Visa run from hua hin to malaysia. Extending a Thai visa in Hua Hin Where to go for a Thai visa from Hua Hin
At a distance of 25 kilometers from the place called Cha Am is the resort of Hua Hin. It is famous for its five-kilometer white sand beach and countless golf courses. There are several hotels built in the English style, full of elegance, which are in perfect harmony with the splendor of the nature of the resort. You should definitely choose a holiday in Hua Hin, Thailand.
This resort can be classified as one of the oldest resorts in the country. A hundred years ago, the construction of a palace began here, which later became the summer residence of the king of the country. This palace is still one of the favorite vacation spots of the royal family. In Hua Hin, all hotels are upscale. Basically they all have 4 or 5 stars. We can say that tourists rest here, preferring a comfortable, relaxing holiday, secluded from the bustle of the city. The absence of noisy parties at night attracts couples with children to these places.
It is very easy to get to this place from Bangkok. The road by car usually takes about 3.5 hours. You can also take the train or bus. Both modes of transport are usually equipped with air conditioning. The journey takes the same 3.5 hours, and the ticket will cost you 250 baht.
Hua Hin bus station has flights to many cities in the country. You can go to Phetchaburi, Cha-Am, Chumphon, Phuket and other cities. In addition, several regular buses pass through the resort at night, heading from Bagkok to Koh Samui or Phuket. If funds allow, you can book a private jet.
Where is the best place to stay?
More than 400 hotels, inns and guest houses have been built on the city territory for the services of vacationers for a variety of tastes. Among the most famous and most popular hotels are the Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa, located in the central part of the city, Devasom Hua Hin Resort, which is located on the territory of a private beach, Hyatt Regency Hua Hin, more suitable for families and children, and Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin, which is also located in the central part of the resort. The price of a room in these comfortable hotels ranges from 3,000 baht to 5,000 baht per day.
There are budget hotels in the city with air conditioning and hot water. Rooms in such hotels will cost you from 300 baht per day. The cost of living in guesthouses for two starts from 700 baht per day.
The tropical climate influences how much a holiday in Hua Hin costs. Therefore, the rainy season is divided here, cool and hot. The best weather for a holiday is in this place from the beginning of winter until the beginning of April. But you must understand that holidays in the high season will cost you a lot here. Therefore, do not refuse to rest in Hua Hin during the rainy season. The rains at this time of the year are short and come only at night.
What to bring?
Baggage collection for holidays abroad is a very responsible matter. The most important thing is to prepare all the necessary documents, as well as several copies of photocopies. It is best to arrange copies in different places, but so that they are always at hand. Other mandatory documents include health insurance. It is better not to save on its cost. Anything can happen on a trip. Do the same with air tickets. They need to be printed out and several copies made, placing them in different parts of the luggage.
Be sure to collect a first aid kit. Stock up on medicines to reduce body temperature and drugs that relieve food poisoning. Don't forget to bring your camera, flash drive, charger, batteries, etc.
What to watch?
The first thing a tourist should visit in Hau Hin is the palace of the Klai Kwong royal family, as well as a religious temple called Wat Neranchararama. This temple is famous for having the largest statue depicting the Buddha with six arms.
Among the natural attractions and interesting places are waterfalls and national parks and the city of Phetburi, where excursions depart with a tour of temples, palaces and the Khao Luang cave, where there are almost two hundred Buddha statues.
If you prefer an active holiday, then on the beaches you will be offered to ride a yacht or a water scooter, go windsurfing or take a horseback ride. Golf is actively developing in this region. There are several golf clubs, many golf courses, training courses on this game are organized.
Other activities include ecological tours, fishing, elephant riding, kiteboarding, a variety of resort water activities, go-karting, and more.
Those who like to relax and spend time in the spa will also like it here. The question of how much this entertainment costs should not worry vacationers. Spa prices are very affordable here. At the same time, you will be offered both a regular Thai massage and more modern procedures, detox courses, alternative medicine, skin cleansing procedures. There is also a special international hotel Chiva-Som International Health Resort in Hua Hin, where the main direction is fitness. Here everything is subordinated to health - fitness, spa, food, various procedures, and yoga.
