Bangkok to Phuket Roadtrip - Interview with Jonathan Fairfield in Hua Hin

Jonathan Fairfield is the editor of Hua Hin Today, an online news publication and monthly local paper. He's a local Hua Hin-ian. Tim sat down to talk about modern Thai journalism, in English language. Is there a future for English language journalism in Thailand? Who visits Hua Hin? Who decides to stay and retire in Hua Hin?
Tim Newton Today is a daily take on Thai and regional news and issues of interest to expats and foreign tourists.
With thanks to our sponsor 5 Star Marine in Phuket for premium, private charters to the beautiful islands and beaches. 5starmarinephu...

[@keithbarlow6596]

Thank God it’s not Phuket or Pattaya. Why on earth would you think that those places represent something to aim for.

[@kellgiggs6593]

Well said Johnathan, Hau Hin is not Phuket or Pattaya. Everything is there but not over the top, just down the road (25km) is the charming Cha am. These are areas where Thai people come and enjoy some r&r, from my stand point as a westerner please don't expand the airport and spoil that part of Thailand

[@williamhartz8707]

International flights will ruin Hua Hin’s quiet scene. Look at Koh Samui, Phuket, Pattaya. You want seediness and traffic to take over Hua Hin?

[@williamhartz8707]

@@fendermatt874 Having go-go bars, girlie bars side by side along with bumper to bumper traffic including bus tours isn’t a sign of progress. ( Only to sex tourists)

[@Denis-kb8ls]

Bring back Jack.. at least i can understand him...Hehe

[@aussie-kiwi]

Your joking the main road in Hua Hin can be a traffic nightmare. And the footpaths a great way to break a leg..And get rid of the horses pooping on the beach.

[@timnewtontoday]

ThT could be said of any any Amon population centre in Thailand if you don’t have your brain turned on.

[@aussie-kiwi]

Maybe I should drink less coffee.But Hua Him has great golf courses and I do like the Town.

[@drmoynihan]

Hua Hin is a destination for Mountain Bikers from Bangkok because of it's great trails. Our Daughter's Family live in Tha Sala/Nakhon Si Thammarat with the Airport 20 minutes from their home. Lots of flights between Bangkok, and almost no other destinations. Wish there were some to Phuket or Koh Tao so I could go scuba diving. But it is only a 2 1/2 hour drive to Krabi, so I guess we are going to go diving sometime in January/February.

[@charliebarton9878]

Well, those microphones certainly worked well. Sound was professional quality with no background bleed in.

[@pressurecareaust.8421]

EXCELLENT INTERVIEW TIM. Just as an aside, May before last, a popular local airline were happy to take payment for return flights Hua Hin to Udon Thani & then advise that service had been cancelled. No refund given, just a credit for whenever they resume that service 👎👎..

[@andrewk4881]

Thanks Tim. Nice interview with Johnathan. I will have to check out that cafe.

[@MisterPhat]

I went to Pattaya about 20 years ago. The sin city aspect of Pattaya was pretty full blown even then. I've never been to Hua Hin but that's never been what I've heard about Hua Hin. I think you'd need to go back to the 50s to see a Pattaya that didn't have a strong sin city aspect to it. Does Hua Hin have that?

[@D.Appeltofft]

It's smaller and concentrated to the area around Soi Bintabaht and Soi 80. It's mostly small bars, but a lot of them.

[@MisterPhat]

@@D.Appeltofft I see. Thanks. Yeah, that wouldn't work for me with family, young kids.

[@_Alfa.Bravo_]

A+ What I don't like about HH beside not beeing a bit cleaner and that the city is devided by that big mainroad: No free view on the water , no beach promenade with lots of trees. Visiters want to smell salt water, listen to the waves, watch sea guls and not smell fried fish from baracks above the beach or find horseapples in the sand on the beach ( it got no real harbour either ). Yes it has a long tradition and some historic buildings, but they need to wake up, that if something grows big, it needs much more efford to make/keep it nice and clean (get main traffic arround the town)

[@thomasjohnrobinson4658]

Airfares doubling hasn't helped.

