Stocky

The rail service from Bangkok to Hat Yai has resumed, as of  today 18th January, I saw it reported in the other English language newspaper. The article which is about "Normal train services resume to Sungai Kolok" and lists the southbound services now operational, that list included Train Nos 31, 47, 169 and 171 all of which stop at both Chumphon and Hat Yai.

The road is also open so I assume the buses are running.

Hat Yao - I assume you mean Hat Yai - yes we're fine everything normal here, we had no flooding. Within Songkhla province then flooding has been bad up north on the coastal strip between Songkhla Lake and the Gulf of Thailand. South to Sadao and the border with Malaysia all is clear.

It's looking like Friday in Hat Yai is going to very wet.

Samila Seafood, Hat Yai (Phone No. 074-351353)

Intended eating at the Samila Seafood restaurant on Thanon Sam Sip Met but it has shut down permanently it seems. So we went to the main Samila Seafood restaurant in Hat Yai on Sangsri Soi 2, just off Supasarnrangsan Road, turning opposite The Bed Hotel (the one with the black spotted facade).

They've made some changes since I last ate there five yeas ago, it's a little less shed like, though not by much, they also now have a Japanese food counter, so you get two menus to pick from. Emphasis is on good quality fresh seafood, you can go and pick your seafood from the ice filled displays if you wish. Service was fast and efficient whilst the food was excellent. We were five adults and a child and we had six main dishes, including a whole fish and several fresh crab, plus rice and vegetables and finally some Japanese ice cream. Total bill was Bht2,900 including drinks and alcohol. 

It's all about the food, it's a no frills building, formica topped tables and plastic chairs, it gets very busy with locals and Malaysian & Singaporean tourists, but service is fast and the food is very good.

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"Thai will be the world’s lingua franca"

Baso Yawi, the language spoken in southern Thailand, is more widely understood than Thai!

2 hours ago, thai3 said:

why should the OP move

Doh!

Well you can be sure the mosque ain't moving.

My nearest mosque here in Hat Yai is 200m away. I usually sleep through the first call to prayer at around 5:30, I wake up around the sunrise call at 6:30, the midday and afternoon calls remind me of the time, and prayers at sunset tell me it's time for a beer.

We've seldom had issues with the mosque, it's a mixed community though mainly Buddhist, a couple of times a new muezzin has turned the volume up but I think complaints via the Thesaban ensure things return to normal and the mosque doesn't set the volume too high.

Personally I find it soothing, I spent three years working in Malaysia and eight years in Indonesia, so I know how loud things can get when there's a mosque on every corner. In our part of Hat Yai there are four within a 1.5km radius of the house, but generally I only hear the one closest to us.

As suggested elsewhere, you have two options, move or adapt. 

Nah, the caterers wouldn't give them their deposit back if they cancelled.

No sorry, no more information than is in the neswpapers or on TV;  the road is flooded at Phatthalung and again around Thung Song. Whether you can get through I've no idea.

Rain all day today in Hat Yai. Looking out of the window I can see the river level is up but we've still about 4m to go before it would over-top the flood defenses here. Flood warning flag is still at green. 

3 hours ago, lkn said:

 

Is this paying via netbank directly? I do all my online purchases with my visa/debit card and do get vendor information, for example “PAYSBUY_DTAC iRefill” or “THAIAIRW WEB TICKET”.

 

Sometimes though the vendor information is rather cryptic, for example purchases at Robinson / Central Plaza shows up as “CR CHIANGMAI” and MUJI (in Bangkok) shows up as “MJT-­CWP”.

 

Also, the vendor information is capped at 25 characters, but it seems vendors are not always aware of that, so rather than seeing “HOME PRO (CHIANG MAI)” I will see “HOME PRODUCT CENTER(CHIAN”.

 

Edit: This is via KTB Online Banking (Krungthai).

Yes this is direct online payment from my account, not via debit or credit card. There is no indication whatsoever of who the payment was made to. Obviously I keep my own records and match the numbers, but it is pretty pathetic in this day and age not to furnish full details.

Sure, but they're a Singaporean multinational and bring Singaporean banking practices with them, and those are light years ahead of Thailand's indigenous banking entities.

UOB isn't a Thai bank.

HSBC Singapore give me a detailed breakdown, but my Thai banks don't. Like the OP I'd be interested to know if any Thai banks do, or do you need to switch to a foreign bank in Thailand like UOB, CIMB et al.

Both Kasikorn and Krungsri are the same, statement only indicates online transaction or e-payment it doesn't indicate if it's Thai Smile, Lazada or TOT.  I think we'll need to wait a few more years before we get the vendor information. Just means you need to keep your online receipts and work it out that way.

No, Hat Yai is OK, no flooding in the city. A little localised flooding to the south-east along Kanjanavanit Road south of Central Festival but nothing major. If you're flying in you're fine. 

You can check the city status on the website and view the CCTV feeds from the river and relief canals.

http://www.hatyaicityclimate.org/

But remember an umbrella, the NE Monsoon looks like it will extend well into January this year.

Wine Connection you can do that, just go to one of the restaurants.

It's OK down in Hat Yai, problem areas on the road are around Thung Song and Phatthalung. You could go the long way round via Krabi, Trang and Satun - no flooding on the west coast.

You can try Wine Connection, can order online https://www.wineconnection.co.th/

19 hours ago, alfieconn said:

It's along way from Hat Yai to Chiang Mai, do you think that they will come that far ?

555 - I doubt it, but the OPs Puyaibaan or Thetsaban should be able to direct them so someone who can help.

We had a reticulated python behind the house last year, the neighbour wanted to take a machete to it but I suggested we get someone to take it away. A call to our Thetsaban got us the number of the Hat Yai animal rescue who dispatched a couple of 'snake wranglers'; they extricated the chap from the neighbours chicken run netting, popped him in a sack and took him away. No charge, but we gave them a couple of hundred for their troubles.

Try Boots in Lee Garden, Central Festival or Big C Extra - or have a look on Lazada.

Well we live in Hat Yai Nai, I guess we're the wrong side of the tracks!

I've been flying KLM back to the UK the last couple of years, they've upgraded most of their fleet, connections out of Amsterdam are good, and their price is hard to beat. Seating is much like any other 777, leg room is reasonable, in-flight entertainment is good enough, food can be hit or miss.

As pointed out in earlier posts avoid the Air France options when booking, CDG is a nightmare airport.

Excellent, good progress since July, hopefully it will relieve some of the traffic on the  Phetkasem flyover. 

19 hours ago, phuketsub said:

That's good to know. I recall very well the inundation back in 2001 (I think it was) that set that off.

 

Have you seen the new underpass near Haad Yai Hospital? I saw a report that it has opened...It will be nice to get a new way to go between Haad Yai Nai and Haad Yai proper.

Yes, after the floods in 2000 they started on the relief canals. You can follow the progress, and then lack thereof on Google Earth with the time slider. The earliest images from 2004 show the project started but then it's held up, particularly the western relief canal near Bang Klam near to Lake Songkhla; I was told a land dispute. It wasn't until after the big flood in 2010, when we had the River Utapho running through the house, that the land dispute was settled and the canal completed in 2014.

The underpass on Nipatsongkrew Soi 7 isn't completed yet as far as I know, you can see progress as of July in Street View below.