Beaches
The entire beach area of this resort can be divided into three different zones. Tourists with families and small children prefer to relax in the northern and southern parts of the beach. It is calm and peaceful here. But in the central part, mostly young people and party-goers gather.
Hua Hin City Beach originates from the attraction called "Stone Head" and stretches for several kilometers. Here you can buy souvenirs at an inexpensive price. Always on this beach is crowded, you can find entertainment for every taste.
At Mount Khao Takiab, the southern zone of the beach begins. This beach is very narrow. In many places you can enter the water directly from the stairs. Therefore, there are few people in this part, and when the rainy time begins, it is completely empty. Khao Takiab beach is always clean, as the beach area is cleaned every weekend. Here you can cheaply rent a sun lounger and go water skiing.
The continuation of Khao Takiab can be called Suan Son Beach. Entrance to its territory is paid and costs 10 baht. This is a very picturesque place with dense thickets of shady vegetation.
In the northern part is Sai Noi Beach. You can get to it by public transport. This beach is recognized by tourists as one of the best. There is no special infrastructure, shops and tents.
A wide, but sparsely populated Tao beach begins at the mountain of the same name. This beach is suitable for children and those who have not learned how to swim well. Its feature is shallow water. On Mount Tao, there is an observation deck of the famous Turtle Temple.
To the north of Hua Hin, near Mount Cha Am, the beach of the same name originates. It is very inexpensive to rent accommodation here, which attracts a large number of tourists. For this reason, there are always a lot of people on the beach. In addition, a highway ribbon passes near the beach, which attracts a huge number of tourists to this beach.
As you know, Russians do not need a visa to Thailand. At the time of entry, a stamp is placed to stay in the country for 30 days.
However, this option did not suit us, and we got a tourist visa back in Russia. Its advantage is that with such a visa you can stay in the country for 60 days, and then extend your stay for another 30 days (and another 7, but this is not profitable).
On March 24th, the moment came when our 60-day Thai visa expired, and we had to deal with this issue.
The procedure is not difficult, you need to come to the immigration office, follow simple steps, pay money, and voila, stay in Thailand for another 30 days.
Where to go?
The immigration office is here
View in a larger map
Most likely you have a motorbike and you will get there yourself. If not, then local taxi drivers will be happy to help you.
View of the immigration office from the outside
Addresses of other offices can be found at http://www.immigration.go.th/
When to go?
The office is open from 9:00 to 16:30 on weekdays, with a lunch break from 12:00 to 13:00.
In our case, the Thai visa "expired" on March 24th, but it was Sunday, so we went early on March 22nd. You can see your date in your passport
What to bring?
- The passport
- immigration card
- Copies of passport pages (main page, visa, stamp)
- Completed application form (you can download the application form on the website)
- Money (visa extension costs 1900 baht per person)
But, in fact, you only need a passport, an immigration card and money. Everything else can be done right at the door of the immigration office.
Specially trained people will fill out a questionnaire for you, take a picture of you, paste a photo and make copies right on the spot, for only 125 baht.
Our Experience of Thai Tourist Visa Extension
We arrived at the office at ~9:30, stood in line for the "help" among a couple of Cambodians / Myanmarese.
The work helped took about 15 minutes (long), as a result, we received a package of documents and a couple of extra photos.
package of documents for extending a Thai visa
We went inside the office with the documents, received coupons for the electronic queue, and went to the officer.
Immigration office in Hua Hin
The girl officer scolded me for losing my immigration card and giving me a new one. As a result, we gave a package of documents and money, and we were asked to wait a couple of minutes.
Then they called us (without an electronic queue) and gave us our passports along with the change. Here's the stamp:
Celebrated our 30-day Thai visa extension at a nearby cafe that brazenly stole the design from Starbucks
I already have detailed instructions in immigration. All processes are identical regardless of the city, the difference can only be in what the queue will be, and that depends on the season. Nevertheless, I decided to write a short post about my personal experience of extending a visa in Hua Hin. I remind you that I have already written.
I arrived at 10.50 in the morning, at 11:30 I left with a visa. Everything is very fast! But they say there are queues. Although there were a lot of people during my visit, all the seats inside and outside the office were occupied. Perhaps, thanks to the streamlined procedure for receiving documents, now everything happens much faster than before.
