Direct Flight From Chiang Mai To/From Hat Yai

[Ricardo]

I haven't seen a thread on this new route yet, may have missed it during the festivities, but in case it hasn't been posted on TV yet, I thought I'd start one.

Air Asia's web-site is showing a new daily direct-flight between Chiang Mai, Thailand's second city, and Hat Yai, fourth largest and the commercial centre of the South, as well as an important stop for tourists/visa-runners en-route to Malaysia, as starting from late-January.

Details are FD 4015 dep CNX 10.15 arr HDY 12.15 and FD4016 dep HDY 12.45 arr CNX 14.55 , prices for regular tickets are B4,320 return with some promo-fares from B1,980 on certain dates, plus the advantage of avoiding changing-planes and re-checking-in in BKK as was previously necessary.

I can recall, some 15 years ago, Orient Thai operating CNX-Surat-HDY-CNX occasionally with an elderly B727, however this flight is direct and takes only about 2 hours.

We heard rumours just over a year ago, that AA were planning to base a couple of planes up here, and build a mini-hub in Chiang Mai. Since then we've seen the CNX-Phuket route start, and move to twice-daily operation, and now this new route, so the rumours may be slowly coming-true. Hope so ! It can only help local tourism, to have more routes, plus (being selfish) we'll now be able to visit family down-South much more easily & cheaply !

Edited January 2, 2011 by Ricardo

[betico1]

i´ve got a ticket for the first flight on monday jan 24. will then take a minibus from hat yai to penang for 3 nights before a night in hat yai returning to chiang mai on the friday. good way of leaving thailand to start last 60 day tourist visa. a bargain at 1980 baht return with no visa required for malaysia

[orang37]

i´ve got a ticket for the first flight on monday jan 24. will then take a minibus from hat yai to penang for 3 nights before a night in hat yai returning to chiang mai on the friday. good way of leaving thailand to start last 60 day tourist visa. a bargain at 1980 baht return with no visa required for malaysia

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Betico1,

Congratulations (we hope) ! Assume you are going there for other reasons than a tourist visa ? Hasn't been time yet to check on the status of Vientiane for free double-entry tourist visas, but we assume that's still the only place in the area offering those.

We were once in Hat Yai, maybe ten years ago, on a visa run, and were very bored by the city, but we were stuck there an extra day because of the timing of catching the return flight to CNX. Did have some very good Indian food there, however.

On the minibus back to Hat Yai, with visa in hand, a whole group of Malays were in the minibus; we asked one why they were going to Hat Yai: he replied: "hanky-panky" in an accent that reminded so of Indian Hindi, so we heard it as: "hankeeee pankeee"

best, ~o:37;

[elektrified]

i´ve got a ticket for the first flight on monday jan 24. will then take a minibus from hat yai to penang for 3 nights before a night in hat yai returning to chiang mai on the friday. good way of leaving thailand to start last 60 day tourist visa. a bargain at 1980 baht return with no visa required for malaysia

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Betico1,

Congratulations (we hope) ! Assume you are going there for other reasons than a tourist visa ? Hasn't been time yet to check on the status of Vientiane for free double-entry tourist visas, but we assume that's still the only place in the area offering those.

We were once in Hat Yai, maybe ten years ago, on a visa run, and were very bored by the city, but we were stuck there an extra day because of the timing of catching the return flight to CNX. Did have some very good Indian food there, however.

On the minibus back to Hat Yai, with visa in hand, a whole group of Malays were in the minibus; we asked one why they were going to Hat Yai: he replied: "hanky-panky" in an accent that reminded so of Indian Hindi, so we heard it as: "hankeeee pankeee"

best, ~o:37;

10 years was a while ago. You should give Hat Yai another shot orang37. It's actually a very fun place and in my opinion, the best place to be in Thailand for Chinese New Year. I love seeing those Chinese monks with their faces painted running into the different shops carrying the Buddha. They are very animated and it is very interesting to see. And the Chinese food of course, is better there than anywhere else in Thailand. You can buy the bird's nest soup depending on what your budget is for quality. I think one grade, "AAA" or something like that is about 300,000 Baht per kilogram while others are on average 60,000-70,000 Baht per kilogram. We were invited to one Chinese New Year dinner celebration and the g/f's uncle told us the soup we were eating cost 1000 Baht per bowl!

Songkhla has a very nice beach and mini buses are available everywhere in Hat Yai. Nearby Pattani has some great beaches too. Shopping in Hat Yai is great. Better than in Chiang Mai and everything is much much cheaper and bargaining is better. We bought so much stuff that we had to have it trucked back to Chiang Mai (for a whopping 50 Baht!)

