The 'I Love Hua Hin Concert' is a fun way to raise awareness of the town's environmental issues
VANNIYA SRIANGURA
As one of the country's legendary resort towns, Hua Hin still retains its glorious charms. A prestigious holiday destination for royals and aristocrats in bygone days, the town today has become one of the most stylish and sophisticated stops for young and hip holiday-makers.
However, behind its gracious beauty, Hua Hin needs help - a helping hand from local residents and visitors to protect Hua Hin's timeless glamour.
According to Krip Rojanastien, chairman of the Preserve Hua Hin Group (PHHG), the tourist town is facing several environmental issues including pollution on the beaches and the deteriorating quality of life for locals.
"Hua Hin is a fast growing community because of the recent boom in real estate development, and along with the growth comes environmental problems," said Krip. "The major problems that the town faces today are basically the beach cleanliness and water quality. These are our priority concerns because without the environment Hua Hin would no longer be the leading high-end tourist destination that it is and should always be."
Founded in 2004, the Preserve Hua Hin Group is an initiative of
Chiva-Som, Hua Hin's internationally-acclaimed health resort. The
movement is a cooperation between private businesses and the government
sector in Hua Hin, including many resorts, condominiums and the
municipality, to help preserve the quality of Hua Hin's surroundings.
Chiva-Som
"We believe that the quality of Hua Hin beach today is still among the best in Thailand in terms of the cleanliness and hygiene as well as order on the beach, because the Hua Hin municipality and our group are very particular about who gets onto the beach. There are all kinds of people that could get onto the beach like the beer bars, food stalls, massage stalls and so on. We try to control that, as well as the jet skis. If you let the jet skis get out of control you are in danger of losing that peace and tranquility and also the safety of the tourists.
 Performed by professional artists on the expertly-set stage, the music
will be '60s and '70s rock and blues to cater to the target audience. |
The Sunday concert expects to welcome 1,500 concert-goers to a park on top of Khao Hin Lek Fai. |
Last year the PHHG donated gardening equipment to help keep the garden of Khao Hin Lek Fai, a hill behind the town of Hua Hin, beautiful. The year before, the group donated fire fighting motorcycles for handling emergencies. This is because the group had realised that many roads in Hua Hin are too small for fire engines and problems weren't being solved as quickly as they could have been.
One of the major annual activities to help raise funds for the Preserve Hua Hin movement is a music event called "I Love Hua Hin Concert". Going into its fourth year, the 2007 event expects to welcome 1,500 concert-goers and will take place on Sunday, December 9, at a park on top of Khao Hin Lek Fai that offers a great panoramic view of Hua Hin.
Tickets are priced at 1,000 baht and proceeds will go to support the movement to preserve the local environment. The price includes five hours of live music, an "I Love Hua Hin" T-shirt and a wide variety of free food.
"Food will be offered by several leading resorts and restaurants in the area. Anyone interested in healthy cuisine will find an array of Chiva-Som dishes to try. We have also created new signature dishes for the event. We'll be relying on local dishes such as phad thai and khao niew mamuang which Hua Hin is famous for," said Krip.
"This year our sponsor, Siam Winery, is offering samples from a vineyard that they started up in Hua Hin. Made from a grape called Hua Hin Hill, the wine is going to be sold overseas and should create a huge impact as a product that complements Thai food very well."
The music will be '60s and '70s rock and blues to cater to the target audience - according to Krip, people who go to Hua Hin regularly are in that bracket. And it's a type of music that he very much enjoys too. As an avid musician himself, Krip together with his friends, will also play at the concert.
"We are amateur musicians but we are backed up by professional musicians. The main acts at the concert are professional artists. This year we will have leading artists such as Jennifer Kim and Koh Mr Saxman as well as a line-up of professional musicians who are believed to be among the best in the country."
The stage and the sound system were designed for outdoor events by professional organisers who usually support leading artists. "Our stage is quite a special one because the roof can be rolled up and down depending on the weather," said Krip. "While the musicians are well covered, the audiences will be well covered too because Singha Beer has provided huge umbrellas, so if it rains it doesn't matter. But we don't expect any bad weather on the day."
As a long-time Hua Hin regular, Krip guarantees that besides great music and culinary delights, you will find on Hin Lek Fai hill another dimension of Hua Hin: a great view with cool and dry weather, almost like that of northern Thailand.
"A lot of people care about the deterioration of the quality of the beach and the environment of Hua Hin but didn't know what to do about it. They were concerned but there was no means through which they could take action or help. Now there is a channel - our initiative.
"The economy of Hua Hin has to grow but it has to grow in a balanced way. We don't want to turn Hua Hin into Bangkok, that's for sure. Therefore Hua Hin has to be careful about future development especially the urban planning. It should grow without damaging the image, the environment and the reputation or the historical value of Hua Hin. With His Majesty the King's summer palace being here it makes it even more important, more urgent for us to help preserve it."
The 4th "I Love Hua Hin"charity concert will start at 6:30pm on Sunday, December 9. Tickets are 1,000 baht per person. Call Preserve Hua Hin Group at 02-711-6900 ext 116 and 125, or 032-536-536 for more information and tickets.
Source: Bangkok Post
