Southern Thailand's Songkhla province is richly endowed with natural
resources, fine beaches, waterfalls and scenic lakes, yet its two major
cities, Songkhla, the provincial capital (974 kilometres from Bangkok),
and Hat Yai (947 kilometeres from Bangkok), separated by a mere
30-minute road journey are worlds apart in terms attractions, facilities, size and character.
Songkhla, a medieval pirate stronghold, is a historic, albeit sleepy
town with thriving fishing community and a fine beach facing the Thai
Gulf whereas Hat Yai, inland and major gateway to southern Thailand,
is a modern city the principal southern commercial, communications and
entertainment centre.
A study in contrasts, Songkhla province boasts several authentic
tourism attractions and Hat Yai makes an excellent base for exploring
Thailand's southernmost destinations.
HOW TO GET THERE
Hat Yai is connected by daily road, rail and air (1 hour and 15
minutes by direct flights) services with Bangkok. Hat Yai is 3 hours
by airconditioned coach from Penang, 12 hours from Kuala Lumpur, and 19 hours from Singapore. hat Yai has convenient and regular rail and air connections with Butterworth / Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
There are no direct rail or air services to Songkhla.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Hat Yai boasts several first-class airconditioned hotels with
international facilities and innumerable economy-class hotels, inns
and guest houses. Songkhla's accommodation is less luxurious and
varied, its major hotel a beachside complex facing Songkhla famous
mermaid statue on the Samila Beach headland.
CITY ATTRACTIONS / ENTERTAINMENT
Songkhla's major attraction is the lovely Samila Beach which faces the
small Cat and Mouse islands. Samila headland features a mermaid statue
which fronts beachside hotel, bordered to the south by a public 9-hole
golf course, and to the north by beachside seafood restaurants.
Samila Beach extends some three kilometres southwards to Khao Seng
headland which shelters a Muslim fishing village where distinctive
Kolae fishing boats are decorated with hand-painted floral motifs.
Khao Noi, a low hill behind the hotel, overlooks Samila Beach and Songkhla's northern shore, and has a small topiary garden.
Major inner-city attractions include a lovely 19th-century Chinese mansion on Ruangmuang Road which houses the local branch of the National Museum; the 400-years-old Wat Matchimawat, Songkhla's largest temple, on Saiburi Road, which contains a fascinating museum; Wat Chaimongkon near Songkhla's former railway stations; and the Pak Mae Nam Lai Soet Fort on Lai Soet Road which dates from the early 1800s 'modern' Songkhla was built.
A few kilometres from town, on Route 407 connecting Songkhla and Hat Yai, Sinakarinwirot University's Institute for Southern Thai studies
houses a fine collection of southern handicrafts, religious manuscripts, antiques and archaeological discoveries.
If Songkhla is most attractive by day, Hat Yai is most attractive by
night. Other than a 100-acre municipal park where southern cultural
performances are regularly staged, and a crocodile farm and zoo on
Ratchawithi Road, Hat Yai's major attracting is vibrant nightlife
which draws innumerable pleasure-seekers, particularly from Malaysia
and Singapore.
Numerous first-class Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Muslim and seafood
restaurants provide excellent cuisine while international fare is
enjoyed in several coffee shops and leading hotels.
Excellent dining is a prelude to a nightlife revolving largely around
nightclubs, coffee shops, bars, bowling alleys, massage parlours,
video houses, cinemas and discotheques.
OUT-OF-CITY ATTRACTIONS
Songkhla's major provincial attractions is the Great Songkhla lake,
locally known as Thale Sap, which extends some 80 kilometres north
from Songkhla's fishing port and is some 20 kilometres at its widest
point. The lake is dotted with small islands and hosts the 520-square- kilometre Khu Khut Waterfowl Park, Asia's largest such park, which support some 140 species numbering tens of thousands of birds.
Khu Khut is reached by crossing the lake's estuarine entrance at
Songkhla and proceeding northwards along Route 4083. At Km. 33, a left turn leads to Khu Khut village where boats may be hired to explore the Waterfowl Park. Khu Khut is best visited in the early morning or late
afternoon when birds are most active.
Some 10 kilometres north of Khu Khut is the ancient Wat Pakho, former residence of southern Thailand's most respected abbot, the late Luang Pho Thuat. A popular legend claims the abbot was kidnapped by pirates while crossing the lake. A violent storm arose and the boat carrying the abbot and his captors drifted for several days. Lacking of food and water, everyone faced starvation. Then, the abbot placed his foot in the lake's salt water, whereupon it became drinkable. The pirates
were so grateful they returned the abbot safely to shore.
Songkhla's famous Ton Nga Chang (Elephant Tusk) Waterfall lies some 26 kilometres west of Hat Yai in Rataphum district along Highway No. 4, and at the end of a turning from Hu Rae village. The seven- tiered waterfall cascades down a steep cliff in two separate columns which 'resemble' elephant tusks. The waterfall's third level is particularly quiet and beautiful, and affords an exhilarating view of surrounding countryside, but entails a punishing climb which should not be attempted by the aged.
Another waterfall worth visiting is the Boriphat Waterfall, also in
Rattaphum district, some 40 kilometres from Hat Yai.
SHOPPING
Hat Yai offers particular good buys in Thai handicrafts, ready-made
leisure wear and sportwear, preserved Thai fruits and seafood
delicacies, and imported foodstuffs from all over Southeast Asia and
China. Principal shopping areas are concentrated around the Niphat
Uthit 2 and 3 Roads and Plaza Market.
Songkhla's major shops selling local products, including the native
cotton product Pha Ko Yo, dried shrimps, cashew nuts, crisp fish and
shrimp crackers, and shadow-play leather sheets, are concentrated on
Nakhon Nai Road.
NEIGHBOURING ATTRACTIONS
Hat Yai is the ideal place from which to visit other southern destinations.
To the north and northwest, these include Phatthalung, 115 kilometres
from Hat Yai, where, at the northern end of Songkhla Great Lake, the
lotus-bordered and spectacular beautiful Thale Noi Nok Nam bird
sanctuary supports some 150 species; and Trang, 65 kilometres further
west, where the mountainous Khao Chong Nature Reserve contains one of southern Thailand's loveliest waterfalls.
To the south, 109 kilometres from Hat Yai, Pattani has Thailand 's most beautiful mosque, the famous Wat Chang Hai and the sweeping Panare Beach where local fishermen have hand-painted hundreds of Thailand loveliest Kolae boats; 100 kilometres further south, Narathiwat is noted for its Pa Cho Waterfall, a massive seated golden Buddha at Wat Khao Kung, and the border town of Sungei Golok with its liberated nightlife.
Finally, Satun, 102 kilometres southwest of Hat Yai, is capital of a
province whose major attraction is the sprawling Tarutao Marine
National Park situated 30 kilometres off the coast near the Thai-Malaysian Indian Ocean maritime border. the 51-island cluster
covers a total sea and land area of some 1,400 square kilometres,
offers simple bungalow accommodation and camping facilities, and some of Southweast Asia's best scuba-diving in waters where dolphins,
whales, smaller sharks, sea turtles, rockfish, colourful coral fish
and soft coral are found. Weekend excursions originating in Hat Yai
make regular departures from Pak Bara Port in Satub's Langu district
to Tarutao between the non-monsoon months of December and April.