There is a photocopier near the entrance, where I made a copy of the passport of the main page and a spread with a visa (3 baht / 1 sheet). You could take a picture for 100 baht, but I already had a photo. After that, I went inside and took a ticket for the electronic queue. Without a copy of the passport and photo, they did not want to give me a coupon. Then I began to fill out the questionnaire, although there was a Thai girl sitting at a table on the street, who fills out the questionnaires for free for everyone, but she was already busy with someone and I did not disturb her. While I was filling out the questionnaire, my turn came up, I barely had time to fill out the questionnaire. Therefore, I think you should not rush and take a ticket ahead of time.
The immigration officer looked at my address in Bangkok on the form and asked where I was staying in Hua Hin. Since I was passing through and didn’t even intend to spend the night, I didn’t stop anywhere in Hua Hin (I lived in Bangkok then). In order not to create a freelance situation (suddenly, if you are passing by, then go to your friend’s place in Bangkok), he named the first hotel that I remembered in Hua Hin, since I stayed there and even did it.
Already 5 minutes after the conversation with the officer, I was given a ready-made passport with an extension stamp.
Park opposite
Opposite the immigration there is a small park with a playground, fitness equipment, a minimum of trees and an entrance to the sea.
Documents for renewal
From the docks you only need:
- International passport
— Any photo 3x4 or 4x6
— A copy of the main page of the passport, a spread with a visa, and an immigration card
– A completed application form (there is a sample in the immigration how to fill it out)
- Warning of responsibility for not notifying the authorities about the change of place of residence (it is filled in on the spot and, as I understand it, this is a formality)
I was afraid that they would ask for a housing contract, but it was not needed! They didn't ask anything at all.
Opening hours and cost
From Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 16:30. Break from 12:00 to 13:00.
The cost of extending a single-entry visa for another 30 days or a 30-day stamp for 7 days is 1900 baht.
Location map of Immigration
On blogs I met some confusing explanations that the immigration office had moved. I don’t know, maybe this is already his new place, but the correct point is marked even on Google Maps, which is usually late with the display.
Another immigration office has also appeared in the Blueport shopping center on the ground floor. There is almost no one there now, because apparently not everyone knows about it yet. So it's better to go there, without a queue they will do everything. Moreover, even no documents other than a passport are needed, they themselves will do everything there.
We lived on Koh Samui and Hua Hin for about the same amount of time - six months at each of the resorts, and we lived in both cases with a small child. Many people ask me where is better and where I liked it more. Frankly, the question is very complex and ambiguous. Everyone has their own requirements and wishes, and these cities are very different, therefore it is very difficult to compare and say where it is better. Is it possible to compare a city on the mainland and a village on an island? Probably not, but I'll try anyway 🙂 We lived in Hua Hin October 2011 - March 2012, Koh Samui March-May 2012 and September 2012 - present (end of January 2013).
For smart people, I immediately warn you: this is just my view of two resorts and it cannot be considered as an insult to one of these cities or those who live in one and not in the other. I see it this way, someone else saw it differently. This is fine. If you disagree with something or want to add something, then write about it politely in the comments, we will discuss it.
Sea and beaches
Of course, the sea and beaches are much better on the islands. Although Samui does not have the best beaches in Thailand, but there are good beaches with light sand and clear blue water, in which fish are sometimes found and where it is very pleasant to swim. But this is not always the case. When we moved to Koh Samui in the spring, I was delighted. But in the winter I began to wonder if they had gone somewhere else. Not the same impressions at all: the sea is worse, dirtier, clouds, rains, crowds of not very happy tourists. In Hua Hin, the sea and the beaches did not impress me as much as the beaches of Koh Samui in the spring. Most of Hua Hin is generally unsuitable for swimming, the other part is normal, but these are not the beaches for which it is worth flying so far. But it is worth noting that I also did not really like the sea on Koh Samui in winter.
