Thirteen Day Hua Hin Beach Thailand Hunt

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Published: May 4, 2011

Hua Hin Beach Hunt

Off on one of my twice a year, two week hunts.  This time it was back to Hua Hin beach, Thailand.  I hunted there in May, 2010, but under different circumstances.

Buddhist Monk Hua Hin Beach Thailand

The first time I hunted in Hua Hin, I was at a bit of a disadvantage – I didn’t have my Minelab Excalibur II and had to use my Minelab X-Terra 705 and my ACE 250.  Both good machines, but cannot compare with the waterproof, discriminating Excal II.

I also had a few Thai beaches under my belt, and felt that I knew the beaches better having done some analysis on where the goodies are on Thai beaches as compared to where the goodies are on Hawaii beaches – big difference.

It is a bit of a journey for me to get to the beach since I live in Khon Kaen, Thailand – a 45 minute flight from Bangkok.  From Bangkok, I am met by my reliable driver, Kob, and 3 hours later we arrive at Jing’s Guesthouse in Hua Hin.

Thirty minutes of unpacking and preparing my gear, and I am off for the 5-minute walk to Hua Hin beach.

Hua Hin Beach Sunrise

I chose Jing’s Guesthouse due to favorable online reviews, it proximity to the beach, price, and free wireless.  I was completely satisfied with my choice and have only good things to say about Peter and Jing and their guest friendly and family friendly guesthouse.

I only hunted for about 2 hours the first day as I was re-familiarizing myself with the tones and also to get a “feel” for the beach.  I also had a brand new scoop to break in and wasn’t sure how long I would be able to lug it around as it is a bit heavy.

After day one, I was ready and my daily routine was to get up at 0445 and be out the door between 0500 and 0515.  This would get me to the beach just before sunrise and with enough light to hunt.  Trust me.  You want to hunt when it is cool.  Once the sun gets out, it gets very hot.  I usually went through 4 liters of water during a 5 hour hunt.

Depending on the tides, I would usually select a section of dry sand to hunt initially and when the tide slowly moved out a couple hundred feet, I would hunt “where the water used to be”.

Hua Hin Beach Umbrellas

Areas with lots of palm trees and touristy beach umbrella/chair ares are best to hit bright and early – before the umbrellas get set up and the tourists arrive.  Primarily – Thai tourists hang out under the palm trees, and foreigners rent the beach chairs.  Both areas yield coins and jewelry – and tons of trash.

Hua Hin Beach Hilton

Another reason I chose this area, is there are 3 very big, expensive hotels grouped close together.  The thought process was this was where folks of wealth would hang out.  I found that to be true, but I also learned that this is an area with older tourists who tend to walk out into the water and just stand – no activity.

I only saw one other detectorist on one day the entire time I was there.  He came to me and we chatted in Thai a bit.  He was a typical Thai hunter – using an old Fisher with controls hip mounted, and swinging his stick like a pendulum barely covering a couple inches on each swing.  He also dug and didn’t fill holes and did not pick up his trash.  He also missed quite a few targets.  Thanks.

Studying the beaches in Thailand over the past year has paid off.  Knowing where to go and when the tide is going low, is essential to a successful hunt.  This trip yielded the most coins, most silver and most gold.

Thai Army Silver Ring

This is my favorite find of the trip.  Even though I got my first gold ring (which my wife immediately claimed), this ring is nicer to me.  A nice orange stone and .925 silver.  Unfortunately, there was no name on the ring or I would have made an effort to return it.

As I mentioned, I got my first gold in Thailand.  With a little help from a beach vendor, who told me a girl had lost a ring, and gave me the general direction, I found it within 10 minutes.  It is small, but it is 96.5% gold – about 23K.

Hua Hin Gold Ring

I also scooped up 2,240.75 Thai baht and got a nice Tiffany silver (.925) necklace and pendant.  But, Thais don’t really like silver – they prefer the pure gold stuff.

I got a few other pieces of jewelry – rings, bracelet, earrings and some pendants.  I also got 4 Buddhist amulets.

Along with finally understanding Thai beaches, having a big, heavy-duty, stainless steel scoop was the missing piece.

It is heavy, but I got used to it.  I can add a little bit of foam on the handle to make it easier to carry on my shoulder.  And, I got used to carrying it.

Metal Detecting is all about numbers.  The more you dig, the more you get.  With my previous scoop, it would sometimes take me 5-7 scoops to get a target.  With my new monster, one or two scoops was the norm.  Only times it took more, was when a target was deep.

I also dug up my share of trash and Hua Hin beach is now much cleaner.  The maid wasn’t happy that I dragged it back to the room for disposal, but that is what I do.

So, all in all, a very good hunt.  Really happy that I found gold – now my wife can’t rag on me anymore and may actually encourage me to go and hunt instead of arguing with me.  We shall see.

I will leave you with one of the things I really enjoy seeing at the beach.  Buddhist monks on morning alms at sunrise – doesn’t get much more peaceful.

Hua Hin Beach Buddhist Monk Morning Alms

Tagged with: baht, beach, coins, excal, excalibur, gold, hua hin, metal detecting, minelab, silver, thailand, tides, umbrellas

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