It maybe a sign of the times but two hot topics that are always generating a healthy response are the cost of living and the increasing crime levels. As currencies and exchange rates continue to squeeze expats that bizarre Thai concept of increasing the prices when the customers are scarce just adds to those financial woes. The fact that virtually no Thai businesses in Hua Hin can acknowledge that there is a difference between a two-week-tourist and a permanently residing expat is frustrating. Hua Hin is a tourist town hence you’ll largely be paying tourist prices, an expat ID card to get local rates would be a great idea but as with many others it’s unlikely to happen.

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The annual Hua Hin Jazz Festival is back and this year promises to be even better with three days of music at two separate venues. The dates of June 12 to 14 should be penciled into the diaries of anyone that enjoys good music and the ambiance of a beach festival. The lineup includes international artists Shakatak from the UK, Malene Mortensen from Denmark and Popsanova from Brazil. Also in attendance will be performers from Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia and fifteen local Thai bands and musicians.

Hua Hin is expected to be jam packed over the festival weekend so it pays to book your accommodation early to avoid disappointment. Previous years have seen overcrowding problems as an incoming tide reduces the beach venue size; this year will be much better as the organisers have reverted back to a two stage event. The main stage is likely to be on the beach at the Sofitel with the second ‘Jazz Royale’ stage at the red cross park just down from Hua Hin railway station. For more information, lineups, schedules and images check out www.jazzfestivalhuahin.com and for discussion on the event take a look at the Hua Hin forum: Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2009.

Serenity descended on Hua Hin once more following last weekend’s Bangkok teenage party at the Honda Summer Music Fest on the beach in Khao Takiab. As expected organisation was shocking and the roads in and out of Hua Hin were gridlocked, there were reports of journeys of a couple of kilometers taking as many hours, even on a bike!

Takiab beach the following day looked like the Lebanon and the sad fact is that a lot of the plastic discarded by revellers the night before will end up washed out to sea. Thai fishermen are bad enough with their polystyrene contributions to marine habitats, and teenagers with plastic bottles just compound a problem that nobody seems to care about.

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The annual Red Cross Fair has been going on down Naebkehardt road in central Hua Hin this week. The gathering of hundreds of local stalls and attractions selling all manner of commodities occurs every April however it doesn’t feel like it was there that long ago. This is because there was one in November last year also.

Live music, thumping speakers and raucous fairgrounds are a great attraction to anyone that doesn’t live within a 2 kilometer radius of the event but for those that live and operate businesses down Naebkehardt road it has been a week of misery.

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