Climate
The climate of the island is different from the continental one. On Koh Samui, there are more frequent short-term showers and more often lingering rains. The rainy season is more pronounced, but the dry hot season is easier to bear, since at least sometimes it rains. If in Hua Hin we did not notice the rainy season, then on Koh Samui it turned out to be pronounced and the water really flooded the streets and some houses. I described it in more detail here:. After the end of the official rainy season, the showers still haven’t ended, it’s cloudy for a week in a row and it sometimes rains or rains, it’s hot. It was more stable in Hua Hin, but as spring began and the spring heat was above +35, we decided to run away from there. I woke up in the morning and it was already hot. In the spring and on Koh Samui it is hot and it rains less often than usual, but all of these happen and much more often than in Hua Hin. In addition, thanks to the sea on all sides, the temperature is several degrees lower and it is easier to bear.
Humidity
In Hua Hin, we had no problems with moisture and mold at all. On Koh Samui, they started almost immediately: salt turns into porridge in a few weeks, sugar into a solid mass, food spoils instantly (it is very difficult to catch the moment between when the cooked food has cooled down and when it needs to be put in the refrigerator), clothes dry only in the sun , if there is no sun, it does not dry for days and stinks, a towel left in the bathroom after taking a shower immediately starts to stink and may even become moldy .. In general, after a few months, mold began to attack our things. At best, it is only a smell; at worst, the item is damaged and cannot be washed off. Equipment also suffers from moisture. Our phones, laptops, tablets - everything is gradually undergoing irreversible processes. . But this applies to any island, and especially to houses located near the sea. On Koh Phangan, Bali, Cuba, Hawaii - everywhere, over time, there is a problem with high humidity and mold. Here is such a paradise, with the smell of dampness and with poisonous mold. Yes, it is poisonous and you breathe it when you sleep on an old mattress in a cheap bungalow. It is possible to fight it, but it is very difficult and often in the end it is useless.
Real estate
The real estate market in Hua Hin and Koh Samui is very different. I can’t say anything about the purchase, I was not interested in this issue. Therefore, we will only talk about rent. Hua Hin is a city stretched along the beach, through which one main road passes near the coast. Near the sea and near the main road there are mainly hotels, hotels, apartments, cafes, shops, markets, banks, offices .. Anything but houses for rent. All houses are located at a distance from the sea, and usually at a considerable distance. Most often, houses are built by organized villages with a fence, security and other pleasures. Usually houses have a small territory and are separated from each other by a fence. Everything is very civilized, often they are focused on long-term rent. There are occasionally scrap near the sea, but the prices there are cosmic. There are a lot of housing options near the sea on Koh Samui, often it's just a bungalow, sometimes something in between a house and a bungalow, but good big houses with quality furniture, their own land and territory are less common. More often on Koh Samui you will find just a small complex of the same type of houses (5-20) standing side by side and not focused on long-term rent or sale (they are usually rented for the maximum winter). There are a lot of them here, they are unpretentious, they have only the most necessary and expensive electricity (sometimes water). In Hua Hin, electricity is at government prices. It is very difficult to find a three-room house on Koh Samui at an adequate price or an inexpensive house with an oven, decent furniture, an LCD TV set and a washing machine, even if you search without reference to beaches and shops. Most often, such houses are expensive and are offered as elite ones. There are few options for something in between a cool villa and a simple bungalow. For an example, see the houses that we rented:,.
Electricity and internet
For some reason, some people think that Koh Samui has terrible problems with electricity and the Internet, but this is not so. The Internet in both cities was from 3bb and the speed always corresponded to the selected package. By the way, in Hua Hin everything was somehow crooked or something, but our Internet often disappeared and I knew by heart the support phone number and our contract number. Especially if the light blinked, then we could then sit all day without an Internet. On Koh Samui, it is still more stable, although it also sometimes disappears. Here we immediately took 3G from dtac in order to always be with the Internet, we need it. As for electricity, apart from when the whole island was without electricity for several days, I did not notice the difference with Hua Hin. And there, and there the light sometimes disappears for several hours and then appears. Here, too, 3G Internet saved us from boredom, since the usual one immediately stopped working.
