Hua Hin Railway Station

Hua Hin, Day 23

Today, we decided to walk to the Hua Hin train station, as it has a lot of history.

12 Dec 2024

The original Hua Hin train station was built in the reign of King Rama VI, and it was one of Thailand's oldest railway stations. Its most striking feature was the splendid Royal Waiting Room constructed in the Thai architectural style. The room was relocated from Sanam Chan Palace in Nakhon Pathom province during the reign of King Rama VI.

The station building was built in 1910 and rebuilt in 1926, into the current Victorian building.

Hua Hin station was more recently reconstructed as an elevated station as part of the double-tracking project of the Southern Line. It opened on 11 December 2023. The former station and Phramongkutklao pavilion are now preserved and maintained as a historic building by the Fine Arts Department.

Street Graffiti Art

Another quite interesting aspect of Hua Hin is the street art that is everywhere.

Artist Ngang W Joe is famous in Hua Hin for his “eye” artwork. Almost everywhere you go, you'll find a surface somewhere painted with his whimsical, fantastical style. He has been painting Hua Hin for 15-plus years. He and his girlfriend also have a small café and gallery in Hua Hin, too (though we never managed to go there).

I know artwork is subjective, and a lot of people have mixed feelings about street art or whether it promotes graffiti. However, I liked it and it brightened up so many boring walls that I think it added character and interest to the place. The fact that it is everywhere must mean that the government officials of the area are also quite happy with it; otherwise, I'm sure it would have been eradicated and the artist told to stop. For me, I thought it was pretty cool, and I couldn't help but wonder about how many images there are in the whole town/place.

On our way to the station, we did pass the usual stalls and food vendors, and it was so interesting to see them selling durians by the side of the road in the back of their pick-up trucks. Of course, now that we have already tasted this, we were able to just walk on by...

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped off for some cold drinks in a nearby café, and I had a delicious watermelon smoothie - I'm getting quite addicted to these now, and R had his usual boring Pepsi. Then it was home for a shower and a rest before heading out in the evening for dinner with a cheeky Nutella banana roti for dessert! What a perfect end to the day...

Hua Hin, Thailand