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First off, I'd like to apologise for those of you who may have had trouble reading last week's blog – although you might be having trouble reading this week's as well! At the root of these problems is the total lack of speed in updating pages by either the host of this page, a less than helpful bunch who go under the misleading title of 'Host Excellence', or the habitually un-user friendly Dot.tk people. Even though I have erased the file in question, they continue to display a page that doesn't actually exist! So instead of showing last week's page, they displayed a 2-week old page – and they still haven't responded to my complaints/requests. I am now in the process of changing things but in the meantime, I apologise for their lack of efficiency and total disregard for customer service. You can, of course, still read last week's issue using the link on the left – but that's always supposing that you are able to read this. If you have remained faithful despite all these problems, you have my undying gratitude, truly. The best way to avoid the unreliability of Dot.tk is to avoid using their shortened URL. Please bookmark http://huahinjapan.com/blog.htm/ instead. I hope this helps. Anyway, let's get on with this week's blog, in the naïve hope that someone will be able to read it!
The ongoing worldwide crisis is affecting tourism and related businesses worldwide, and Hua Hin is far from being immune to all this. However, it seems that the new town hall regime is planning to do things to improve life for residents and visitors – or at least, they're planning to talk about doing so. The deputy mayor, khun Suvit Reanroongruang, recently reported that the municipality is planning to improve flood protection, waste water treatment, waste transformation and water supply delivery systems, which may not sound very glamorous but are rather important for those of us who live here – though improving flood protection when the rainy season is all but over may seem a bit redundant. He also said that the town plans to bury all electricity and telephone lines underground, in order to improve the view and making walking more enjoyable. This project is expected to cost around 100 million baht so don't expect to see those cables disappear within the next few days. On the cultural side, he announced that they are planning to build an arts and cultural centre and pedestrian area on Damnoen Kasem Road (that's the one running from the station to the beach). Part of this scheme will be to convert the former fire station (a rundown place on the left as you head towards the sea) into a museum. What's more, the authorities have recognised that some unpleasant individuals who masquerade as property brokers and developers are cheating many foreign investors. Of course there are good, honest property folk here but just there are good, honest Wall Street bankers, they can seem equally hard to find! To help foreigners who want to buy property here to avoid being conned, the municipality is adding more English-language content to its official website (http://www.huahin.go.th, which includes a very good map), which will offer advice on what to know when buying property here. The deputy mayor observed that whereas most Thai buyers have enough information, foreigners don't. He then added, rather disappointedly I thought, that many foreigners were cheated by middlemen and even foreigners from the same nations who were property developers. However, don't think the town council is entirely altruistic. They know that cowboy brokers and developers have hurt many people's image of Hua Hin, and this hasn't helped the slowdown in the Hua Hin property market caused by the global economic situation. Revenue from property transaction fees are an important part of the council's income and those fees are expected to decrease by as much as 30% this year. Hua Hin isn't the only place to react like this to the present situation. The governor of our northern neighbour, Phetchaburi province, has said that the province is planning to improve walking areas near Cha-am Beach and will also establish bicycle lanes -- though as I recently noted, precious few Thai ever use a bicycle! The council in Cha Am, a town often seen as the Cinderella of the area, has already started work on putting electricity and telephone lines underground. There has even been talk of resurrecting the long discussed idea of linking this area with Bangkok by ferry – an idea I will believe when I see it in action! They are now talking about establishing a ferry port at Saphan Hin, at the north end of Cha-am Beach. The plan is to link Samut Prakan (29km south of Bangkok and near the new airport) with Cha Am by sea, a journey they claim will take less than an hour. Now we all know that impressive sounding plans announced by politicians often remain "on the drawing board" and rarely result in anything concrete, so don't start checking Google for the Hua Hin museum or the Cha Am ferry service. However, if even some of these plans reach fruition, it could make a lot of difference to life here for both visitors and residents. I shall keep a close, if somewhat sceptical eye on the progress of these schemes so watch this space.