The medicine
When choosing a city in Thailand for wintering with a child, I always first of all pay attention to the presence of good clinics, make insurance and go only to places where it’s not scary to get sick. But the most common cold in a child can give terrible complications, so I take the level of development of medicine very seriously. Therefore, both in Hua Hin and Koh Samui there are enough good quality clinics where you will be helped. True, it is better to have insurance on Koh Samui. In Hua Hin, prices are even more or less adequate in local hospitals, since there are not so many tourists there, and on Koh Samui everything is tourist-oriented and expensive. You can't find cheap doctors during the day with fire. In Hua Hin, I liked that there is a cheap pediatrician (), and a gynecologist, and many other specialists .. In extreme cases, there is Bangkok 2 hours away, where you can find very good narrow-profile specialists (check vision, hearing, etc.). In Hua Hin, there are only a few expensive clinics, a few local ones and that's it. The best clinics in these cities are the representative offices of Bangkok Hospital: Samui Bangkok Hospital and Hua Hin Bangkok Hospital, where we always apply for insurance. In Hua Hin, they visited Dr. Samet for minor issues, but they didn’t find cheap doctors on Koh Samui, and spending 50-100 bucks for a simple visit is not cheap for us, so we treat ourselves.
Products and service
The range of goods and services is about the same and, to be honest, I'm not very fond of shopping here, since it's hard with a baby. But Hua Hin benefits from being close to Bangkok, where there really is everything. And it seemed to me that in Hua Hin there is more choice of goods. But there are more services for foreigners on Koh Samui.
Products, restaurants, food
In Hua Hin, something is significantly cheaper: fruits, vegetables, seafood, food in a cafe, since everything there is more oriented towards Thais than tourists. Everything is expensive on Koh Samui. Especially in the Lamai and Chaweng areas, fruits in the markets are even more expensive and worse than in supermarkets, and only tourists buy them there. In Hua Hin, seafood, fruits and vegetables in the markets have always been cheaper and tastier. Also in Hua Hin there are many simple family cafes with delicious and cheap cuisine. Compared to Koh Samui, everything was very cheap there. Supermarkets and stores like 7/11 are the same everywhere. Well, the prices in good restaurants are always high.
Flora and fauna
Of course, flora and fauna are much more diverse on the continent than on the island. There are both positive and negative points in this. A large variety of animals, birds, plants can be considered positive. Negative include a variety of poisonous reptiles and some unpleasant insects. If it is more or less clear who lives on Koh Samui, then in Hua Hin, any snake or unpleasant insects can live next to you. In Hua Hin, the omnipresent ants annoyed me. I felt like I was living in an anthill. Maybe just unlucky with the place and only we had such a problem? But they instantly attacked all food, even hot and liquid, crawled even in the toilet, sometimes bit the child and made nests in the equipment, contributing to its failure. Even a complete treatment at home with all kinds of chemicals did not help for longer than a week or two. This was the most annoying factor in Hua Hin. On Koh Samui, we don’t have ants at all, and all the food (sugar, bread, fruits ..) is stored without problems just on the shelves. Added later: It turned out that on Koh Samui in some houses ants are also found in large numbers and we were just lucky 🙂
Location and availability of the benefits of civilization
In general, both cities are very developed (compared to most Thai cities) and they have everything you need for a happy and comfortable life. On Koh Samui, the truth is more and more focused on visitors and the majority of the local population speaks English. In Hua Hin, things are worse with English and the entire service sector is focused on Thais and visitors for the long term. But Hua Hin is located not far from Bangkok, and Bangkok is a city where there is probably everything. The ability to get to such a city by car or taxi (well, in extreme cases, by bus or train) in a few hours is a very big plus. But for a short stay, the island will be a more pleasant and romantic place.
Entertainment
Here I will upset you. Koh Samui is considered not a very fun and party resort, compared to the same Pattaya or Phuket, it is called boring. But Hua Hin is even more boring 🙂 There is generally nothing to do there in the evening. There is more or less noise and people around a few expensive hotels like the Hilton, there is a small night market but otherwise there is nothing to do in the evenings. For lovers of fun, evenings in Hua Hin will drag on slowly and tediously. Although you can take a car and get to Bangkok in a couple of hours. You definitely won't get bored there. On Koh Samui there is something to do in the evening, where to drink, sit, there are clubs and walking street. In general, it’s more fun, for those who travel for a short time there will definitely be where to walk and what to see, who to meet and where to drink. But to be honest, I don’t really understand these issues, the baby and I spend the evenings most often at home 🙂
As for daytime tourist activities, both on Koh Samui and Hua Hin this is enough. Not as much as we would like, but they will ride you on elephants, show you monkeys, teach you how to dive, take you to a couple of temples and come up with something else. A standard vacation (10-15 days) will definitely be something to fill. And if we arrived for a long time and the soul yearns for impressions, then in both cases we will have to leave the side chapels of cities. In Hua Hin, again, the opportunity to quickly get to Bangkok pleases, which is what many centenarians do on weekends.
