carry?
This may be a bit unfair. The bars experience a fierce amount of competition, and must therefore take what they can get. However, this detracts from the environment that I experienced a few years back.
Back to the central point. I (dare I say other people as well) feel a bit more like tourists than in years past. It seems that there is nothing to do from a business perspective to correct this problem, and I have no easy answer. All I can say is that my last experience there was slightly alienating. The same business owners were still in place, but it seemed my role had changed.
I still love the area immensely, but I would encourage everyone to recognize the changes, and take steps to ensure that the environment we have grown to love doesn't outgrow us as well.
A different Hua Hin - Or a different mindset?
Having been here for 8 years, it gets a bit difficult to draw comparisons with what you've said, Viseman because I see things developing at a different pace.
Development, there is and as has been said before on the forum you can't get away from that.
I used to live right in the centre of town for the first 6 years. I don't have my own transport and so walked everywhere. Locals and ex-pats would see me walking/staggering around and it was always "same,same".
For the past couple of years, I've lived a bit further out of town. Only 15 min walk, or couple of mins on a motorbike. I don't go into town that much any more, especially at night. As a result, with the changes that happen in the business community, there are constantly changing people running places who I've never met, yet still old friends who I see from time to time.
Therefore, a bit like being a "tourist", but totally different from yourself with the time gaps that you've mentioned.
Hope that makes sense. I don't find the town any less welcoming than it was years ago. It's just grown and therefore become a bit more impersonal.
Development, there is and as has been said before on the forum you can't get away from that.
I used to live right in the centre of town for the first 6 years. I don't have my own transport and so walked everywhere. Locals and ex-pats would see me walking/staggering around and it was always "same,same".
For the past couple of years, I've lived a bit further out of town. Only 15 min walk, or couple of mins on a motorbike. I don't go into town that much any more, especially at night. As a result, with the changes that happen in the business community, there are constantly changing people running places who I've never met, yet still old friends who I see from time to time.
Therefore, a bit like being a "tourist", but totally different from yourself with the time gaps that you've mentioned.
Hope that makes sense. I don't find the town any less welcoming than it was years ago. It's just grown and therefore become a bit more impersonal.