Truth be told, Hat Yai may well be one of the least interesting cities in Thailand. Its a relatively modern invention resulting from the construction of the railway linking Thailand to Malaysia and Singapore in the nineteenth century. Hat Yai is where the two lines running up either coast of Malaysia meet to form the single line up to Bangkok. It remained not much more than a rail yard until the 1960s, when its proximity to the Malaysia border made it an important trading town.

Given its lack of any historical or cultural sights, its somewhat surprising to find that Hat Yai boasts a large number of hotels and hosts hoards of visitors each year. Many of these visitors come from Malaysia. Each weekend the town fills up with weekenders who spend much of their time in the city's many markets.

SOUTHERN THAILAND IS BOOMING/GROWING!!

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BEAUTIFUL HAT YAI..!!!....BEAUTIFUL SOUTHERN THAILAND!!

Wow !! Thanks for the article !!

The photos are beautiful

You are welcome!! Its the proven effects of the growing investment of southern provinces by the central government; Southern Thailand--a beautiful region to visit!

kinda looks like cebu. but cebu looks less populated.

Looks cool. I've never been.

what is Hat Yai's main economic activity?

Thanks for bringing this topic here.

Anyway, the last picture is NOT Hat Yai.
It's "SONGKLHA" city.

^ Thanks for correction, kun Chemon.





Its a city that enroutes goods from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur; its a major industrial zone; goods to/from Malaysia cross this area. Theres also a high level of domestic and foreign tourists that visit the region; but primarily the city is an industrial city. One of the large urban areas of Thai suzereignity before crossing into Malaysia.



You say Hat Yai looks like Cebu? But Cebu is the 2nd largest city of the Philippines--and Hat Yai is a minor city in Thailand. I would say Hat Yai is more comparable to Davao or Cagayan De Oro.

I love hatyai in the way it is very multicultural Thai Malay and Chinese together

I knew of Hat Yai before Bangkok. Once when I was five, our family including aunties, uncles and cousins drove up to Hat Yai from our kampung in Malacca for a family get-away. The memory's quite hazy but I remember it being lots of fun.

Speaking about Hat Yai being a railway hub, there's the International Express operated jointly by Malayan Railways/Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) and State Railways of Thailand which serves KL-Bangkok. One can stop either at Butterworth (Penang) or Hat Yai. And of course you can start the journey right from Singapore.

Hatyai = Little chinatown of the southerner.
D Chinese food in Hatyai is very nice. I love d curry crab (Poo Phad pongKari) and sharkfin soup there

im going to hat yai this year but not sure when... itz easy to go to hatyai since i only need to use border pass no need passport...

enjoy it there and make sure you get me some souvenirs!! lol