[@thomasjohnrobinson4658]

I was in HuaHin when comercial flights started,Bangkok Airways twice a day stopping off enroute to Samui,then they built an airport that was far bigger than needed put up the fee's and Bangkok Airways said no thanks.

[@thomasjohnrobinson4658]

It isn't a Sh*****e like Pattaya or Patong for a start.

[@limirl]

​​@@thomasjohnrobinson4658 Pattaya beach is far better than hua hin's beach which is a shithole

[@kmdale7041]

Low low season..due to cost of living, inflation, airfare increase, thailand more expensive,poor exchange rate..etc etc

[@TeddyBear-zj4qg]

Tim the traveller. Nice.

[@mangostickyrice555]

Thumbs up 👍 Timmo

[@carpepoodle]

I've heard the beaches are not good, with horse dung and rocks underfoot, and beach vendors that charge 4 times the going rate for food and drink.

[@timnewtontoday]

That’s not really a fair summary. Not even close. I didn’t notice any of the things you mentioned.

[@carpepoodle]

@@timnewtontoday So you went to the main beach and swam?

[@thomasjohnrobinson4658]

I was in Phuket in November and Samui this month both more expensive than HuaHin and bloody awful,I doubt I'll return to either.Bangkok Airways are not reliable in my experience and overpriced and will maintain their monopoly on Samui.I drove via Surat Thani,won't fly with them again.

[@MisterPhat]

@@thomasjohnrobinson4658 Why were they awful?

[@D.Appeltofft]

The beach is not great. I didn't see any horse dung - (I've been there twice), but the bloody rocks are a nuicance! Difficult to detect since the water's not crystal clear if it's windy. And they're covered with razor sharpe sea-shells that can cause a nasty infection if you don't get the wound cleaned immediatly in which case I recommend a massage shop (no, not that kind - the other kind). At least that's what I did the next morning, when I found the cut looking and feeling worse...

[@kerryobrien71]

Thanks Tim, interesting interview.

[@Rdimbus1957]

Tim, you brought out those great shirts.

[@_Alfa.Bravo_]

Awesome shirt, Tim !!!

[@realBobToms]

I spent 3 wks & 2 days in HH and returned to CM from there last Wednesday. I missed you Tim. We could have had a coffee and a chinwag.

[@scottDchicago]

I’m excited to visit Hua Hin! After a dozen trips to the Kingdom spanning exactly thirty years, I’ve never visited there. However, my father, who has traveled thirty times to Thailand spanning four decades, speaks extremely highly of Hua Hin. He enjoys golf and Hua Hin has an excellent reputation for its golf courses. Great interview!

[@perolovbrenegard9106]

Very nice interview,and very nice to hear you talk about Hua Hin,and I will be reading the newspaper from now ,and, my Thai wife and me are going to build a house in a place called Nice Breeze Nine,close to the mountains,about 15 minutes drive from the centre of Hua Hin .

[@thefuturefactory56]

Thai tourism is going to suffer,as it will everywhere, as World economies look shaky and living costs increase.Disposable income for holidays is falling.

[@Stefan-----]

Thanks, Tim and Jonathan. Super interesting and great view into Hia Hin. I beg to differ on Monsoon Valley everything I tried was not worth the try.

[@allanbeesey1006]

As a resident I think Hua Hin has been pretty busy this year, a year ago it was mostly Thais on the beach now it has been taken over by westerners, the nightlife has picked up, my airbnb has been booked out more than ever, Russians are everywhere, and it has extended outside the high season, and weekends especially long weekends are packed.

