The fun ones, the dry ones, and the risky ones
Thai holidays come in three flavours worth knowing before you book: enormous fun, everything-closed-and-no-alcohol, and genuinely dangerous on the roads.
Thai New Year, and the biggest water fight on the planet. For three days the country throws water at itself and Hua Hin joins in wholeheartedly. Worth seeing once in your life.
Songkran is by a wide margin the most dangerous week of the year on Thai roads — alcohol and wet surfaces together. Keep journeys short, and think hard before renting a scooter that week.
The beautiful one. Small candlelit floats are released onto the water at night to carry away the past year’s bad luck, and Hua Hin’s beach and waterways fill with light. Choose a krathong made of banana trunk or bread rather than polystyrene.
Several Buddhist holidays are observed rather than celebrated: temples are busy, bars close and alcohol is not sold anywhere, shops included. Election days are the same. These dates move with the lunar calendar, so if a drink matters to your evening, check the date before you plan around it.
New Year is the other high-risk period on the roads. Royal commemorative days close banks and government offices but nothing else.
What to do while you are hereWe live here — ask us anything about Hua Hin and you will get the real answer.
