I live in Narathiwat. Besides a handful of farangs living here plus a couple of handful of Africans, Filipinos and Arabs, there are no foreigners here. I used to spot the occasional tourist, but since about three years ago they seem to have completely disappeared. Covid won't help matters.

When living here speaking proficient Thai is invaluable, as is keeping an open mind and being respectful towards Muslims and their culture.

On 2/8/2020 at 12:03 PM, yogavnture said:

meth?

No..Meh... a cross between a tut and a sigh indicatiing impatience and dismissal. .

I frequently get away from Pattaya and go to Issan where there are far few westerners. I rarely go down south. Hat Yai is a famous brothel town with thousands of sex workers servicing Malaysian men, especially at weekends. These Malaysian sex tourists tend to come and go. Hat Yai is a border town and has the characteristic of all border towns

On 2/9/2020 at 7:19 PM, jimn said:

Do we?

Yes. Hat Yai is a famous sex city servicing thousands of Malaysian Muslims. It is notoriously sleazy. Its a border city and a major cross roads between Thailand and Malaysia.

8 hours ago, Nout said:

Yes. Hat Yai is a famous sex city servicing thousands of Malaysian Muslims. It is notoriously sleazy. Its a border city and a major cross roads between Thailand and Malaysia.

 

Meh!

 

Depending how you count it, Hat Yai ranks between the 1st and 3rd of the major cities outside of Greater Bangkok. Yes it's near the border, a 40 minute drive away, but not on the border, Hat Yai is a relatively new city that grew up with the arrival of the railway in the 1920s. As you say it is "a major cross roads between Thailand and Malaysia", with both road and rail links, and constitutes Thailand's primary southern commercial hub. It makes its money through trade and industry, tourism isn't a main source of income. With Covid, as with the aftermath of terrorist bomb attacks, the city has shown it can survive without tourists.

 

Sure, there is a sex industry, as there is in every city and town in Thailand, or any city or town in any other country you care to think of. However, the sex industry in Hat Yai is not overly conspicuous, you won't find ago-go and girly bars as you can in Pattaya or Bangkok. Hat Yai's clientele is not farang, nor as you suggest is it primarily Malaysian Muslims, yes the men coming to Hat Yai are Malaysian, but most are ethnic Chinese, Hat Yai is very Chinese, Hakka and Mandarin Chinese are widely spoken. So sex is hidden behind massage and karaoke establishments, and indeed in brothels. 

 

But sex tourism is much diminished, a larger proportion of the weekend and Malaysian holiday visitors are family groups, Hat Yai styles itself as a shopping destination, and is popular for the shops as well as the numerous restaurants. Geographically for many Malaysians Hat Yai is their nearest big shopping destination, hence the many coach loads of Malaysians coming for a day trip to Hat Yai Central Festival, before the borders got closed. 

 

As for "notoriously sleazy" that not the city as it is now, if you want a sleazy border town then go to Danok. Then again why leave home, stay in Pattaya.

On 1/3/2021 at 11:05 AM, Nout said:

Yes. Hat Yai is a famous sex city servicing thousands of Malaysian Muslims. It is notoriously sleazy. Its a border city and a major cross roads between Thailand and Malaysia.

Lol .. it used to be.

 

When I first came here, about 20 years ago, it was impossible to get a haircut, there were dozens of barber shops staffed by lovely ladies but none of them could cut hair, it was most confusing to my naive young mind.

 

Since then, it’s really changed .. there are a handful of dubious apartment blocks in town, a few areas where you can find a handful of rotten karaoke bars but hardly what you woulld expect from the description. I think you would be disappointed If you came here looking for action.

 

Places like Dannock and Sungai Kolok are far more exciting.