Hey Jamie we are definitely coming to Hua Hin for the culture. I love the beach just to walk on early in the morning and I like to eat local food. I hope to see and experience some Thai culture during our visit. I have only had one short trip tp Thailand before and we flew to Ko Samui.
There are many people who do still want to experience a country for itself.
We are most definitely not on our gap year in fact I am too old to remember it now
I think that what has happened globally is that the old favourite crowded holiday resorts which were originally dumped because of war/terrorism/natural disasters etc have been abandoned for a while as people discover there is so much more to see. I hope so anyway.
I am looking forward to Hua Hin for itself. I hate makkas...
[quote="Rusky"]
[There are many people who do still want to experience a country for itself]
And that's the way it should be Rusky. But I actually know people who come to Cha Am and stay in them big hotels (between Cha Am and HH) and stay there morning, noon and night.
They sleep, beach, eat and drink there, never venturing out to Hua Hin town, Kao Takiab etc etc.
Rusky wrote:Hey Jamie we are definitely coming to Hua Hin for the culture.
Don't forget, these days Hua Hin is primarily a tourist town, albeit a fairly low key one. Depending on what you want to see/experience I hope you are not disappointed. If you want to see the real Thailand, ask a motorbike taxi driver to show you his home and go on the lash with his mates!
Well done, Jaime - very tongue in cheek. Had a bit of a giggle
It is a conundrum though, we bring a lot of these things in for our convenience & then aren't happy when the place gets too commercialised. I know I've thought a couple of the things Jaime said!
My question is more to do with property development than tourism though. With all these condos, estates etc springing up at more & more extortionate prices (obviously aimed at expats), where are the vast majority of Thais going to live? If we take away independently well-off Thais & those married to or involved in long term relationships with expats, that's still a lot. If they don't already live on family land, don't they have a problem here? Looks like our influx is pricing them out of their own country, or at least the "tourist areas".
"The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But, can they suffer?" - Jeremy Bentham, philosopher, 1748-1832
Jaime wrote:
And it's not just property Dawn - exactly the same problem applies to marriage dowries.
There's me been thinking how to answer the orginal post about Thai cutlture and coming to the conclusion that the culture thing only now exists on stages in Chiang Mai and re-lived in costume form on Loi Kratong.
So yes, there is one peice of ancient Thai culture that has survived in some areas to this day. It is of course the vary strange reverse dowry system that had almost died out completely until the recent influx of farang when somebody had the bright idea of re-introducing it.
It is quite possible that the principle of the bride's family giving money to the groom's family was probably reversed when farang arrived.
[color=blue][size=134]Care in the community success story.[/size][/color]
Dawn, the Thais still own the land.
I can remember in the UK when good ol' Maggie Thatcher introduced the "right to buy" policy. So many families near me in London sold up after the 2/3 year period, realised more money than they'd ever seen in their lives and moved out of the Metropolis somewhere.
A few years later, they realised they didn't like where they were, their old properties were worth bundles more and they could never move back in to their locale.
The big difference, for me, is that I don't see an exodus of Thai people, as per the example above. In fact, Hua Hin is attracting more indigenous people because it is prosperous.
Those who own the land have done for ages and will continue to do so.
Hope that makes sense.
I understand that those indigenous to HH probably have land & properties already. But what about those who come from other areas? How can they afford to buy a "starter home"?
I know I still think about this in a very British way, but I don't see why someone should be forced to live in a province simply because they were born there and, following that reasoning, why they should be priced out of an area they do want to settle in, just because a load of foreigners want to live their & others (mainly foreigners) decide they can make a lot of money developing & selling properties to them?
"The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But, can they suffer?" - Jeremy Bentham, philosopher, 1748-1832
Jaime wrote:I agree - I think all the oil sheiks should be thrown out of Mayfair and their properties made available to the likes of me at discount rates.....
Look no further I have found you one already. I have located a suitable appartment overlooking Hyde Park currently valued a 17 Million Pounds. I can offer it to you with a massive 20% discount.
[color=blue][size=134]Care in the community success story.[/size][/color]
Welcome to the world.
What is fair on this planet? That we were born into prosperity etc.?
It's a lottery and a very few happen to win.
BTW, the big migration of people looking for work in Thailand is to Bangkok. No other country comes to mind where the largest city is 30X or more larger than the 2nd city. Why? It's where the work is.
And falangs don't drive the housing prices in Bangkok.
Tourist towns tend to experience seasonal migrations in and out.
we are definitely coming to Hua Hin for the culture. I love the beach just to walk on early in the morning and I like to eat local food. I hope to see and experience some Thai culture during our visit. I have only had one short trip tp Thailand before and we flew to Ko Samui.
