Hua Hin Day Market

This is where Hua Hin actually buys its dinner. Fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, household bits and clothing, spread across a main area with side streets branching off that reward a slow wander. Prices reflect what Thai families pay week to week rather than what a tourist will swallow, which is the whole point of coming.

Go early. It opens at six and the fresh produce moves fast, plus the crowds thicken as the morning wears on. The dried seafood stalls are the thing people rave about, both raw for cooking and the cooked stuff you can eat out of the bag as you walk. Mango sticky rice gets singled out too. Be ready for a proper wet market though: it's clean and orderly by all accounts, but there are smells and wet floors, so wear shoes you don't mind. If you want a polished souvenir market, this isn't it.