Moving to Hua Hin

I live in Chiang Mai. I have heard of many people moving from Chiang Mai to Hua Hin. In part they want to get out of the city congestion. I know of JC and retirecheap.asia and now they promote Hua Hin. I'm looking at an exploratory trip myself. I also understand that Immigration is not as uptight as they are in Chiang Mai. It's on my list of exploratory trips.
I'd love to hear from others about the are.

Thank you for your response.I look forward to hearing from you regarding your research.

Have a great day

I used to live in Hua Hin for many years, my Mom, sisters and brother still do because my family own businesses there. My brother in law is the GM of the Bayan Resort and Golf Course, so I have a very good feel for what's happening in Hua Hin. In my opinion Hua Hin is a wonderful place for an ex-pat to live, it has great beaches, golf courses, plenty of decent restaurants, friendly people and a lot less traffic then Pattaya or Chiang Mai. There are also two big hospitals, as well as very good clinics and dentists. I now live in Pattaya where I work as a consultant for a law firm. I like Pattaya, but I do miss the laid back vibe in Hua Hin, and still visit quite often. I still have a large three bedroom villa with a swimming pool in a very nice part of Hua Hin,  which I am considering renting out, but only to retired ex-pats or people working in Thailand.

Hua Hin is a very good place to live, especially with a family. I am living in Khao Tao, south of Hua Hin.

We have now very good infrastructure (schools, hospitals, shopping centres, restaurants etc.). The main drawback are the big traffic jams at weekends, when all the Bangkok Thais come to visit Hua Hin. But you can avoid this with some planning.

Thank you , much appreciated

Ok I couldn't resist getting my 2 cents in. .....I retired here in 2013. 1 1/2 years in Chiang Mai and Nearly 2 Years in Hua Hin.  My total moneys coming in are around 1500 a Month. Back Stateside I had a one room apartment in a ok area. Here I currently have a 2 bedroom house with western Kitchen and 2 baths with showers (I do mise a bathtub) air in each bedroom and one in kitchen dining  living room area. Wall around house with sliding steel gate. Rent is 11K baht a months or around 320 US. electricity is around 100 US a month on average ( I do not like hot....) water $1.50 a month. Most of my food is local thai food from street vendors $1.25 a meal and I also do a fair amount of cooking. when I can buy from a thai market I do as western foods are 2 to 3 times the price at a grocery store. I cant get crazy but I live well. The house is about 5 miles from City center in a rather rural area..... Theres even a guy with a small herd of cows that he herds around the area. I did buy a Motorcycle as I prefer to ride myself and avoid taxis and Tuk tuks. The Thai People are very friendly for the most part and when Ya get here make an effort to learn a few words and customs and you'll do fine... Never loose your temper in public! (very bad Manors). I Am in Thailand and I DO MY BEST TO CONDUCT MYSELF AS A GUEST IN THERE COUNTRY. I was a soldier here in 67 -70 and fell in love with country and peoples.  Sometimes when I cant sleep I might go for a walk... Immagine going for a walk in south Chicago at 2 am.....    well that's it for now    BY all...
Sawadee krop
Me.....

Where are some spots where Farang's meet in Hua Hin, either for coffee or beer? I'm doing my exploratory trip, first one, April 16 - 21. I'm supposedly in the downtown area at some B&B villa.

Hello, Best place to Live in Thailand. I have lived here for 14 Years.I left France (that I love ) at age 20 . Lived overseas for nearly 60 Years.  If You want more Info. Contact Me xxx  Take care .Daniel

Hi, Good choice, Hua Hin is a wonderful place to live, I've been living here for around 30 years. I'm about to move a little out of the town, it's now getting busy, but away from the town centre you'll love it.  Enjoy

Hey, another fan of JC here too!

Where is the Best place to live in Hua Hin, Cha Am away from the crowds?  In a Quiet area & on a clean beach?  Does any place like this exist? For 10-20 thousand baht 2bedroom 2 bath. with pool & gym. Have car.