Number of tourists and locals
When we moved from Hua Hin to Koh Samui, I had the feeling that we had returned home 🙂 There were only white people and Russian speech everywhere. In Hua Hin, we didn’t hear Russian for weeks, white people were rare and always stood out from the crowd, and on Koh Samui it sometimes seems that there are more tourists than Thais.
Culture and attractions
Koh Samui is absolutely uninteresting from the point of view of Thai culture. It began to develop only a few 10 years ago and all Thais living here are newcomers. But Hua Hin has a rather interesting history, historical sights, temples, Thais live there for generations and most do not aim to rip off more money from a white man.
The airport
There is a huge plus on Koh Samui - this is the presence of an international airport and that says it all. True, the airport was cunningly built by one of the Thai airlines and keeps high prices for flights, it is not state-owned. Hua Hin also has an airport, but nothing flies anywhere from there. But from Hua Hin you can quickly take a taxi to Bangkok and it's not expensive (about 60 bucks). On a minibus or bus, it’s generally cheap, but it takes longer.
Education
Here I am a bad adviser and I hope someone can complement me. Our baby is still quite a baby and I have little interest in education yet, but there are definitely international kindergartens and schools in both cities, children of foreigners and children from mixed families study there and seem to be happy. I'm not exactly sure and I'm afraid to cause a lot of controversy, but it seemed to me that education in Hua Hin is better in general. But it is better to give secondary specialized education and higher education in Bangkok. Although I saw something for adult children in Hua Hin, I don’t remember exactly. I know for sure that after leaving school, most children are sent to Bangkok to study. In this case, living in Hua Hin is more convenient.
Services and entertainment for children
So far, more interesting things for children on Koh Samui. In Hua Hin, it was very sad with places where you can bring children to frolic or relax. But maybe something has changed. In any case, both there and there there is a sea and it will not be completely boring.
Visa wounds and border wounds
A border run is a border crossing to get a new entry stamp. For citizens of Russia, both on Koh Samui and in Hua Hin, the nearest point is Ranong (border with Burma), they also ride on Koh Samui to Malaysia. For citizens of Belarus and Ukraine (and possibly some other countries), entry into Burma is possible only with a preliminary visa. Therefore, the island of Koh Samui is more convenient for them, from where you can go to the border run to Malaysia. Koh Samui is also more convenient if you have a small child and want to fly by plane. After all, it will not work from Hua Hin to fly to another country, you have to go to Bangkok. In addition, a border run from Hua Hin for Belarusians and Ukrainians (and others who enter Burma only on a visa) cannot be completed in 1 day. All visa-free countries are far away.
A visa run is a trip for a Thai visa to a Thai embassy in a neighboring country. Here, too, everything is ambiguous. Koh Samui is convenient for those who are going to the visa run by plane. In addition, the trip from Koh Samui to the Thai Embassy in Penang (Malaysia) is also not long. You can’t fly from Hua Hin by plane, you have to go to Bangkok and it takes a long time to get to all neighboring embassies. But what a choice of countries: Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam - you can make each visa run a new journey. And one more pleasant moment: trains run from Hua Hin. There is definitely a train to Malaysia (the city of Penang, where there is an embassy) and to Laos. Perhaps there are trains somewhere else, but we didn’t recognize them anymore.
