Hua Hin Hot Topics - Immigration Moving
Now that the ASEAN hullabaloo is over, the brown uniforms have slinked off to count their takings, the road mayhem is back to its regular chaos level, the internet has been turned back on, and Hua Hin returns to a state of normality once again. The only lasting benefit we can see is the shiny new widened railway crossing at the G-supermarket, it certainly is a pleasure to navigate!
The local immigration saga is getting more attention, especially as not one of Hua Hin’s estimated 3,000 resident foreigners is looking forward to wasting the best part of a day making a 200 kilometer round trip to Prachuab every 3 months only to be told the ink on their forms is the wrong shade of blue, go back to Hua Hin!
A lot of goodwill has been shown by members of the forum, many of whom are willing to make a donation to the underfunded department to keep them in Hua Hin. The inflated costs of renting a simple house here could be prohibitive but the wheels have been set in motion by a number of business people and local committees. With the vast number of unoccupied properties around town it should not take too long to find somewhere. Then there is the issue of furnishing and air-conditioning the property, it is very unlikely that a Thai landlord would be willing to spend money on it so this will again need to come via donations.
Some have viewed the situation as preposterous; donating to a government department whose job it is to make life difficult for you when you simply want to extend your stay here. If the community assistance isn’t successful life is about to get a lot more tedious for the hundreds of foreigners who will need to trek down south to go to immigration, the only ones to benefit will be the legal firms offering visa services.
Other hot topics of the week besides the conference have been about local crimes and the fact that they’re on the increase again. Reports of bag snatches and muggings have trickled in, the victims are often female foreign tourists and the culprits are usually a couple of teenagers on a motorbike. The local plod can rarely be bothered to haul themselves away from the TV in these situations so it pays to be extra vigilant yourselves.
One plucky home owner managed to catch a crook on his home security system using hidden cameras. The bungling burglar even had the audacity to return to the same house again to steal … more laundry. Home security is always a good investment especially in a shrinking economy that is likely to make more people turn to crime. Foreigners have always been seen as easy targets in Thailand and with the general Thai attitude that we’re all walking ATM’s anyway it isn’t going to make life easier.