The Railway Hotel is a historic hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand. [1] It stood in for the Hotel Le Phnom in the 1984 film The Killing Fields . The hotel occupies land leased from its owner, the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). The lease will expire in 2020. [2]
The hotel dates back to the time when Hua Hin itself was evolving into Thailand's first beach resort. [3]
The beauty of Hua Hin was noted by the engineers surveying the southern railway route in 1909. Land was set aside for a station, and when the first section of the line opened in 1911 Hua Hin became a destination where wealthy Bangkok residents built their holiday homes. The southern line to Malaysia was completed in 1921, making it possible to travel between Bangkok, Malaysia, and Singapore by train. [3]
Mr. Alfredo Rigazzi, the State Railways' Italian architect, designed the original building as a luxurious two-storey European-style resort hotel made of brick and wood, in accordance with royal command. The hotel was constructed on State Railways land while existing bungalows were moved a short distance away. The hotel featured 14 bedrooms, a lobby lounge, bar, restaurant, billiards room, wine storeroom, and large verandas, costing a total of 128,366.75 baht, a staggering sum at the time. A veranda surrounded the building, cleverly designed to protect guests from the sun's heat and prevent rainwater from running back along the tiles. The building was remarkably similar in appearance to the Marukhatayawan Royal Residence in nearby Cha-am. [4]
The hotel opened in October 1922 and had its grand opening on 1 January 1923.
King Rama VI commissioned road maintenance engineer A. O. Robins to build a golf course on land opposite the railway station, completing the original nine-hole, 3,000-yard Royal Hua-Hin Golf Course [5] and tennis courts in time to welcome the first hotel guests on 26 October 1922. [4]
"The railway era brought great changes to Siam, as Thailand was then known," says Thirayuth Chirathivat, chief executive officer of Centara Hotels & Resorts. "There were very few roads into the provincial areas, and places such as Hua Hin were known only to the local population. When the railway was built from Bangkok down to Malaysia, it suddenly became possible for the aristocracy of the day to travel to Hua Hin, and to enjoy the beach and the ocean." [3]
By 1928 the hotel's reputation was international and, in order to accommodate the growing number of visitors to Hua Hin, RSR added a new wing of 13 rooms, built to exactly the same design as the existing building.
After WWII two more guestrooms were added, along with three restaurants, a downstairs bar, and a lobby with a panoramic view of Hua Hin's bay.
In 1988, the hotel was purchased by Sofitel and became the Hotel Sofitel Central Hua Hin. [4]
As of September 2014 it is run by the Central Plaza Hotel Public Company (CENTEL), Ltd. [6] and named the Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin.
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Hua Hin is one of eight districts (amphoe) of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula in Thailand. Its seat of government, also named Hua Hin, is a beach resort town. The district's population was estimated at 65,983 in December 2019 by the Bureau of Registration Administration in an area of 911 km2 (352 sq mi). By road, it is 199 km (124 mi) south-southwest of Bangkok.
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Hua Hin railway station is a train station located in Hua Hin Subdistrict, Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, and is located 212.99 kilometres (132.3 mi) from Thon Buri railway station and 850 m from Hua Hin Beach by Damnoen Kasam Road. It is a class 1 railway station on the Southern Line.
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Suan Son Pradiphat is a sand beach in Tambon Nong Kae, Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand. Suan Son Pradiphat is regarded as another popular and well-known marine attraction in Hua Hin, it is about 9 km south of town of Hua Hin. Khao Takiab hill bisected between these two areas.
Coordinates: 12°34′06″N99°57′42″E / 12.568211°N 99.961787°E