Hat Yai and Songkla

[penetrator]

This is mostly aimed at our resident southern expert Tom I'm guessing. I'm thinking about a trip down south with the bird 1st week of July, good price on Air Asia flights to Hat Yai at the mo. I want to go to either or both Langkawi and Penang, but either before or after I'd like to see Hat Yai and Songkla. I'm thinking maybe to stay in Hat Yai and see Songkla as a day trip, would I be able to rent a motosai in Hat Yai and do you think staying in Hat Yai would be the best option or would staying in Songkla be better for what will only be 1-2 max days ?

btw, I know it's probably not the best time of year to visit the south but I can only go at this time for the foreseeable future.

[tom]

This is mostly aimed at our resident southern expert Tom I'm guessing. I'm thinking about a trip down south with the bird 1st week of July, good price on Air Asia flights to Hat Yai at the mo. I want to go to either or both Langkawi and Penang, but either before or after I'd like to see Hat Yai and Songkla. I'm thinking maybe to stay in Hat Yai and see Songkla as a day trip, would I be able to rent a motosai in Hat Yai and do you think staying in Hat Yai would be the best option or would staying in Songkla be better for what will only be 1-2 max days ?

btw, I know it's probably not the best time of year to visit the south but I can only go at this time for the foreseeable future.

Staying in Had Yai would be the way to go - either the Centara (around 1,400 Baht) or New Season (860 Baht for a decent room) would be the best bet for hotels (both are around the main Lee Gardens Plaza in the centre of town). They have tours to Songkhla, best booked through Konsortium Bus Ekspress which is located between the two hotels mentioned. The same agency can book most hotels in Had Yai at around 10% below their lowest rates. Ferry tickets to Langkawi (and van tickets to Tammalang Pier in Satun) can be booked at the large travel agent opposite the railway station, or else take the train or bus to Butterworth for Penang. If your plans allow, it's best to stay in Had Yai during the period Sun-Wed night inclusive. Thu-Sat night can be jam-packed with Malaysian/Singaporean tourists.

I've never looked at hiring a bike in Had Yai, but I assume you must be able to. I'll find out over the next week or two.

A good site for decent info on Had Yai is:

http://phil.uk.net/hatyai/accom.html

Any detailed questions, let me know.

[penetrator]

Cheers Tom. I'll most likely do Hat Yai after Langkawi/Penang then and miss the Malaysian invasion.

This is what I've read in a post from 2008 on Thaivisa about getting to Langkawi, does it sound about right ?

the cheapest and fastest way is to fly to Hat Yai, then take the Airport-Minivan going to downtown (was 80 Baht in early 2007, if I remember that right ). the Hat Yai Minivan station is not far from the airport on the way to downtown. hop off there (no matter what the driver may say), Minivans to Satun usually leave every 30 minutes or so.
if you go all the way downtown to the train-station, you will have to backtrack to the MiniVan-station again. if you arrive by train, a shared TukTuk (or charter it for a higher fee if you are in a hurry) to the Mini-van station usually leaves every 20-30 minutes from near the station (about 100 Meters to the left when leaving the station).
from HatYai to Satun the fare is 85-90 Baht (maybe increased now due to the fuel price hikes lately). make sure u tell the driver u want to go all the way down to the THAMMALANG ferry pier in Satun, which is about 8 km south of town.
from Satun, the ferry ride was 380 Baht in early 2007. took less than 2 hours if I remember that right....

[tom]

Cheers Tom. I'll most likely do Hat Yai after Langkawi/Penang then and miss the Malaysian invasion.

This is what I've read in a post from 2008 on Thaivisa about getting to Langkawi, does it sound about right ?


Exactly right (almost). The mini-van terminus is on your left on your way into Had Yai from the airport. There are four ferries a day from Satun (Tammalang) and costs 300 Baht or 30 Ringitt one-way. The ferry details are below.

http://www.langkawi-ferry.com/

[penetrator]

Tom, do you think Songkla would be worthwile visiting being as I'll probably only be in Hat Yai 1 daytime or would I be better off using that daytime to poke my nose around Hat Yai ? my rough plan at the moment would be to get to Hat Yai about 4pm and leave either the next evening or morning after that.

Will you be around down there the 1st week of July ?