Hua Hin to Sam Roi Yot

January 2, 2023

Bending with the Wind

Apparently, through the years a lot of seedy old Western men discovered that Hua Hin had great weather and a nice beach to wash up on. So they hung out there drinking a lot of beer. What they wanted then were women they could walk three meters in front of down the sidewalk and more or less ignore. A lot of women who had no opportunities in life, mostly from poor Issan (NE Thailand), got wind of these pathetic Western men all congregating down in Hua Hin. To them, all Western men are wealthy and, compared to them, they are. All the women needed to do was first date the guys. The guys figured that if they paid for the women's meals, lodging, clothes and whatever else she wanted they would be in control. Once the women had the hook set, then they needed to get the guys to marry them. All they needed to do then was wait for the men to die. Then they really would be rich. As one Thai woman explained to me, "It's a short term investment for the women."

These men never had much chance of marrying a woman in their own country. So, in a way, it all works out except I feel sorry for the women, not so much for the men. The women never really had opportunities, the men usually did. I'm not describing 100% of the Western men who have done this, only about 90%. The other 10% are really good matches and actually love each other. Those are the few guys I see walking side by side with their Thai wives.

What I'm saying is that I think Hua Hin is a gross place. It's filled with massage parlors, bars, prostitutes and seedy men. Then there are the beachfront areas of Hua Hin that are full of fancy hotels that block a lot of the beach from the public. The really nice hotels reminded me of parts of Florida 50 years ago. They are beautiful, just unaffordable for us. The hotel we stayed at was all right but overpriced because it was in Hua Hin and they could get away with it. It did have a great bed however.

We got up early and walked a very short distance to the fishing pier. Since all the dozens and dozens of hotels along the beach are super fancy I guess I was expecting the rest of the town to be more or less clean and neat but it in fact Hua Hin has a serious sewer gas problem. Every street or soi we walked down smelled awful. As we approached the pier there was not only a lot of trash but trashed and abandoned buildings some right on the beach next to the pier. The street basically needed to be ripped out and a new one built because it was in such bad condition. From the pier we had a very good view of a large amount of trash that had washed up on the shore as well as in and around the fishing boats. I couldn't help but think about the huge amount of money the fancy hotels take in and how wealthy the owners are and do they pay any tax at all? Where does that tax go? Why are there super rich and super poor in Hua Hin? Why are the big hotels glistening and the rest of the town gross?

That's a lot of trash. At the base of the Hua Hin pier.

After listening to a wonderful koel serenade us we walked towards the central market because if you want the old style Thai coffee called cafe boulan, the central market is usually the place where it can be found. But, we found it well before we got to the market. A wonderful older Thai woman had a stand and welcomed us to a table she had. She only spoke Thai to us and we in turn spoke only Thai to her. I kind of like it when people don't even attempt English and speak to us as if we were fluent in Thai! She was authentic and so was her coffee. She even had the old style tea chaser to go with the coffee. We had the same authentically Thai experience at dinner last night on the street. This is the Thailand we love.

So, we did find happiness in Hua Hin. We found that not only are there a lot of women servicing the gross old Western men but there are all those fancy hotels that need thousands of daily workers. They are all Thais just trying to make a living, nothing special, just a living. They all enjoy being Thai and living like Thais and that means eating great food on the street from portable vendors. They enjoy the cheap old style Thai coffee as we do. These are the things we enjoy because we feel we are in Thailand and we want the authentic experience and we love that the most. We love the Thais and feel bad for all they put up with. The Thais have always put up with stuff and they are masters at bending with the wind to achieve something better. They always compromise or rather they shut up if they know in the end they can eventually further themselves. This is the Thai way. This is why they have never been a colony of a foreign power.

Thailand came closest to domination during WWII when the Japanese invaded. The Japanese mainly wanted to cross Thailand into Burma because their objective was to fight the British for control of Burma and India. So, the Thais told the Japanese they could cross to Burma if they didn't stay in Thailand to control them. That's not to say it was an awful time for the Thais but as they have done many times, the Thais bend with the wind. If you bend with the wind you will be able to return upright someday. If you go too far you will break.

The women tolerate walking behind their men because they know that a little humiliation will not hurt them. The man will die and they will finally have a better life. Eventually, even the rich hotel owners won't tolerate the town smelling like sewage. They will clean it up and the streets will be paved, trash picked up off the beach near the pier and abandoned rotting buildings will be cleared away. There is an order to things and they take time to accomplish.

But, what I want to know is where did all this massage come from? All over Thailand there is a plethora of masseuses. This never used to be. I mean, I remember when there was almost no massage happening in Thailand. Now, it is everywhere and Hua Hin has more per capita than anywhere I've ever been. It makes me suspicious of what exactly goes on at a massage parlor. The number of seedy Western men is higher in Hua Hin than just about any place I've been in Thailand; however I've never been to Pattaya. Do the number of seedy Western men go hand in hand with the number of masseuses? Further research is needed.

Hua Hin Summary: Lots of massage women half of whom seemed like prostitutes, lots of unremarkable Western men, lots of bars, lots of prostitutes in the bars, lots of Western restaurants, lots of sewer gas smells, lots of trash around the fishing boats and pier, overpriced guest houses and hotels that also are unremarkable and lots of big fancy hotels on the beach which I know nothing about other than their high prices which prevent me from finding out much about them, some great authentic Thai street food and a koel with a remarkable voice in a tree with no leaves not far from the base of the pier with a 7:30AM serenade schedule. Don't miss this koel if you are in Hua Hin. It stayed in the tree for a very long time.