On the property scene, Hua Hin has always been a bit different to other Thai resorts. The main difference is that this is a royal town, which means that it has a special attraction for Thai investors but also has much stricter building regulations. As a result, the property market here has become increasingly limited and expensive – though only by Thai standards! This has led to many developers exploring areas previously left untouched. A fine example of this is the development on the hills near the road south from Hua Hin to Pranburi, whose launch party was where the recently published photographed of yours truly was taken (see the November 18th blog). Nonetheless, despite high costs and limited land, property developers still like Hua Hin, which remains much cheaper and more relaxed than places like Pattaya. From 2003 through the first quarter of 2008, my hometown area saw 4,326 condominium units added to the local supply. Of these, 57% were in Hua Hin, 23% in Cha-am, 9% in Khao Takiab, 8% in Khao Tao (about 14km south of Hua Hin) and 3% in Pranburi (about 25km south), according to the research by property agency Knight Frank Thailand. Surprisingly, the recent farcical political instability, the September '06 military coup and recent Bangkok bomb blasts have not yet hurt new condominium projects in Hua Hin and surrounding areas, with investors seemingly confident that Hua Hin's tourist potential will remain strong. What's more, their faith in this town's potential has led to a steady rise in prices. Hua Hin condominium prices jumped 14.6% from an average 62,991 baht per square metre in 2006 to 72,063 baht last year. At the top end of the market, top-priced beach condominiums here recently sold at 125,000 to 150,000 baht per square metre. Luckily, I bought my place a few years ago, when prices were much lower. (I am also a 15-minute walk from the beach but that's another story!) This all explains why developers are visiting places they may not have heard of a few years ago, places like Pak Nam Pran and Khao Sam Roi Yod. Another problem for developers here is the incredibly short-sighted increased restrictions on foreigners buying houses, with the old system of buying a place using a company whose required 51% Thai owners were chosen from the phonebook or friends coming to an end. Local land offices now check on the Thais listed, making sure they really are shareholders. This has left leasehold about the only viable way to own land here, and so condominiums have become MUCH more popular, as foreigners can legally buy a condo unit freehold in their own name – though the law still requires that 51% of your neighbours must be Thais. You might wonder why a country that clearly needs foreign investment makes it so hard for foreigners to invest, especially as neighbouring countries are making life easier for foreign buyers. Then again, you might wonder why a group that claims to be nationalistic and patriotic, meaning the PAD demonstrators in Bangkok, are hurting their nation's reputation and economy so publicly. The answer is simple. As anyone who's been here a whole knows, it's best to leave logic behind when you come here!
You regular readers (don't worry, I won't reveal your guilty secret) may recall that I recently reported (in the November 4th blog) on the upmarket Black Mountain golf course. Well, the developers behind this impressive project, a Thai-Swedish firm called Thai Nordic Property Co, were planning to finance the golf course by also developing a residential project which, when combined with the golf course, was worth 10 billion baht. Sadly, however, the world's financial markets have even reached Hua Hin and so the planned new phases of the project, including another 18-hole golf course and more housing units, have been put on hold while the owners try to gauge the full impact of the global economic crisis. They have already sold 9 of the 15 villas adjacent to the golf course for 48 million baht each, but now might not be the right time to add to one's financial commitments. This is not due to affect the 4 five-storey condominium buildings in the first phase of its residential project near the golf course, which are due to be completed by February 2009, of which 30 have already been sold. So who is buying these properties? Well, unsurprisingly (to anyone who lives here), 70% of the buyers have been Swedish, 20% from other European countries and 10% were Thai. Funnily enough, the Swedish gentleman behind Black Mountain, Stig Notlov (a former major shareholder of the large Swedish construction materials firm Byggmax) had initially considered placing his dream golf course in Phuket, but then came the tsunami. Being on what is widely considered to be a tsunami-free coastline, he then turned to Hua Hin. Oh, and speaking of golf, the Royal Hua Hin golf course (Thailand's oldest, conveniently located next to the railway station) will next month be hosting the Singha Thailand Junior World Golf Championship. This event, which will take place from December 11-14, will be open to boys and girls aged 9-17, and amongst the would-be Tiger Woods will be young players from not only Thailand but Bangladesh, China, England, Hong Kong, Japan, Laos, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Ukraine and Zimbabwe (probably very glad to get away from that betrayed nation). So we can expect to see some more foreign faces around the town next month – which is just as well if the rather grim predictions about the peak tourist season turn out to be correct!
As I'm sure you know (especially if you have kids), it is now exactly a month until Christmas day. The preparations for Christmas seem to move closer to Easter every year, and so why should Hua Hin be any different. My son's school recently organised a tour of the town for his class, visiting places like the quaint and historic railway station, the park named after a locally born Thai boxing champion and the Market Village shopping centre. After this trip, what was the only thing my 4-year-old son remembered about the day's events? What he referred to as the "happy Christmas tree" at Market Village! Yes indeed, there are Christmas trees, pictures of Santa and fake holly all over Hua Hin – though some lethargic shops simply didn't bother taking down last years decorations! I'm more of a traditionalist and so I wouldn't dream of erecting our tree and decorating the family seat until after Advent Sunday, which is this coming Sunday, in case you've forgotten. Back in Tokyo, we only decorated our tiny home very minimally, unable to inspire ourselves to go to all that trouble. However, seeing my boy's face when he first sees the Christmas tree with all its lights flashing makes any effort worthwhile and so starting next week, we shall be decorating our peaceful little mansion. However, before that, I have the 'pleasure' of going on a day-trip to Bangkok, but I won't be pleasure bent. You see, I'm going to have to leave Hua Hin at around 7 on Thursday morning, forgoing any breakfast, all so that I can have my oesophagus stretched -- and you'd have to be pretty damn kinky to consider that a pleasure! If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get back home around sunset or maybe just after. Life in the tropics is just one round of fun! Anyway, I hope you've got more to look forward to this week, and on that cheery note, I'll close here. Take care and may the wind be always at your back.