And regarding the 'hanky panky' as the Malays said to you... yes...the Chinese girls that are placed on stools at night all over the city in their red dresses illuminated only be red Chinese lanterns are the most beautiful girls in Thailand. Hat Yai (not for everyone) is one of the best kept secrets in Thailand.

I might add that in the 10 days or so that I was there, I may have seen a total of only 100 farangs the entire time. Some people stared at me like they had never seen a farang before in their life! But there were thousands of Chinese tourists there.

Edited January 2, 2011 by elektrified

[WinnieTheKhwai]

We heard rumours just over a year ago, that AA were planning to base a couple of planes up here

American Airlines!! Now that indeed, is news.

As for visa running, wouldn't an international destination work better? Then you get one month when flying back in. Or if it's simply leaving Thailand, then Mae Sai is probably easier/cheaper. I can appreciate wanting a different location once in a while of course. It's been 15 years since I did a visa run and I kind of miss them.

Edited January 2, 2011 by WinnieTheKhwai

[betico1]

I already have the double entry tourist visa from UK, just a question of leaving Thailand and coming back to start the second block of 60 days. thought i´d give Penang and Hat Yai a look rather than just do the Mae Sai run. Hat Yai gets just half a page in Rough Guide so i thought i would check for myself. at the promotion price i couldn´t say no

[jayjay0]

i´ve got a ticket for the first flight on monday jan 24. will then take a minibus from hat yai to penang for 3 nights before a night in hat yai returning to chiang mai on the friday. good way of leaving thailand to start last 60 day tourist visa. a bargain at 1980 baht return with no visa required for malaysia

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Betico1,

Congratulations (we hope) ! Assume you are going there for other reasons than a tourist visa ? Hasn't been time yet to check on the status of Vientiane for free double-entry tourist visas, but we assume that's still the only place in the area offering those.

We were once in Hat Yai, maybe ten years ago, on a visa run, and were very bored by the city, but we were stuck there an extra day because of the timing of catching the return flight to CNX. Did have some very good Indian food there, however.

On the minibus back to Hat Yai, with visa in hand, a whole group of Malays were in the minibus; we asked one why they were going to Hat Yai: he replied: "hanky-panky" in an accent that reminded so of Indian Hindi, so we heard it as: "hankeeee pankeee"

best, ~o:37;

10 years was a while ago. You should give Hat Yai another shot orang37. It's actually a very fun place and in my opinion, the best place to be in Thailand for Chinese New Year. I love seeing those Chinese monks with their faces painted running into the different shops carrying the Buddha. They are very animated and it is very interesting to see. And the Chinese food of course, is better there than anywhere else in Thailand. You can buy the bird's nest soup depending on what your budget is for quality. I think one grade, "AAA" or something like that is about 300,000 Baht per kilogram while others are on average 60,000-70,000 Baht per kilogram. We were invited to one Chinese New Year dinner celebration and the g/f's uncle told us the soup we were eating cost 1000 Baht per bowl!

Songkhla has a very nice beach and mini buses are available everywhere in Hat Yai. Nearby Pattani has some great beaches too. Shopping in Hat Yai is great. Better than in Chiang Mai and everything is much much cheaper and bargaining is better. We bought so much stuff that we had to have it trucked back to Chiang Mai (for a whopping 50 Baht!)

And regarding the 'hanky panky' as the Malays said to you... yes...the Chinese girls that are placed on stools at night all over the city in their red dresses illuminated only be red Chinese lanterns are the most beautiful girls in Thailand. Hat Yai (not for everyone) is one of the best kept secrets in Thailand.

I might add that in the 10 days or so that I was there, I may have seen a total of only 100 farangs the entire time. Some people stared at me like they had never seen a farang before in their life! But there were thousands of Chinese tourists there.

How long ago were you there? What was the general attitude towards Terrorists?

What ever can you have a lot of that only cost 50 baht to truck it back all the way to Chiang Mai. I thought they charged you that much to ship the shipping papers.

[elektrified]

i´ve got a ticket for the first flight on monday jan 24. will then take a minibus from hat yai to penang for 3 nights before a night in hat yai returning to chiang mai on the friday. good way of leaving thailand to start last 60 day tourist visa. a bargain at 1980 baht return with no visa required for malaysia

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun Betico1,

Congratulations (we hope) ! Assume you are going there for other reasons than a tourist visa ? Hasn't been time yet to check on the status of Vientiane for free double-entry tourist visas, but we assume that's still the only place in the area offering those.

