Hi Elly,

My personal opinion is that Hua Hin is a lot quieter, a lot less 'in your face', and also a lot nicer than Pattaya. It's certainly got a lot less sex tourists. But of course, many thousands of holiday makers infinitely prefer Pattaya!

You should have good weather in either location.

I have no idea about apartments though, someone else will help I'm sure.

is there plenty to do in hui hin though we are couple mid fifties are there plenty of shops bars etc to browse and is the beachside nice thanks

Hi Elly,

I can give you a good idea as I came back from Hua Hin a few weeks ago and went to Pattaya last year.

Depending on what time of year you go - weather should be good in either place. Jan-Mar is the best time to go.

It's roughly 2.5 hrs to either resort, depending on traffic obviously. To get to Hua Hin by cab is a flat fare of 2800baht - between £45-50. I can't remember what Pattaya was but it will be very similar.

Pattaya is very much in your face. The main tourist area is Walking Street. this is full of bars and restaurants, virtually all of the bars are 'hostess' bars, where girls try and get you to go in and they are 'available' to spend some time with you if you pay!! The rest of the bars are Go Go bars, which are a bit sleazier still. There's nothing that shocking, no nudity or anything like that, it's just obvious that a lot of the girls sell themselves and many of them are very young. Away from walking street there are still lots of bars and some restaurants. As ever with Thailand, the people are really friendly and there is no 'threat' walking around anywhere at night, except maybe by the beach. The beach in Pattaya is a small sandy beach and the sea is very polluted. You won't want to go swimming in there and the beach has LOTS of stray dogs and subsequently lots of dog mess. At night, when you walk along the promenade, there are a lot of dodgy looking characters sit along there, junkies and street prostitutes. again, it's not threatening as such but I wouldn't walk down there with a camera round my neck, jewellery on display etc. you just have to be sensible like anywhere else.
Shopping in Pattaya is very good, lots of shops and even more street traders with a wide variety of goods, it is good shopping. Weather in March was lovely, we had a couple of short, very heavy showers but the rest of the time it was around 85 - 90 degrees and sunny. We stayed at the Sheraton Pattaya which to be honest, was fantastic, one of the top three hotels I've ever stayed in. We enjoyed it, but wouldn't go back.

Hua Hin by contrast, is the holiday residence of the Thai royal family, and therefore they keep the sleaze to a minimum. There is one small street of hostess bars called Soi Bintabaht. But these are just normal bars with a few girls 'touting' in each one. It's opposite the Hilton hotel where I stayed - if you go to Hua Hin I would recommend staying there - everyone rates it no.1 hotel in Hua Hin.
There are plenty of restaurants and bars, just more laid back than Pattaya. Shopping isn't as good because there are few street traders compared to Pattaya but there are two big night markets in Hua Hin.
Weather in Feb was nice - around 85 degrees again although our last 4 days were cloudy, still very warm. Hua Hin also has Monkey Mountain and some Elephants which you can go and see - feeding an elephant by hand with no bars or cage is an experience I will never forget!!
The beach is Hua Hin is lovely, 5km of sandy beach, we walked about 2km on it every day, lovely. The sea is much better in Hua Hin, loads of people in swimming.

Overall, Hua Hin wins hands down. But if you like hustle and bustle and a fair amount of sleaze, then Pattaya will be fine.

Hope that helps, please feel free to ask any other questions. I've also been to Bangkok and Koh Samui.

Cheers,

TC

Hi TC

Just reading your post and was hoping you could give me some info on Bangkok and Koh Samui.

I am heading to Thailand for the first time in December staying 3 or 4 nights in Bangkok and then undecided between 10 nights in either Koh Samui, Phuket or Krabi.

Travelling as a couple in 40's and looking for nice beaches and some nightlife.

Any advice would be welcome.

datsun,

4 nights in Bangkok may be too much in my opinion, 3 is enough I think. The Landmark hotel is excellent in BK, close to everything and reasonably priced too.

Koh Samui is lovely. We stayed at the south end of Chaweng beach. Far enough away to have quiet during the day but 5 mins walk from the bars and restaurants. I really liked Chaweng, it's the main resort on Samui but is still relatively small. Some great restaurants there - Coco Blues is fantastic.
There's a horseshoe shaped area with really lively bars and clubs. I think Chaweng has everything but it's not too over the top, unlike Pattaya. I would highly recommend it if you like a bit of nightlife

Flight wise, you can fly from BK to Samui for about £90 return. If you're not worried about flying to BK direct, check out Etihad airlines, very good prices and excellent planes. If you do a changeover of only 2 hrs, it's not a hassle at all.

Cheers,

TC