Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [467]
Brasserie de Paris (08 1826 6814; 3 Th Naresdamri; dishes 350-500B) France comes to town with a real French chef cooking up authentic French flavours in a light and airy space with good views of la mer from bistro tables upstairs. Local crab is the standout dish. Reassuringly expensive.
Drinking
There are several fa·ràng bars under European management in the Hua Hin Bazaar. Some offer the familiar Thai-hostess atmosphere, but a few bill themselves as ‘sports bars’ and have wide-screen TVs. Soi Bintaban is lined with girlie bars doing their best to attract clientele. It’s not a dangerous place per se, just a glimpse into the seedier side of tourism. Nearby Th Naresdamri is a bit more salubrious with a couple of classier drinking holes.
O’Neill’s Irish Pub (0 3251 1517; 5 Th Phunsuk; 8.30am-midnight) Pretty authentic for so far from the Blarney Stone, O’Neill’s (formerly Crawford’s) offers excellent craic amid two levels of moody wood, with lots of hideaway nooks and crannies. Live sport is on offer on several tellies, and there’s a robust menu including fish and chips. Draught beers are cheaper Monday to Thursday. Slainte!
Mai Tai Cocktail & Beer Garden (0 3253 3344; 33/12 Th Naresdamri; noon-1am) Attracts a casual crowd on a deck made for people-watching and chairs made for chilling. Draft Chang is only 45B.
Bernie’s (0 3253 2601; Hua Hin Bazaar, Th Damnoen Kasem) The owner is a big golf nut with loads of info on swinging a club in the area. Wall-to-wall TVs show wall-to-wall sport – especially golf.
Hua Hin Brewing Company (0 3251 2888; 33 Th Naresdamri; open 5pm) Though there’s no longer any beer brewed here, most nights there’s a live band followed by a relatively clued-up DJ. Inside is as dark as the belly of Jonah’s whale, so park yourself outside on the spacious decks and watch the passing parade on Th Naresdamri.
el Murphy’s Mexican Grill & Steakhouse (0 3251 1525; 25 Soi Selakam) Serves an unlikely combo of pints and Mexican food. Come in to enjoy a tall one while you watch the game, but maybe skip dinner – it’s rather what you’d expect from Thai cooks in an Irish bar trying to cook Mexican food.
Along soi Selakam between Sidewalk Café and el Murphy’s there are several hostess bars, but a few don’t have girls. No Name and Lord Nelson’s are two of them.
Getting There & Away
SGA (0 3252 2300, in Bangkok 0 2134 3233; www.sga.co.th) flies a 12-seat shuttle at 12.30pm and 5.30pm from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport to Hua Hin (one way 3700B, 40 minutes).
Air-con buses to/from Bangkok’s southern bus station (140B to 165B, three hours) leave 70m north of Rajana Garden House on Th Sasong (outside the Siripetchkasem Hotel), every hour from 4am to 10pm.
The new main bus station is south of town, on Th Phetkasem, and has air-con buses to many destinations throughout the country. There is at least one bus per day to each destination: Phetchaburi (85B, 1½ hours), Cha-am (45B, 30 minutes), Prachuap Khiri Khan (60B to 80B, 1½ hours), Chumphon (160B, four hours) and Surat Thani (270B, seven hours). This bus station has plans to add a direct service to Chiang Mai.
Frequent nonair-con buses to Phetchaburi (50B, 1½ hours) and Cha-am (25B, 30 minutes) leave from near the intersection of Th Chomsin and Th Phetkasem.
Minivans run regularly from Bangkok’s Victory Monument to Th Phetkasem (200B).
There are frequent trains running to/from Bangkok’s Hualamphong train station (2nd class 292B to 382B, 3rd class 100B to 234B, four hours) and other stations on the southern railway line.
Getting Around
Even though shm·lór fares in Hua Hin have been set by the municipal authorities, haggling is usually required. Sample fares include: from the train station to the beach 50B; from the air-con bus terminal to Th Naresdamri 40B to 50B (depending on size of your bags). Most drivers will push for at least twice this much.
Motorcycles (250B to 500B per day) and bicycles (100B per day) can be hired