[@IrishPhotoArchive1952]

It would be great to have flights linking regional Airports to avoid BKK but probably not viable. When midspeed railway is finished and older wrecked building are refurbished along the beach are done it will be the best place in Thailand

[@rockin4840]

"Aggregators"....yeah, magpies may be a better description. Nice one Jonathan

[@graemeaylward8313]

Khon Kaen has an International Airport that only flies internal flights! Crazy all the alterations and additions must have cost millions!

[@TeddyBear-zj4qg]

Journalism should to be original, Tim. News item can be the same, but the research should be original.

[@timnewtontoday]

I mostly agree, but that’s not the direction the industry is heading. I have a realistic outlook on where it’s going and hope to be a small part of maintaining a certain level of journalistic integrity although I admit, as does Jonathan, to being part of bastardizing the process here in Thailand.

[@TeddyBear-zj4qg]

@@timnewtontoday Yes, what you said is mostly true about the Industry. As for your reporting, Mai pen rai krub Tim. You are doing fine. You are doing original stuff too like - that grumpy thing on Sunday and doing your Benz tour. Those also have some aspects of news reporting. Example, today you reported about tourism trends in Hua Hin. 👍👍👍

[@williamdonaldmoody5305]

Hi Tim prices of 2017 ,18,19 of $870.00NZD To now if I booked to Bangkok from Auckland NZ 2 stops either way is $1670,00 with flight centre 😀

[@williamdonaldmoody5305]

At these current prices increasing trips to many places would be slight 🤔the excuses if oil production being lowered increasing Air travel won't help numbers return to Thailand of 2019 levels

[@aussie-kiwi]

Hua Hin has a large German population and they all seem to be real estate agents. Go the the Hilton Hotel for lunch or dinner great location.

[@maggiegrl6068]

I used to read Huahintoday news frequently before I went to Thailand. Now that I live in Hua Hin I can't access the website.

[@timnewtontoday]

You’re not trying very hard then

[@nicholas36545]

What is his accent? Where is he from originally?😂

[@jensrasmussen6814]

Tim 2:45 in Those 219 …. Tim seems to get older and older and can’t hear him speak out

[@MisterPhat]

I think we are all getting older and older 😁

[@jameskole9254]

Would it be appropriate to take the boat from Hua Hin to Pattaya? What would it look like? (Asking for a friend).

[@timnewtontoday]

Not running anymore… as far as I know

[@_Alfa.Bravo_]

... Tim is correct. Existed from 2017-2021 by "Royal Passenger Line", these catamarans could never handle higher waves. A lot got seasick. 2600,-B for a return ticket was quite a high price, no scooters or cars possible, but they were quick just 2h. Seahorse ferries is going from Pattaya to Koh Samui with monohul. They think about a stop in Hua Hin. May be in the future.

[@grillman7170]

Nice one! Cheers

[@burbsonian7827]

interesting

[@097534]

Tue 25 April I passed through Man airport on my way to Bangkok and stunned shock I saw a Thai Airways plane parked up. I know there was news they may get a slot but what is Thai doing in Man?

[@timnewtontoday]

What is ‘Man’ airport

[@097534]

@@timnewtontoday Manchester uk

[@rodkennett5361]

Probably ferrying passengers, Frank.

[@graemeaylward8313]

Maybe "He who can't be mentioned" was visting a football match! 😀

[@097534]

@@rodkennett5361 after contacting the live streaming guys at Manchester I was told the Thai A330 had come up from London for a full service. I live in hope.

[@TheInsultInvestor]

1

[@youwatchme0808]

[@donjordan8174]

Expat golf society I belonged to in China… had summer golf / holiday trips for families and golf… most said Hua Hin is good for family and if wanting to go out partying.. you can do both in different areas… they’ve always spoke good of it…

[@eddierobb4775]

What language is he speaking

[@williamhartz8707]

Very strong, isn’t it? 😜

[@stephentyas4698]

a Yorkie?

[@rodkennett5361]

@@stephentyas4698 Manchester, for my money. Not that strong and (@eddie r) clearly English.

[@shane0traveller451]

Yeah I want to go there BAD!!