The event started on Sunday 29th and continues today with off road time trials and racing. It is located along the canal road on the “48 rai” market land near Karat Village. Offroaders from all across the Kingdom turned out to compete by driving modified “Mad Max” type dune buggies and pickup trucks around the course which had been created to resemble a battlefield with some serious peaks and troughs! It was a great day for all, gearheads and regulars alike, and you could get close to the action but with the risk of getting covered in dust everytime one of these beasts roared past!

More images from the event can be found here: Hua Hin Off Road Images

In the nineteen fifties and early sixties, I went to the pictures (yeah, that’s what we called it in those far off days) three times a week. You see, new films (not movies) ran Monday to Wednesday, Thursday to Saturday and a complete new, one-off, showing on Sunday. There was an A picture and a B picture with the Pathe news and lots of adverts. You could stay through all the showings for the one price. We got a lot of screentime for our money. When we viewed a film in 3d we held cardboard glasses with coloured cellophane eye patches, one in red and one in green.

There used to be an interval when you could buy a Kia Ora or a Mivvi from a woman in a pink gingham skirt and blouse with a tray slung over her shoulders. I was saturated with films until all the picture houses closed and were turned into Bingo halls.

Much later than that, I saw Jaws and it is only recently I have felt able to walk through puddles instead of going around them. It was the last film I saw at a cinema until the weekend just gone that is, when, not to be outdone by friends who booked to see Harry Potter while I was in Bangkok, I went to the Imax cinema at the Paragon Centre.

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The Hua Hin Municipality have kindly sent us their list of up and coming events for the rest of this year.
JULY
Hua Hin Candle Celebration
Starting Day – 27 July 07
Place – “19 Rai” Near Majestic Hotel
Activities – ceremony of candle melting for the temple.
For more information – Hua Hin municipality education Tel 032 532480

AUGUST
Hua Hin Lilawadee & Orchid Exhibition Show
Starting Day – 1st to 14th August 07
Place – Hua Hin Market Village
Activities – Orchid & Lilawadee Exhibition show Contest Lilawadee Seedling self
For more information – Hua Hin Market Village Tel 032 618850 and 089 2545182

Cha-am Hua Hin Golf Festival
Starting Day – 1st to 14th August 07
Place - Hua Hin golf courses
Activities – Special prices and competitions for golfing in Hua Hin
For more information – O ffice 2 Tel. 032 471005-6

Hua Hin Regatta
Starting Day – 1st to 5th August 07
Place – Infront of Navepirom building, Hua Hin beach
Activities – Annual sailboat competition
For more information – Ship Royal Palace Fleet secretary Office Tel. 02 4661811

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Travelling on Petchkasem road, and it’s a long road, you might be following a truck full of building material. You might see several of them that turn off and head towards the mountains.

You will also see many places where there is new build. Go onto the coast road and head towards Khao Ko Lok or continue toward Pranburi then turn  left at the traffic lights and you will see more new build - homes, shops, condos, roads. 

Take in the view. If you’re a frequent traveller then you might realise that something is missing. Ah, yes! The mountain that used to be there is now no bigger than a builder’s spare tyre. The lush green vegetation has given way to raw red rock with trucks perched on it, gouging a trail that circles the mountain, stealing the earth and reducing the ancient land to nothing.  

The Western World has been levelling the earth for years and when I arrived in Thailand it was a pleasure to recover some of those lost landscapes.  My eye gloried in the rise of land that sometime looked like jagged teeth biting at the air: sprigs of trees, tangled foliage and broad leaves that alleviated the sameness of the horizon; land that was alive with insect, bird and beast.  

Paradise is disappearing fast and I feel a great sadness. 

www.writeinparadise.com

Low season is upon us and the streets of Hua Hin are a little quieter this time of year, fortunately that seasonal lull does not transfer to the internet as the forums have been as busy as ever. We usually find that many people start researching for their approaching holiday online when we in Hua Hin are going through a quiet spell. With more people using the internet, they find HHAD the best place to search for accommodation, recommendations, and things to do in advance of their approaching holiday. For the expats it provides a good place to share their knowledge and meet up with like minded people.

This month discussions have revolved around all number of topics including the advantages and disadvantages of all the recent development and an interesting list of things that the town could do without. Most residents are in agreement about many of them with traffic topping the list of annoyances, we think a spell in Bangkok is due to regain some perspective!

Lots more discussion in the property section, most of which now centered on condominiums as foreigners can legally own the freehold to them resulting in a possible increase in demand. A number of new condominium developments have been started this year as their popularity grows, we will have more news on them with the launch of a new website next month.

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Finally got round to taking the boat trip out to Singto (Lion) Island last weekend. We stocked up with essential supplies which didn’t include sunscreen (but should have) and did involve emptying the local minimart’s fridges of beer.

The weather was pretty overcast and the sea a murky brown colour so little chance of any snorkeling out there, not that there would be much marine life anyway. We chugged out towards the sleeping lion which gave us some great views of the coastline around Takiab.

Due to very low tides we were unable to disembark at the islands so motored on towards Khao Tao and were rewarded with a great view of the temple complex there. Jumped off and swam for Sai Noi beach where we anchored up, had a good feed at the restaurant right at the far end.

It seems the army were doing some kind of initiation ceremonies on the beach there as groups of half naked men in speedos where subjected to hurls of abuse and forced to drink whiskey and do pushups, we were hoping the Burmese didn’t decide to invade just then!

A pleasant cruise back along the coastline past Suan Son where more bizarre military maneuvers were taking place. All in all a very agreeable day and worthy trip for those seeking to have a different view of the surrounding area.

More info and bookings for the trip can be found here:
www.khaotakiab.com/island-trip.htm

A blockade commenced yesterday morning at around 9 a.m. at the mouth of the Pran Buri River in front of the Lawana resort.

Since then, no boats whatever have been permitted to enter or leave Pak Nam Pran. Located 25 km south of Hua Hin, Pak Nam Pran is the biggest and most important fishing port in the area, with over 300 seagoing fishing boats based there.

Up to 4 rows of local small squid boats have cordoned of the estuary to protest at the action of larger boats dredging for shellfish off the coast.

According to the locals, the shellfish boats are not from Pak Nam Pran; rather they come from Cha-am, Petchaburi, Samut Sakhorn, etc.

The locals argue that the shellfish boats tear up the seabed, thus leaving precious little for the squid to feed on and that, for this reason, squid have started to become scarce in the area.

The locals on this side of the river, in particular, live almost exclusively from small-scale squid fishing – hence the banks of green light out at sea at night.

It is said that the shellfish boats are allowed to operate and moor in Pak Nam Pran only because they pay off the local harbour police.

The locals have formed a solidarity committee and have said that they will not lift the blockade until the head of the provincial government in Prachuabkirikhan comes to hear their grievances.

They have two demands:
1. that the shellfish boats may only fish outside a certain limit
2. that the head of the harbour police is transferred out of the area.

The locals, with wives and children, are holding a day and night vigil at the blockade and appear to have the full support of the local community, most of whom are linked in some to the squid-fishing industry.

Meetings are apparently being held this afternoon in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

Reported by Barry Stone, Mermaid Cruises.

Over on the HHAD forum they have launched a couple of photo competitions, one for Hua Hin related images and one for general photographs. Voting is open to all though you must be registered on the forum and it is likely there will be more competitions held if there is enough demand so all the camera buffs out there get snapping:

Hua Hin photo competition

General photo competition