We left Hua Hin around 9:30. We rode through town heading south and eventually we had to get on Highway 4 - the big highway. But we were not on it for long and a bike path appeared which took us quite a few kilometers. It was great except there were some motorbikes, motorized vendor's stalls, a couple of cars and even a police on a motorbike, all on the designated bike path that had signs everywhere that only bikes were allowed on it. It wasn't that big a deal. It was simply an irritant. It was an opportunity for me to bend with the wind. And speaking of the wind it was the strongest wind we have had yet on our trip. Fortunately for us the wind was at our backs at about 10mph (16kph).

When the bike path ended we took highway 1019. Our objective was to get on a road as close to the beach as possible. We hadn't really gotten to do that yet and being so close but not having arrived, the anticipation was building. When we did head straight to the beach it was a wonderful reunion with this sea. The water looked remarkably clean and the wind was brisk from the north. It was more thrilling than I thought it would be and immediately both Andrea and I said it had been the right decision to come to the south and specifically to the beach. I am a water person, having grown up on a lake, and there is something deep inside of me that feels whole when within view of lots of water.

Our first view of the sea as we rode south.

Then we started riding right alongside the beach on Beach Road! where a lot of really nice hotels continued, as well as nice homes. But in between were more down to earth resorts and shops, restaurants that middle class Thais on vacation could afford. And those middle class Thais were out in force. It was so nice to see them having a great time together. Families were everywhere. Kids were racing to the beach, flying kites, jumping, digging and some were even swimming in the surf. Dads were grabbing their youngest ones and racing towards the water scaring the kids half to death. Families were laying out blankets willy-nilly and having impromptu picnics. Grandparents were lying asleep where they had eaten, also willy-nilly. I remember when there wasn't much of a middle class in Thailand but now there is and they have cars - a way to get to the beach. They have vacation time - unheard of in the past. They are happier than ever, the ones we saw. It was a sight that made me smile the whole way.

And that tailwind also made me smile. When we got to 10 or even 12 miles per hour there was no wind resistance and it was dead silent except for the sound of the waves. I said to Andrea, "Cycling doesn't get any better than this." We were on a perfectly smooth straight road, no hills and lovely people all along the beach. We stopped at a motorbike-driven drinks stand for some Thai iced tea at a place where there wasn't much going on. We sat at a table near the beach and drank the not overly sweet drink. I felt I had entered a different time zone - beach time. The dog lying near us, dead to the world, was proof that beach time was a real time. I needed the wrist watch I have back home that has only small shells in it - Beach Time. And again, I was so happy we had chosen to come to the south of Thailand.

A perfect place for a Thai iced tea break.

Bikes on one side, dolphins on the other.

There are lots of these little inlets or mouths of streams all along the east coast of Thailand - a perfect place for fishing boat protection.

Our logical destination was a resort called Blue Beach Resort where Frankie stayed twice because, well, Frankie wouldn't steer us wrong! In fact, we had been following his route suggestions the whole way from Hua Hin and yes, Frankie was right, the resort was still there, the owner very nice and the price rather cheap for being 100 meters from the sea - 600 Baht or $17. We also had a wonderful meal right next door and ate right on the beach in a little thatched hut. We simply got the cheapest and most basic dishes: one pad Thai and one fried rice but we ordered each dish with shrimp. The shrimp were numerous, enormous and super fresh and delicious - another reason it's good to be at the sea.

It was the most lovely day of riding we have had in a very long time. It was the kind of day when you are having so much enjoyment riding and looking around constantly that you don't look down at the odometer. When I finally looked at the odometer and it said 29 miles I couldn't believe it. How could that be?! It seemed more like 5. A magical day in the sun with the sea on our left and a whole lot of lovely Thais all around.

And, I almost forgot but I saw a live cobra pass in front of me. It happened as I pulled into a small empty parking lot because the sign said it was a "viewpoint." Yes, there were a few colorful fishing boats in a small river but the main attraction for me was the young cobra crossing the parking lot. It wasn't close enough to get entangled in my wheels, a nightmare scenario for me. That's the third live snake we have seen. Actually, Andrea didn't get to see it for some reason. I was pointing and yelling, "Cobra... cobra... cobra." 'Cobra' is not our code word for 'Trouble' or, 'Let's get out of Here'. So, I don't know why she didn't see the snake. Our code word is "Tippy Toes!". (It's from Seinfeld.) It was a cute cobra and he stopped briefly and raised his little cobra head in my direction to assess the danger I might pose. It was brief, but I think he winked at me. Pretty sure anyway. Maybe it was his way of bending with the wind and staying out of trouble.

lovebruce

Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 809 miles (1,302 km)

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Jen RahnThe wind has been blowing like crazy here .. 20-30mph for hours!

So this was a great morning to let the 'bending with the wind' theme percolate as I sip my coffee.

Next time I encounter a day that smells of sewer gas or some other irritant, I hope to be able to pause and ask myself "What would it feel like to bend with the wind here?"

I'm gonna guess that most situations don't require the pants-on-fire "Tippy Toes!" response. And like that cobra, I can just smile and wink.
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1 year ago

Rachael AndersonI’m glad to hear you had such a wonderful ride!
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1 year ago