Hua Hin and Seaside Resort Development in Siam.
By M.R.Prudhisan Jumbala
If one were to mention the Western Seaside Resorts Development Act to today’s members of parliament, few would know anything about it. It is also doubtful whether the dignitaries who attended the recent 14th ASEAN Summit in Cha-am and Hua Hin at the end of February 2009 would realise how the Act marked an important milestone in the development of both these places from sleepy fishing villages into seaside resorts with public utilities and facilities for locals and tourists. The Act was proclaimed some 83 years ago by the then Absolute King, Prajadhipok (Rama VII).
Fifteen years earlier, around 1911, holidaymakers began to trickle in to Cha-am and Hua Hin when the places became reachable by rail from Bangkok, Thonburi to be exact. It was one of the first sections of the southern line to the border with then British Malaya that was completed. A little earlier, a British railway engineer, Henry Gittens, surveying the lay of the land, had come upon beaches of fine sand with a rocky promontory flanked on both sides by curving bays, more picturesque than Cha-am. The locals variously called the place Ban Laem Hin (Rock Point Village) and Ban Samor Rieng (Line of Rocks Village, ‘Samor’ being derived from the Khmer ‘Tamor’, meaning rocks). He told Prince Purachatra Jayakara (fountain head of the Chatrajaya family) of it and the Prince, having been to savour the sight, then informed King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) and successfully encouraged several members of the Royal Family and some nobles to acquire land there to build their holiday homes. A pioneer in doing so was Prince Nares Voraridh (fountain head of the Kritakara family) who built a number of houses and bungalows which he made available to relatives and friends. It was he who gave the place its new name of Hua Hin.
Notably however, Prince Purachatra himself did not buy land in Hua Hin for himself. Rather, he stuck to the performance of his duties for the government. In 1917, the northern and southern lines were combined to form the Royal Siamese Railways (R.S.R.) with the Prince, a civil engineer trained in England and Europe, as its head. The southern line having been completed in 1921, making it possible for European expatriates in Penang and Singapore to travel to Hua Hin, the R.S.R. branched out to involve itself in the development of the area into an attractive tourist resort with modern facilities.
King Vajiravudh gave the project his blessings and ordered built for himself a nest of teak villas on stilts fronting the beach at Cha-am some 12 Kilometres by rail north of Hua Hin. It was at this palace, Marughadayavan, that the dinner party for the heads of government attending the February ASEAN Summit was held.
The R.S.R., already running a set of bungalows to which it had cut a road, the only one, from the railway station, was ordered by the King to build a modern hotel near the rock outcrops. Hua Hin Hotel, Siam, designed by A.Rigazzi, an Italian architect attached to the R.S.R., was a colonial style two storey building with verandahs on either side and thus well suited to the tropical climate, according to architect Bundit Chulasai. It was royally declared open on January 1, 1922, King Rama VI’s Birthday Anniversary.
Although with only 14 bedchambers, the hotel was very well appointed and furnished and had a notably high standard of service. It had a pond and a tank for storing water and its own electricity generator, such public utilities being as yet unavailable. The hotel, later known as the Railway Hotel, Hua Hin, has since been expanded several times and, concessioned to a private developer, is today known as the Sofitel Centara Grand Resort and Villa, Hua Hin. Recently, the Chatrajaya family organised an exhibition on their ancestor Prince there.
Also in 1921, King Vajiravudh ordered a golf course of nine holes to be laid on land adjoining the train station. A.O. Robins, a Scot engineer attached to the R.S.R., supervised the landscaping. It was the third in the country after the ones at Chitralada Palace and at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. The King visited the hotel and played an inaugural round of golf at the Royal Golf Course, Hua Hin, on June 28, 1924 on the occasion that he first took up holiday residence at Marughadayavan. The course expanded to 18 holes during the next reign.
It must be pointed out that members of the Bangkok elite who sojourned to Hua Hin either went by boat or by train, there being no connecting roads. When they did so, it was usual for them to take with them “everything but the kitchen sink”, servants and all. In effect, they descended on Hua Hin for a long duration especially in the summer and would visit each other’s houses and join together in various activities. These included swimming, cooking, playing cards, and, later, partaking in afternoon tea at the hotel which boasted a miniature golf course, according to Sornsalya Paengsabha’s book, Ratree Pradab Dao Ti Hua Hin (Star-studded Night at Hua Hin).
It was in these circumstances of seasonal influxes of holidaymakers and tourists that the 1926 Act mentioned at the beginning of this article was proclaimed. The rationale for it went something like this:
“More people are coming to the seaside resorts. They bemoan the shortage of water and the lack of electricity and roads. They say they would willingly pay taxes if the government were to make improvements. Therefore, a syndicat d’initiative or municipality is to be set up on the principle that the people there, rather than the government, are to be responsible for financing the projects. This is because the government has to attend to more important matters. Once the area is developed, more foreigners will frequent it. The locals, and the country, would benefit as a result.”
A juridical body called a Council (Sapha) was set up to make improvements to the designated area either side of the railway line between Nong Ta Pod, a few kilometres north of Cha-am Station, to Khao Tao Station 13 kilometres south of Hua Hin, 44 kilometres altogether. Thus, the area covered both Cha-am and Hua Hin, both of which were in Petchaburi Province at the time. The Council was to develop communications, waterworks, electricity and also to engage itself in “town planning and the construction of buildings and other civil works as necessary”. The first royally appointed Council comprised Prince Purachatra as chair with representatives from the Ministries on Interior and Finance as members and Sir Robert Cook as advisor.