Security and crime
Since childhood, I have heard about Thailand as a very dangerous country, where drugs are offered to you everywhere, prostitutes are actively pestering everywhere, weapons and extreme sports are everywhere. And most people think so! But even there is nothing to take a picture 🙁 Where are they all? Where is the extreme? It seems more or less unstable with crime and a lot of prostitutes and ladyboys in Pattaya and Phuket. But in Hua Hin, our lonely friend had to strain to find himself a taechka for the night. There are more of them on Koh Samui, but I didn’t see anything unusual. There are also girls in Moscow, and in Kharkov, and in the Crimea .. For sex pleasures they go to Pattaya or Phuket. And Samui and Hua Hin will surprise many people with the number of prostitutes. As for drugs, of course, whoever is looking for one will always find it, but in Hua Hin this is generally strict, this is a royal resort! Koh Samui is more of a touristy place and may offer weed or something else on the street. But often this is a set-up and the police are guarding nearby and they will immediately take you away and extort money for freedom. On the streets, do not try to buy anything, if you are already impatient, then find out from centenarians. But if you yourself do not seek adventure on your F, then this topic will not concern you. Even on Koh Samui, there are sometimes robberies. Moreover, houses are rarely robbed, more often wallets and phones are pulled out of the pockets of drunk tourists. It's their own fault here. This is rare in Hua Hin. Probably, there are just drunk tourists - a rarity, and indeed tourists are a rarity. Otherwise, everything is quiet, peaceful, calm, safe. There are some more points, but I will someday write about safety and how tourists are bred separately. But it's okay, it's definitely not worse than being a tourist in Moscow 🙂
That's all. If you forgot something, then ask. Everyone has their own preferences and I always advise you to visit several places and only then draw your own conclusions. For me, Hua Hin is an ideal Thai city to live there for a long time or for those who are not very interested in the sea and communication with other tourists. Koh Samui is a great place for holidays or wintering with children.
By tradition, I will complete my story with a few last year's photos (I warn you, the photos have been processed and increased in brightness, therefore they can display the sea and beaches better than they really are).
About 60 kilometers from Hua Hin is the largest national park in Thailand - Kaeng Krachan. It is located near the border with Myanmar. Tourists are attracted by the almost untouched mountain rainforest with a large number of exotic plants and animals. The popularity of this place is added by numerous waterfalls, caves, rivers. The road to this park itself is also of great interest, you can easily meet wild elephants on the way, therefore, for safety reasons, tourists are advised not to go there on their own, but with guides. The real decoration of this park is the highest waterfall in Thailand, Palau. This is a sixteen-step waterfall and if you climb to its top, you can enjoy beautiful views of Central Thailand and neighboring Myanmar.
You can go to such an interesting place as Baan Silapin Artists Village. Lovers of such art will have something to see, especially since getting to this village is not difficult, it is located just four kilometers from the city. The village was founded in 1989 and tourists can not only buy different paintings, but also communicate with local artists.
Not far from the village of Bang Kao is an interesting temple Wat Ta Nod Luang. This is not just a temple, but a temple-ship, which is located near the coast and whose architecture combines traditional Buddhist elements and shipbuilding elements. In this temple, the central panel depicts scenes of a shipwreck, and an elephant holding a helm on his head (a very unusual combination). The temple roof is decorated with numerous bells that emit characteristic ringing when the wind gusts. The temple was built not so long ago and, first of all, it is focused not on local believers, but on tourists.
Among the attractions located in the vicinity of Hua Hin include Sai Noi beach located 15 kilometers from the city and the Turtle Temple located next to it. You can comfortably relax on the beach, and order a rite of attracting good luck directly in the temple, and such a pleasure costs only a few dollars.
You can go to the mangrove forest, which is part of the large Forest Park, where you can walk a lot, enjoy the beautiful nature and at the same time absolutely not worry about your health. For visitors to the park, special suspension bridges are provided, which are closed to each other. It is simply impossible to get lost in this park, as there are exit signs and a map of the park everywhere. The highlight of this place are the large colonies of mangrove crabs. Near the entrance to the park there is a wild, unequipped beach.
Not far from Hua Hin is Wat Huay Mongkol, which is visited daily by believers from all over Thailand and other countries. The peculiarity of the temple is that its main statue is not a Buddha statue, but a statue of a famous local monk who lived about 400 years ago and is one of the most revered monks not only in Thailand, but also in nearby countries. In the evening, this statue is illuminated, so you can visit the temple not only during the day, but also after 18:00. Thais are sure that amulets with the image of this saint protect a person from various accidents, disasters and other troubles (you can buy such amulets near the entrance to the temple).
