Having just returned from Phuket I thought I would compare it to Hua Hin from a purely tourist point of view. I’ve broken the categories down for easier viewing and comparison:

Accommodation:
We stayed in a 3/4 star hotel with pool walking distance from Karon beach, the week spent there was booked on the internet at a rate of 1,500 baht per night. There are fewer options in Hua Hin with these facilities at this price but they can be found, accommodation options in general are better in Phuket but then the place is much bigger.

Admiring an Andaman sunset

Transport:
I drove myself and found that the roads in Phuket are much bigger, more organised and traffic seems to flow better without the bottlenecks and crazy makeshift police barricades that can be found in Hua Hin. That said there did seem to be a greater volume of traffic there, the likes of which Hua Hin only experiences on weekends. Hua Hin is far better for public transport and motorbike taxis, Phuket seems to be overrun with a taxi mafia with fixed inflated prices.

Restaurants:
The two are pretty level pegged on this one with restaurants catering for all tastes and all nationalities in both. The one thing Phuket does have more of is Indian food which I enjoy, Hua Hin is sadly lacking in that department with one overpriced Indian restaurant.

Attractions:
I’m afraid Phuket wins hands down with this one, everything imaginable all within half hours drive. Being an avid scuba diver I was in heaven, you can’t beat the Andaman for quality dive sites and plenty of operators to choose from. Hua Hin is slowly developing in terms of tourism so more attractions will inevitably come.

The idyllic Bungalow Bay - Racha Yai Island

Expenses:
This one goes to Hua Hin as everything in Phuket’s tourist areas cost around 30% more than the Hua Hin equivalent, this ranged from a bottle of beer to t-shirts to a taxi ride to a meal for two. Even in Hua Hin’s tourist center you can eat and shop for relatively little, not something that is possible in Phuket. Naturally if you avoid the tourist areas you will get local prices in both places.

Nightlife:
While I wasn’t able to sample Phuket’s nightlife on this trip I have done on previous and it beats Hua Hin hands down, everything you can imagine can be done.

In summary both places have their charms but for different things, Hua Hin feels more “Thai” whereas Phuket is rapidly becoming a tourist theme park where in certain areas you’ll see more foreigners in a day than locals. That said, shopping, eating, entertaining and touring is all available in mass quantities in Phuket. This comparison has been from a solely tourism viewpoint, both places have another world waiting just outside the safe fringes of the tourist areas so don’t be afraid to explore!

Impressive temple complex at Wat Chalong

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 7:41 pm and is filed under Hua Hin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.