Though appearing to be a project very particular to an area, the Act was in fact part of a broader vision to introduce local self-government so as to inculcate Thai people in the conduct of democracy. In the same year of 1926 the newly crowned King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) had ordered a thorough study of municipal government to be carried out. It involved field trips to nearby lands such as Java, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines, then colonies of Western Powers, and also to Europe. The completed bill, drafted by a committee, was sent for checking at the Law Drafting Department in January 1931 where it remained such that it did not become law until after the June 1932 coup against the Absolute Monarchy, this despite King Prajadhipok’s queries about its progress. When the Municipality Act was finally promulgated in 1933, Hua Hin became one of the earliest municipalities.
Also in 1926, the King sought land in Hua Hin so as to build a palace, designated for his only Queen, Rambhai Barni. He bought tracts and had Klai Kangvol built out of money from the Privy Purse rather than the government’s budget, according to research by Kannikar Tanprasert. The “small is beautiful” Sans-Souci-on-Sea (‘Klai Kangvol’ means far from cares) was designed in an adapted Spanish villa style by M.C.Iddhidhepsan Kritakara, a Thai architect trained in France. It was necessary to bring in building materials and water by rail at considerable cost. Hence, a large reservoir was dug and remains to be seen from Petchkasem Highway to this day. The house-warming party was held in April 1929. It was at this Palace that the ASEAN leaders were graciously granted an audience by the present King who in recent years enjoys its tranquility for much of the year.
King Rama VII often sojourned to Hua Hin and took a keen interest in the affairs of the Development Council. The latter early faced problems acquiring land for the development of public utilities because much of it had been squatted on, thus necessitating a control order for appropriation at a reasonable price. The village of Hua Hin, between the Palace and the Hotel, was found to be a “plague spot” and therefore “needed piped water, roads and proper sanitation”, deliberated the Council. It moved to build a 30 kilometres road from Cha-am to Nong Gae, a market and a health station. The market, especially designed to be airy with 7 arches designating the Seventh Reign, had raised concrete platforms for displaying foodstuffs and was thus said to be the cleanest in the kingdom. The Chatra Jaya Market can be seen with its arches today by the Petchkasem Highway in Hua Hin town centre.
The Council then implemented a town plan, lanes being cut especially at intervals to facilitate public access to the beach otherwise fronted by private villas. When it proposed to run a shuttle service, it initially faced opposition by those who feared that it would be a monopoly. It also looked into solutions to the problem of water shortage. It dug irrigation canals and also embarked on a feasibility study to distil sea water into fresh water, a method which would also yield electricity! It sought a loan from the Privy Purse for the purpose but the 1932 coup happened before the King could decide on the issue. Prior to this, the Council had been granted loans from the Privy Purse for its road building. Otherwise, it obtained funds initially from a surcharge levied on rail passengers and later from rates charged to property owners according to property value. Klai Kangvol Palace also had to pay rates, at the highest level.
Writing in 1928, Erik Seidenfaden, an Orientalist, proclaimed, “Hua Hin-on-Sea… is one of the finest seaside resorts east of Suez and possesses one of the best golf courses in the Orient… Swimming, shooting and fishing are among the popular sports…”
Today, the face of Hua Hin has changed greatly. High-rise condominiums and luxury hotels compete for space with the few remaining villas, and shopping malls are cropping up. All this is very challenging for the town’s municipality to work out a method of government that would safeguard the natural environment, ensure good sanitation and also resolve conflicts between an increasing number of stakeholders. If achieved, Hua Hin would stand a chance of retaining the feel of a sedate and tranquil seaside resort that is much closer to Bangkok than many other places. It can now be reached from Bangkok by road in about two hours. Sadly however, the Railway Authority of Thailand is lacking in the dynamism of the R.S.R. that laid the foundations for the development of Hua Hin seven decades ago.
This story of the genesis of Hua Hin as a modern seaside resort may serve to remind us to be more thoughtful and careful about the direction of development of Hua Hin and Cha-am in these ‘democratic’ days which can often mean a free-for-all. Helping us to retain some links with the past are, on the one hand, the few remaining fishermen and their boats, and on the other, the few and far between sedate villas from those days that can still be seen if one looked hard enough.
Sukanya Chaipasee’s recently published book is of great assistance in this regard. According to her, one could savour a Thai meal at Ban Isara or at U Yen Hua Hin, or an Italian one at The Duke’s, all on Nab Kayhard Road. These were built by the Hoontragoon, Jotikasathira and Diskula families respectively.
However, there remain some long established eateries at shophouses in and near the town centre. KoTi, at the corner opposite the night market, boasts the crispiest whole fish in town and has been there for more than 50 years. Delectable braised duck noodle soup can be had at Jay Fai, also an old establishment that has moved from near KoTi to a shophouse between the town and Khao Takaeb on the outward bound side of Phetkasem Highway.
Well maintained and renovated to serve as a boutique hotel by the name of Ban Bayan is a villa that once belonged to a branch of the Devakula family. Other villas, not open to the public, that are well preserved are those belonging to the Sarasin and a branch of the Bunnag family close to the Sailom Hotel. The latter, Ban Pichaiyart built by Chao Phraya Pichaiyart, the man who received the 1932 ‘Permanent’ Constitution from King Prajadhipok’s royal hands, still serves as the focal point for his numerous descendants to hold family parties such as at Songkran and New Year. And of course, the Sofitel Centara and the Golf Course, where King Prajadhipok was informed of the coup on June 24, 1932, remain as lasting memories of the last days of the Absolute Monarchy for us to visit on our holidays.
Given that Hua Hin’s early development some 100 years ago involved sojourns to and fro of Thais and others in the peninsula both for recreation and in connection with the initiation of local self government, it is fitting that yet another ASEAN Summit aimed at greater connectivity between the ASEAN peoples is being held there in October.
PJ./Hua Hun Devt/ 24-03-09
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