We were once in Hat Yai, maybe ten years ago, on a visa run, and were very bored by the city, but we were stuck there an extra day because of the timing of catching the return flight to CNX. Did have some very good Indian food there, however.

On the minibus back to Hat Yai, with visa in hand, a whole group of Malays were in the minibus; we asked one why they were going to Hat Yai: he replied: "hanky-panky" in an accent that reminded so of Indian Hindi, so we heard it as: "hankeeee pankeee"

best, ~o:37;

10 years was a while ago. You should give Hat Yai another shot orang37. It's actually a very fun place and in my opinion, the best place to be in Thailand for Chinese New Year. I love seeing those Chinese monks with their faces painted running into the different shops carrying the Buddha. They are very animated and it is very interesting to see. And the Chinese food of course, is better there than anywhere else in Thailand. You can buy the bird's nest soup depending on what your budget is for quality. I think one grade, "AAA" or something like that is about 300,000 Baht per kilogram while others are on average 60,000-70,000 Baht per kilogram. We were invited to one Chinese New Year dinner celebration and the g/f's uncle told us the soup we were eating cost 1000 Baht per bowl!

Songkhla has a very nice beach and mini buses are available everywhere in Hat Yai. Nearby Pattani has some great beaches too. Shopping in Hat Yai is great. Better than in Chiang Mai and everything is much much cheaper and bargaining is better. We bought so much stuff that we had to have it trucked back to Chiang Mai (for a whopping 50 Baht!)

And regarding the 'hanky panky' as the Malays said to you... yes...the Chinese girls that are placed on stools at night all over the city in their red dresses illuminated only be red Chinese lanterns are the most beautiful girls in Thailand. Hat Yai (not for everyone) is one of the best kept secrets in Thailand.

I might add that in the 10 days or so that I was there, I may have seen a total of only 100 farangs the entire time. Some people stared at me like they had never seen a farang before in their life! But there were thousands of Chinese tourists there.

How long ago were you there? What was the general attitude towards Terrorists?

What ever can you have a lot of that only cost 50 baht to truck it back all the way to Chiang Mai. I thought they charged you that much to ship the shipping papers.

I was last in Hat Yai February 2009. I never heard a word mentioned about terrorists there but was warned to be careful while at the beach in Pattani. There are military checkpoints everywhere on the roads coming in or out of the Southern Provinces. We shipped 2 large boxes - about 60 X 30 X 30 cm via a trucking company all the way to Chiang Mai. When we went to the trucking company to get the boxes which was somewhere off Thannon Chang Klan, our bill was 57 Baht! It did take about 2 weeks to arrive so an express service would obviously be more.

Edited January 2, 2011 by elektrified

[jackr]

We were once in Hat Yai, maybe ten years ago, on a visa run, and were very bored by the city, but we were stuck there an extra day because of the timing of catching the return flight to CNX. Did have some very good Indian food there, however.

Hat Yai is indeed a characterless city loaded with Malays and not much occurring - apart from the Lee Garden Plaza, Pink Lady (totty), and the nearby aviary/park - yet head east 40mins to Songkhla and you'll find a pretty unique, chilled town on da beach.

[LivinLOS]

Mate lives in Song Kla.. Due to it being an oil worker town its got a little expat community and kinda like the vibe of the place. Tho found it hard to get good food which is unusual for Thailand.

Interestingly the towns expat populations have risen and fallen on the tides of the various companies that worked there. Apparently it was much more french influenced when total was one of the main companies and town had a cheese shop / french foods / etc.. Now its GE with more general and US people.

George at the buzz stop irish bar always good for a wind up.. Tell him you dont like his irish guiness and the malay stuff is better, that usually gets his back up !!

[orang37]

Sawasdee Khrup, TV CM Friends,

We think Khun Elektrified is spot-on to point out that an impression from a single trip ten years ago is probably of little value today: what in Amazing T. is not morphing constantly from better to worse, or versa-vice, often going directly to mediocrity without passing "Go" ?

Would be concerned about security issues in Pattani ... and that whole area ... no like bomb-bomb ... and even Hat Yai: but Songkhla does sound more interesting.

Not a trip we plan to ever make again, however: we had free tickets at the time thanks to a young American pilot for whatever that small (now defunct ?) airline was that flew somewhere near Hat Yai.

best, ~o:37;