Songkhla

I recently went on a short bike trip to discover some of the southern provinces. I decided to take a circular route which went through the provinces of Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla and Phattalung. I spent the first day in Nakhon Si Thammarat and had a really good time taking in the sights and exploring the town. The next day was to be spent in the coastal town of Songkhla. Songkhla is situated on the east coast of Thailand and is an important port city which is popular with Malaysian tourists. The town is much smaller and less developed then its next door neighbour Hat Yai and consequently doesn't perhaps get the credit it deserves. 

The journey between Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla took the best part of four hours to complete on my little Honda Wave. I decided that instead of taking the boring route on highway 408 I would take the 4013 instead. The 4013 is a coastal road, which later joins with 408 and runs the entire length of the east coast. I really enjoyed the ride and having the ocean to the left of me for the entire trip made for not only some beautiful sea breezes but some awesome scenery as well. In order to enter Songkhla from the north you are required to cross over to Ko Yo and then finally into Songkhla over the large bridges which have been constructed. The views from these bridges are fantastic and they give you some excellent shots across the bay to Songkhla Town. I made a mental note that I wanted to come back and visit Ko Yo the next day because it looked so beautiful. 

(Songkhla at Sunset)

I arrived fairly late in the day so I decided that I would do most of my exploring the next day and head to the bay to get some sunset shots. The bay area of Songkhla is visually stunning and reminded me very much of an underdeveloped Singapore. The area is home to a number of family orientated tourist attractions such as an aquarium and a zoo. There was as to be expected a large number of Malaysian families here with its close proximity to the border. I think that Songkhla is a really good family destination for Malaysians because it has quite a lot of family attractions but doesn't have that over the top seedy vibe that is often seen in border towns.

I stayed at the Queen Hotel which is located in downtown Songkhla but not on the main tourist street. The hotel was nice enough and at 380 baht for an air conditioned double was very good value. The one negative was that absolutely nobody could speak English in the hotel and this could be a problem if you needed help at some point. That evening I explored the town a little on my bike and I could see that although the town sprawls out, all the tourist attractions and the main centre of activity was all confined to a relatively small part of town. The town is home to a number of tourist bars and restaurants where all the staff can speak English and where farang food can be ordered. I stuck to the Thai food and after dinner headed to a market on the other side of town to look for some snacks. Songkhla is like most towns in Thailand and features numerous markets which mostly sell the same things but they are all delicious. 

(Statues at the bay) 

The next morning I headed back the bay area to get some more pictures. The place was a lot quieter the next day with only a few tourists mulling about taking photos. One of the most striking attractions was the giant monk statue which bad been erected. The model in extremely intricate and great care and attention must have been taken when creating it. Behind the giant monks head is another visually striking monument. The giant dragon which spits water out into the bay has a very similar feel to the Merlion in Singapore. The fact that they are both mythical animals which spit water out into the bay and that both the areas in which they are located are spectacularly beautiful lead me to make the comparison that this area of Songkhla is like a poor mans Singapore. 

(Samila Beach)

I decided that after I had visited the bay and the adjacent park that I would head to Songhkla's primary beach resort of Samila Beach. The area was nice enough but when comparing it to some of the great beaches in Thailand this one doesn't even come close. I would say that as a general rule the beaches on the west coast of Thailand are far better then those on the east. The west coast has beautiful unspoilt beaches all the way up the coast from Satun to Trang, Krabi, Phang Nga and of course Phuket. While the beach didn't compare favourably to my local beaches it was nice enough and was certainly clean enough to swim in. The area around Samila beach was well catered for by vendors selling the usual array of food, drinks and souvenirs. There was also a team of salesman patrolling the beach with their horses selling rides. I didn't enquire into the price but I imagine this would be a nice activity for a young family.

(Ko Yo)

I had promised myself earlier when passing over Ko Yo to enter Songkhla that I would go back and have a closer look. So the next day I headed over to Ko Yo on the same bridge that bought me into Songkhla and took off on one of it's smaller roads to have a look around. The island is situated in the middle of the Songkhla lake and the people who live here are primarily fisherman and weavers. The island and the structures built in the sea to help the fisherman have a really rustic look and are the perfect backdrop for photography. I spent over an hour riding around the island and taking pictures of the beautiful natural landscape. The island is also home to Wat Phra Non Laem Pho which is a large temple. The primary focus of your attention at the temple is going to be the giant reclining buddha which is absolutely stunning and can actually be seen from the main road which passes right by it. The temple is also home to a number of other giant buddha monuments and is clearly very popular with locals of whom I saw numerous making merit. 

(Boat on Songkhla Lake)

I have to say that I really enjoyed my time in Songkhla and for me it was the highlight of my trip. I think that a lot of the time Songkhla gets lost in the shadow of its larger neighbour Hat Yai. Hat Yai is the forth largest city in Thailand and is a big draw for Malaysian tourists for a number of reasons not all of which are wholesome. There were a large amount of Malaysian tourists in Songkhla though and most of them were families taking advantage of the laid back family friendly environment. I would urge anyone who is visiting the south of Thailand especially if you are visiting Hat Yai to make the effort to check out the town of Songkhla. The town is about 20km from Hat Yai and has more then enough activities to keep you busy for a short break and the atmosphere is far more tranquil then its next door neighbour. I will definitely be visiting the area again because I want to climb Tang Kuan Hill, a large hill with a temple on top which has awesome views of the surrounding areas.

I think that Songkhla would be an ideal town for expats live in. It's close proximity to Hat Yai means that you would have to make no sacrifices on western amenities whilst you would still take full advantage of being able to live in a small town which has beautiful attractions. I know that a large number of offshore oil workers live in this region and that there are many schools within the town so I imagine the expat community is quite large which is also a plus for many expats. I would say that this would be one of the top five places I would consider living in the south of Thailand and I would recommend that you check in out too if you are considering becoming an expat in Thailand.