Hua Hin is being pushed up at the pace of the nations
Hua Hin is doing well in all kinds of areas. For example, the megalomaniac train station is nearing completion and the Bangkok Hua Hin Hospital is being significantly expanded. The number of rooms will increase from 60 to 150, while the consultation rooms with doctors will also almost double in number. The ICU and emergency room will also have significantly more space.
So much for the usual news. On Friday, December 15, the well-known Dutch swing band B2F (Big to the Future) will perform in the garden of the Sheraton Hotel (on the border of Hua Hin and Cha am). Worth a party, because the band has been touring in Thailand around Christmas for ten years. In recent years, B2F has always listened to the Christmas gala of the Dutch association here on site, but the latter (a day later) opted for the music of jazz singer Nathalie de Koning.
B2F bandleader Jos Muijtjens is a native of Maastricht, who has been a teacher and international coordinator at the Thaiayotaya College in Ayutthaya for almost six years. B2F is co-led by his friend and saxophonist Paul van Duijn, also living in Thailand. The band also has several Limburg, Belgian and Thai members.
The performance in the Sheraton (with buffet 2200 baht) is organized by the Multi Culti Club of Lizzy Ginsel (originally from Kerkrade via New Guinea and very well known in Hua Hin and the surrounding area due to her contacts and appearance). The proceeds from the evening will benefit Jos Muijtjens' school, which will make several students happy as part of a cultural exchange with Finland.
The next morning the band members have to get up early, because on December 16 they have a big performance in Pattaya, at the Grand Palazzo. For that occasion, B2F will be expanded with four string players.
I don't want to be annoying, but a renovated station, an expansion of the hospital and a performance by a swing band: does that mean that we are gaining momentum at the same time?
I actually think all three have to do with the growing group of wealthy foreign expats in Hua Hin. Too old to drive a car, so the train is the alternative. More sick means more visits to the doctor and hospital. (fortunately all well insured so cash cows). And Western swing music for which almost no Thai can warm up.
Some irony is appropriate in this story. At least that's how the government makes it appear in Hua Hin. Agreed, the train station is significantly oversized for the eight trains that come there every day, but the planning probably took into account the high-speed train that will never come. Hope gives life, doesn't it?
It is not news that Thailand is aging. You will be surprised how many Thai patients call on the Bangkok Hua Hin Hospital. Not all of them are properly insured, but they do have enough money in their pockets.
Chris, your comment about B2F's swing music makes no sense. I have admired them for several years and the band has managed to get even a 92-year-old Dutchman onto the dance floor. And the Thai ladies also like it.
Thai ladies who are also older or looking for a relationship with an old expat.
I have never heard swing music here in Udonthani and only once when I was in Bangkok: and that was at a performance by this band. (most of the guests were foreigners)
So don't tell me that there are throngs of Thais queuing up for their performance….
And yes...I am firmly convinced that that (private) hospital would NOT be expanded if there were not so many expats living in Hua Hin. There is nothing wrong with that, but that is the truth.