Thailand tourism situation

[HHTel]

I'm with you, Sateeb. 20 years ago Hua Hin was nothing like it is today. If I was moving to Thailand today, I certainly wouldn't choose Hua Hin. Back in the day with very little traffic, no Market Village, Bluport, McDonalds, Burger King etc etc, it was a much nicer place.

[stretch]

Nobody would move anywhere today unless your from afganistan.

[STEVE G]

The problem I have is that despite being based out of Hua Hin for almost 20 years, I can't realistically get back home unless they open up for tourism. I visited about four times a year until last year and now I've not been able to see my family and home since last March.
There are huge numbers of people like me separated from their families all over the world but most countries just have rules for business or tourism and there is nothing for long distance commuters.

[caller]

I didn't move here because it was a tourist town

I call BS on that statement.
HH has lots of great facilities because it is a popular tourist town.
If you really did not move here because it was a tourist town, then why didn't you move to some small village out in the sticks?

I'm with Sateeb on this. I first came to Hua Hin in 2000 and far preferred it then to now. No waterparks and other such attractions. Watched it grow over the years and was well aware that away from the tourist areas, businesses aimed at the expat market existed and have kept growing.

I spent 18 months in Korat and them a further 6 months in Bkk before HH became my main base. I still prefer to go south for beaches and beach side dining and the town centre for me means shopping or medical treatment. Sometimes eat there, when I read of something that catches my eye. Otherwise there are more than enough near me, west and south of town.

[stretch]

The only people moving these days come from Afganistan

[HHTel]

Just a quick follow up on HH being a tourist town.
Yes it is now. But... back in 2000 you'd hardly find it in any holiday brochures. Hua Hin wasn't even signposted on Rama II. The signs appeared after it became known.

I looked for it after a friend in the UK had read an article of the history of the royal family and Hua Hin was mentioned. Although I was already in Thailand, I don't think I'd heard of it.

When we did find it at the end of this dual carriageway without a vehicle in sight, we fell in love with the place on our first visit. A very sleepy town, very quiet and friendly.

Foreigners were very much fewer than today. But the price of progress changes most things.

[Dannie Boy]

I first traveled to Hua Hin in 2002 and whilst there were some elements of Western attractions, nothing like what it is today. Up until then I’d only been to Koh Sami and Phuket - neither of which were very developed at that time (1996-2002) and both have seen greater development than HH since those days. Still we can’t turn the clock back and have to accept what we have - or move!!

[Bamboo Grove]

My first trip to Hua Hin was in 1990 but I've met someone who visited it in the 1960's. Of course things change and you can't say they shouldn't. The locals want progress. That has happened and will happen all over the world. Just think, would you be happy, if your own birth place would always remain as it was by the time you were born?

I have strong feelings for Phuket, which I first visited in 1989 but I wouldn't want to go back there any more. Still, the memories remain.

[handdrummer]

The older I get, the more difficult it is to live in Hua Hin. Medical incompetence is frightening & lack of medical service is frustrating.

I went for a blood test this week and the person, from Hua Hin hospital, couldn't find the vein. After being stuck 4 times in each arm I walked out. I've had an operation botched that left me screaming in pain on a gurney after the operation and 3 days in the hospital, instead of 1, with tubes running in and out of me. There is nowhere to get hearing aids. An ophthalmologist wrote the wrong prescription and when I went back to get the right one he didn't even apologize.

I know at some point we'll have to move to Bangkok and I'm not looking forward to that.

Other than those things, I like the small-town atmosphere of Hua Hin. I don't need much other than food and an occasional walk on the beach.

[Ratsima]

Hua Hin has been a tourist town for a long time. The Railway Hotel opened in 1922. I first visited in 1991 while waiting for a Lao visa. While there weren't very many Western tourists then, the place certainly had charm and a good number of bars, restaurants and places to stay. (As I recall, only one ATM and that was out on Petchakasem.) These days I almost never bother to go in to Hua Hin.

I spent a few weeks on Koh Samui in 1977. It was idyllic. After visiting with my wife a few years ago I have no interest in going back.

In fact, I have very little interest in doing any sort of travel. I don't know if that's because I'm too old to enjoy it or because it's so hard to find places that are not overdeveloped and overcrowded.

I'm not sure what Thailand needs to do to get out of its slump, but dreaming of the good old days is not going to work.


Koh Samui 1977 - Ao Thong Takien, now known as Crystal Bay or Silver Beach.

It looks different more recently, as do I:

[joelle]

It looks different more recently, as do I:

Yes you shaved you moustache

[Ratsima]

Yes you shaved you moustache

[STEVE G]

I notice that despite Thailand virtually closing down to outside tourism for about 18 months, this didn't really achieve anything with regards to stopping the spread of the virus. It seems to me the industry has been destroyed for very little gain when you consider how porous the land borders are to migrant labour and Covid along with it.
Despite many peoples desire to have Hua Hin as some sort of tropical Clacton-on-Sea, without tourism the city has very little economy and the local residents need it for a living.

[PeteC]

They are their own worst enemies Steve. Not only "Porous land borders" but dozens if not hundreds of Thai businessmen with power facilitating the smuggling of illegals. Much better and safer for everyone if they would drag the lazy Thais on the dole out of their house and put them to work.

[buksida]

More bright ideas and silly acronyms from the Ministry of Nothing Better To Do ...

Country to rejig reopening model
Thailand is rethinking its reopening model as it will adopt the "One SOP, One System" (OSOS) policy, scrapping both mandatory quarantine and sealed routes for all pilot areas within this year and cutting Covid-19 test costs by half.

The reopening plan for five more areas -- Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Cha-am and Bangkok -- will be submitted to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) next week in order to start receiving inoculated tourists from Oct 1, while Samui Plus will pivot to a quarantine-free destination at the same time, said Yuthasak Supasorn, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor.

"Under this plan, every province will apply the same SOPs [standard operating procedures] which will enable tourists to travel freely within designated areas in each province," he said.

"Tourists are simply required to follow the guidelines, such as activating the Mor Chana app and being checked daily by SHA Plus manager [hotel manager in SHA Plus hotel], instead of being kept in quarantine or only travelling under a tour programme," said Mr Yuthasak.

He said the agency is also in a discussion with health authorities about reducing the price to around 8,000 baht for three RT-PCR tests which is considered an obstacle for the reopening programme in both Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus over the past few months.

"We will try to halve the RT-PCR price and allow tourists to use antigen test kits for their second and third tests. The package price should be universally applied to every province from October, including the Phuket Sandbox," he said.

The OSOS also eliminates different measures which each pilot province was preparing, such as Pattaya and Chiang Mai that previously opted for partial quarantine and sealed routes, respectively.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/21 ... ning-model