If you travel 20km I think prachuap khiri Khan is a million times more pleasant than HH but I realise some people consider prachuap to be in hua hin yet I have very different views in relation to both areas and PKK is by far one of my favourite spots and HH one of the worst. Never went to chaam.

I am planning on coming to Thailand on a 60 days tourist visa then change it to non immigrant O, then ask for extension based on retirement
i read on some forums that hua hin immigration require
1- you deposit your money 800,000 Baht for 90 days ( not 60 days )
2- they require both( the income and the deposit money method - not just on or the other )
3- they ask to see a 3 month rent receipts to give the extension based on retirement
is this true ? if yes , then how can i manage to get the non immigrant -O visa  considering that
i will be in quarantine 15 out of the 60 days . ?
Thanks

Do not fret to much , Immigration are approachable and are willing to help.  The mountains of red tape and paper work can be off putting but things always work out in the end.  I lived Hua hin for 2 years , nice place, you will enjoy it . Good luck .  Terry.

If you do not like Hua hin you wont like Cha am . Iv heard PKK is pleseant place to be.

We live in Aria which is a quiet pet friendly gated pool villa community. About 3.5 km from downtown. Very nice community of expats.

Great to hear,
What are monthly costs in hua hin

Do you rent?  Or did you buy?    Patrick

Initially we will rent until we are sure it’s the place for us, we looked at buying about 5 years ago and the iintricacies of ownership in Thailand makes it inportant to find the right place

It’s about 35,000 baht for basic living expenses. But we don’t have a mortgage or rent payment.

We bought our house.

We own other income  properties  here as well so it wasn’t a big issue for us as we’ve been through it all before we moved over here.

I would like to know more about the community you live in.  I’m in desperate need of expat friends. We live in Nonthaburi and very few expats live here.  Can you rent a pool villa in your community? We could afford to keep our place and rent down in Hua Hin.  Patrick

It’s mainly expats married to Thai wives that live in our community. Most retired. There are a few Thai families but definitely the minority. Everyone knows everyone. Dog friendly. These are 3-4 BR pool villas with some like ours having very large garden areas. It’s a gated community with 24 hour guard. The villas are all behind electronic gates. There may be some rentals here but not sure. I know at least one villa is for sale. One of our neighbors rents and you’d probably be looking in the 45-50k baht per month. Easy drive into town and there are quite a few things within a kilometer. You feel like you are in the countryside but close to everything. We love it! Hope this helps.

Thank You so much for the information. Do you know how I would be able to find any of them available to rent?  Patrick

Contact Arnold Ruijs.

https://www.arnold-property.com/about-us/

Thank You very much for your help. I just sent a email to the property manager. I would love to meet you and your wife when we get moved in. Dinners on us.  Patrick

WDO59 wrote:

It’s mainly expats married to Thai wives that live in our community. Most retired. There are a few Thai families but definitely the minority. Everyone knows everyone. Dog friendly. These are 3-4 BR pool villas with some like ours having very large garden areas. It’s a gated community with 24 hour guard. The villas are all behind electronic gates. There may be some rentals here but not sure. I know at least one villa is for sale. One of our neighbors rents and you’d probably be looking in the 45-50k baht per month. Easy drive into town and there are quite a few things within a kilometer. You feel like you are in the countryside but close to everything. We love it! Hope this helps.

Do you know anything about costs for renting a house in Thailand? 45-50k/month is a rip-off. Do you think everybody wants to stay in gated communities? The biggest mistake people do when moving to Thailand and looking for a house or condo is converting the cost in baht to the currency back home. That way it might look priceworthy, but it's the cost in baht in proportion to normal costs and income in Thailand that's important. Giving people which haven't got a clue about costs in Thailand advices about houses which might cost 45-50k/month is in my opinion a poor advice.

i looking at moving to HH next year to retire and purchase property, with my Thai wife. I’m interested in what or how most expats deal with getting health insurance. I’m not interested in the government ones, but other types and companies. Thanks in advance.

@lassie1 I am living in Hua Hin since 2011. It is a very good place with good infrastructure. My health insurance is from LUMA since many years and I have no problems.