prounounce as Guy yang wua heen Hua Hin is where the King now resides in the Royal Summer Palace. Hua Hin is about 2 hours south along the Coast south of Bankok. This lovely seaside area is very popular with Thais and a few from Scandnavia mainly those of Finland. Steve and I love Hua Hin for its wide white 11 kilometer long beach where you can even ride horses. The seafood is amazing! Spices used are a bit different from say Bankok and very different from Isan (NE Provence) or Hat Yai which is mainly Muslim and next to the Malaysian border. Thailand is a very long country and as a result there are many regional ways of cooking. Hua Hin offers fresh seafood daily direct at Hua Hin Fishing Pier and Khao Takiab Fishing Village. Many are located close to the Fishing Pier area of Hua Hin where the catch is literally still flipping when brought to the restaurants. But at the Hua Hin Night Market such as Gai Yang and Satay rule. A big difference is that the chickens are fatter in Hua Hin than those skinny black birds running around that end up on bamboo sticks on the grill in Chiang Mai. This all being said Gai Yang is the speciality of Isan! Some of the most flavourful of all skinny chickens which are the best! You get some crispy skin in each bite have an interesting ingredient-a water beetle thing. In Thai it's called maengdaa and gives various dips and sauces a sort of "fruity" flavor (at least that's how it tastes to me--it's really quite hard to pin down). You can still buy the entire insect, but nowadays many people use the artificial maengdaa "essence" that comes in tiny vials and is available at most supermarkets. I buy several boxes on each trip to Thailand. I know it sounds weird but it is great for it's special flavour. Shanti/Mary-Anne