On Saturday the 9th, Hua Hin was busy again with the Princess Pa’s Polo tournament taking place. It’s now 3 years since the last time polo was played on the beach in Hua Hin, due to the Covid situation. As usual, Harald Link and B. Grimm were in charge. It was the 11th Anniversary. People arrived at 12.30 for Welcome Drinks & Lunch, shopping and several activities.
There were quite many sales stalls selling wine, food, sun creams, promoting magazines etc.
Most guests had arrived at 2 pm and when the Grand Parade took place . Elegant musicians marched along the beach. At 2.30 pm it was time for the Opening ceremony.
As previous years, also “a fashion show on horses” took place and some very young and cute boys and girls were among the models.
It is also a yearly happening for the domestic “horse people”, who are daily on the beach with their horses, taking care of tourists who wish to ride. These guys and some girls, participated in a run and it was an exciting atmosphere and happy winners.
At 4 pm, the Final Beach Polo started. As expected, the team Thailand won against team Hong Kong, but also Malaysia and Singapore took part. It was great to watch all good riders and their amazing polo ponnies. These ponnies can turn on a pence and it looks like they are enjoying the challenge. It’s a quite dangerous sport, so you have to be a real good and experienced rider and familiar with your ponnies.
At 5.30 pm, Harald Link and his team received the coveted trophy and the happy polo participants could relax and get ready for the dinner by the pool area at Intercontinental Hotel.
This year, the concept was different from previous year’s events. Instead of having the guests walking around on the big lawn and pick up food from different stations, there were tables for the VIP’s and some for the “normal” paying guests. Unfortunately more people showed up as they probably had expected and not having signed up, which made it impossible for all paying guests to get a seat, and, believe it or not, not even to getting some food. Both cutlery and food disappeared fast and many of us were unhappy. The queue to the food was enormous. The hotel blamed it on the organisation and of course, they were stressed out and unhappy, I don’t know who to blame it on, but I must admit I was most disappointed.
A huge stage was built up and the theme of the night was “RBSO plays Broadway under the Hua Hin Sky.”
Let us hope that this event in April 2023 will be back to the huge success it uses to be.
CHEERS!
Sunday morning I and “my photographer” Daniel Herron, went over to Baan Laksasubha, a beautiful resort with white villas, several pools and an excellent restaurant located close to Centara hotel. Here we enjoyed a delicious breakfast with Khun Lak herself. This resort offers its guests a lot, tranquility, beach access, a gym and delicious food. Well worth to visit!
