CLOSEUP
thailand’s hua hin beach
FAHTHAI
47
King Rama VII called his
Hua Hin palace Klai Kang
Won (“far from worries”),
an apt moniker for a
seaside getaway spot in
a blissfully laidback town.
Experience “slow” Hua
Hin by sipping fair-trade
coffee at beachside cafés,
sampling local wines at
alfresco wine bars and
browsing local produce
at beachside lounge bars
and restaurants.
LA BIRRA
Sink into vintage sofas
and choose from 100
different beers, many from
boutique breweries, at this
beer bar decorated with
recycled materials and
retro finds.
Hua Hin Khao
Takiab Rd
CICADA MARKET
Browse art, sip coffee,
sample street food and
buy eco-friendly products,
from handmade bags
to handcrafted shoes.
cicadamarket.com
THE LIVING ROOM
BISTRO & WINE BAR
Absorb art, ocean views
and live music at this
waterfront café-bar and
gallery in a retro hotel that
was once the summer
house of Thai royalty.
livingroomhuahin.com
OCEANSIDE
BEACH CLUB AND
RESTAURANT
Sip cocktails made
with homegrown herbs
and fruit and graze on
Thai-inspired tapas on
lounge beds at Hua
Hin’s best beachside
spot for sundowners.
oceansidebeachclub.com
Slow &
sustainable
Hua Hin
from the use of a compost cocktail of kitchen waste,
manure and the products of worm farms; a home-
grown bio-pesticide; and organic fertiliser made from
fermented fruit and vegetable juice. Hua Hin’s breezes
keep insects at bay.
SiamWineries’ vintner Kathrin Puff also credits
reliable winds, felt as far away as Hua Hin Hills
Vineyard, a 40-minute drive inland, with keeping
bugs away and her grapes healthy. A lovely day can be
spent exploring the vineyard, riding an elephant amid
the vines and sampling SiamWineries’ New Latitude
Monsoon Valley wines, served alongside tapas made
with local produce.
Until recently, visitors could also venture into
breathtaking Kui Buri and Kaen Krachan National
Parks to observe SiamWineries-sponsored projects
aimed at restoring grasslands that prevent erosion
and sustain native fauna such as wild elephants. The
“safaris” are currently on hold until the end of the
year while park rangers review the planting work.
Visitors can still tour the 50ha winery on foot,
bicycle or elephant-back – to watch women grafting
vines and inspect the grapes up close – and visit the
greenhouses where experimental vines and organic
produce are grown in soil made rich thanks to the use
of rice husks and elephant manure.
PLEASANT
SURROUNDS
(From left) view of
The Sala from the
vineyard; Cicada
Market; (below)
the latest bottles
and bites
