Just
shortly after World War I, during the reign of Rama VI, the
Southern Railroad was built to give people the chance to
travel overland in comfort all the way to the Malaysian border.
In the early 1920s King Rama VII, concluded that Hua Hin was
an ideal getaway from the sultry metropolis of Bangkok. The
tranquil fishing village was turned into the Royal resort with
the building of Klai Kangwon (Far From Worries) Palace in 1928
and consequently became popular among Thailand's nobility and
upper-class.
Klai Kangwon Palace is still an official
royal residence and is open to the public on a daily basis.
It is still frequently used by members of the Thai Royal
Family.
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Hua
Hin's became even more popular with the opening of the Railway
Hotel. It was constructed by Prince Purachatra, the Director
General of the State Railways, after the Southern line was
completed.
This elegant colonial style building, set in beautiful
gardens, survives to this day and is now known as the Sofitel
Central hotel. The building was used for several scenes during
the making of the film The Killing Fields and is one of the
finest examples of colonial style architecture in Thailand.
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At
around the same time a Scottish railway engineer by the name
of O. A. Robins designed and built Thailand’s first golf
course. Opened in 1924 and less than one kilometer from the
center of town, the Royal Hua Hin Golf Course also became a
major reason to visit Hua Hin. |
It
didn’t take long the elite of Bangkok society to begin
flocking to Hua Hin, at first to stay in the hotel and later
in bungalows they built along the beach.
Nowadays, despite modernisation and
development, Hua Hin’s
laid back lifestyle is not all that different from those
enjoyed by its aristocratic visitors of days gone by.
Hua Hin is a charming resort town with a sense of history and
a peaceful but scenic atmosphere. |
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