This once-quiet fishing village south of Bangkok first debuted as a beach getaway in the 1920s, when Thailand’s royal family built a summer palace on the shore. Soon, the Thai capital’s elite followed suit, establishing vacation homes on the area’s wide, sandy beaches. Today, an easy, two-and-a-half-hour drive from Bangkok, Hua Hin is known among expat circles as a lively seaside town with easy living, a burgeoning restaurant scene, and a taste of the good life.