October 6, 2025Oct 6 Hello, Any one living in Songkhla or Hat Yai, if so which would you recommend to live as an expat and why. I have been to both citys, loved old town Songkhla but holidays are different to living in a place Thanks in advance
October 6, 2025Oct 6 Don't live in either, but it would have to be Songkhla, as smaller and closer to all the water. From the edges of both, they aren't but 15-20 mins apart. Convenient to have Hatyai that close, as better, more choices for shopping & hospitals, if needed.
October 6, 2025Oct 6 Popular Post 6 hours ago, stupidfarang said: Hello, Any one living in Songkhla or Hat Yai, if so which would you recommend to live as an expat and why. I have been to both citys, loved old town Songkhla but holidays are different to living in a place Thanks in advance I have worked offshore Songkla for a while, flying from BKK to Hat Yai, then a short drive. Hat Yai has very little going for it, I didn't find it appealing, if you're a Muslim you'd probably see it differently. Go for the Songkhla option, on the water, very nice place.
October 8, 2025Oct 8 Popular Post Hat Yai has been home for over twenty years. I like the city, it's neither too big nor too small, close to the beaches on the east coast and not that far from the west coast either. There are excellent transport options, with flights to Bangkok, Singapore and KL, and always the overnight sleeper train to Bangkok. Within the city we have good shopping options, malls & markets, plenty of restaurants, plus bars, clubs and music venues. It's a a very diverse city with large populations of both Thai Malay and Thai Chinese, but no one community dominates and we all get along well together. It's a new city, dating back to the building of the railway at the turn of the last century, so the city has a grid layout, which is fairly easy to navigate, but it's a little short on history. That's not to say there aren't places to visit in town there are plenty of Chinese temples and shrines to visit which add a lot colour to the town. We have two main public hospitals, Hat Yai Hospital and the university hospital and Prince Songkhla University, both are very good, plus three private hospitals Bangkok, Sikarin and Radjindee, the Bangkok Hospital is excellent. There are plenty of places to visit locally, with caves, waterfalls, communist tunnels, beaches plus the large municipal park and gardens with cable car on the east side of the city. Having said all that Hat Yai is something of a marmite city, people either love it or hate it, you need to visit and spent time here to judge for yourself, personally I wouldn't live anywhere else. As for Songkhla, when my wife and I were looking where to live we considered Songkhla but found it a bit too sleepy (though that's changed a lot over the last twenty five years) it's great for a weekend but we couldn't see ourselves living there.
October 8, 2025Oct 8 Don't decide where to live until you've had a chance to experience Isaan......it's a real hoot........
October 8, 2025Oct 8 Popular Post 2 hours ago, Harrisfan said: Both are fairly boring. 1 hour ago, Will B Good said: Don't decide where to live until you've had a chance to experience Isaan......it's a real hoot........ Spectacularly helpful contributions
October 8, 2025Oct 8 2 minutes ago, Stocky said: Spectacularly helpful contributions Too kind......❤️
October 8, 2025Oct 8 8 minutes ago, Stocky said: Spectacularly helpful contributions Well to be honest most of Thailand is boring after 2 weeks. Chiang Mai is the only city I like a lot.
October 9, 2025Oct 9 Author On 10/6/2025 at 10:22 PM, KhunLA said: Don't live in either, but it would have to be Songkhla, as smaller and closer to all the water. From the edges of both, they aren't but 15-20 mins apart. Convenient to have Hatyai that close, as better, more choices for shopping & hospitals, if needed. totaly agree, thanks for the input.
October 9, 2025Oct 9 Author On 10/8/2025 at 9:11 AM, Stocky said: Hat Yai has been home for over twenty years. I like the city, it's neither too big nor too small, close to the beaches on the east coast and not that far from the west coast either. There are excellent transport options, with flights to Bangkok, Singapore and KL, and always the overnight sleeper train to Bangkok. Within the city we have good shopping options, malls & markets, plenty of restaurants, plus bars, clubs and music venues. It's a a very diverse city with large populations of both Thai Malay and Thai Chinese, but no one community dominates and we all get along well together. It's a new city, dating back to the building of the railway at the turn of the last century, so the city has a grid layout, which is fairly easy to navigate, but it's a little short on history. That's not to say there aren't places to visit in town there are plenty of Chinese temples and shrines to visit which add a lot colour to the town. We have two main public hospitals, Hat Yai Hospital and the university hospital and Prince Songkhla University, both are very good, plus three private hospitals Bangkok, Sikarin and Radjindee, the Bangkok Hospital is excellent. There are plenty of places to visit locally, with caves, waterfalls, communist tunnels, beaches plus the large municipal park and gardens with cable car on the east side of the city. Having said all that Hat Yai is something of a marmite city, people either love it or hate it, you need to visit and spent time here to judge for yourself, personally I wouldn't live anywhere else. As for Songkhla, when my wife and I were looking where to live we considered Songkhla but found it a bit too sleepy (though that's changed a lot over the last twenty five years) it's great for a weekend but we couldn't see ourselves living there. Great info, appreciated. Would agree about Songkhla, old town is beautiful and great places to eat, though it may be quiet compared to Hat Yai. We will come down again and stay in Hat Yai next time to get a better feel for the city.
October 9, 2025Oct 9 Author On 10/8/2025 at 9:21 AM, Will B Good said: Don't decide where to live until you've had a chance to experience Isaan......it's a real hoot........ Been there done that, loved Surin
December 20, 2025Dec 20 2 minutes ago, watchcat said: The sandflyes. ? Don't thet have any on the heach?
December 20, 2025Dec 20 On 10/8/2025 at 5:27 AM, Harrisfan said: most of Thailand is boring after 2 weeks. Correcct,
December 20, 2025Dec 20 Stayed in songkhla about 30 times on short business trips and really liked the place. A quiet pretty place, but not for those who like bar life (though there are some bars). Can visit Hat Yai for shopping, and airport.
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