Greetings Ladies,

I will be coming to Thailand in June with my Thai (by marriage) cousin. We will be there for a month and staying in Songkhla. My cousin will be attending to her rubber plantation and visiting her family. I want to do some traveling around but my cousin has advised me against going anywhere alone. I had wanted to go to some national parks and to choose an island or two and stay in a bungaloo for a week or so. The only thing I could come up with is to find a farang bar, make some friends and see if I can find another female that would enjoy going somewhere for a few days. Any suggestions?

Swampy

hi there swampy,

I can't say I know a whole lot about the province of Songkla and if it is considered to be safe or unsafe. Obviously things are a little insecure in the deep south at the moment but I wouldn't think there was any danger of heading up to Surat and then hopping over to an island for a week or so. You wouldn't have much trouble finding solo travellers once on Ko Samui/Ko PhanNgan and it would a great shame if you didn't get out and see these islands.

Having said all of this, your cousin would no doubt be a whole lot more aware of the safety issues so it might not be the best to take the advice from a Bangkokian!

Greetings Ladies,

I will be coming to Thailand in June with my Thai (by marriage) cousin. We will be there for a month and staying in Songkhla. My cousin will be attending to her rubber plantation and visiting her family. I want to do some traveling around but my cousin has advised me against going anywhere alone. I had wanted to go to some national parks and to choose an island or two and stay in a bungaloo for a week or so. The only thing I could come up with is to find a farang bar, make some friends and see if I can find another female that would enjoy going somewhere for a few days. Any suggestions?

Swampy

Just go to Trang or Krabi (Trang is about 2-3 hours by bus from Songkhla, Krabi is about 5) there are a ton of places you can go from there. I, as well as many girls that I know have travelled solo around those areas, no problems. You can PM me for more info if you'd like.

HI I am a single western female who has lived here for 5 years. Thailand is fine, thailand is safe. Mabye just stay in Bangkok and book a trip from there. Khao Sarn road is THE Backpacker headquarters. you can book a trip from there and have instant friends on the journey there. Bring a backpack though and not a suitcase .

Go to the lonelyplanet.com website, go to the "thorntree" discussion forum on Thailand. Thailand is proably one of the safest places to travel. Be street smart and saavy, and you should be fine.

When I was single and beforeI had my son, I travelled from Surat to Nakhon Si Thammarat to Songkla and on to Hat Yai (and then Penang) by myself using local transport (buses). The most dangerous thing was the 30 minute bus ride between Songkla and Hat Yai with a maniac driver behind the wheel. Of course, nowdays there's a bit more danger with problems in the south but they are mainly further south than where you want to go. In Songkla town itself is (or was) a pristine white beach about 3 kms long. At the end there was a Muslim fishing village where I took my favourite-ever photos (unfortunately don't have digital copies otherwise I would have attached some). They paint intricate colourful fishing boats. I'm not sure if the village would still be the same today (this was a quite few years ago) but worth investigating. Busing to Surat them hopping over to Samui or one of the other islands shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Have fun on your trip!

hi there swampy,

I can't say I know a whole lot about the province of Songkla and if it is considered to be safe or unsafe. Obviously things are a little insecure in the deep south at the moment but I wouldn't think there was any danger of heading up to Surat and then hopping over to an island for a week or so. You wouldn't have much trouble finding solo travellers once on Ko Samui/Ko PhanNgan and it would a great shame if you didn't get out and see these islands.

Having said all of this, your cousin would no doubt be a whole lot more aware of the safety issues so it might not be the best to take the advice from a Bangkokian!

Hi Miss Ange,

Songkhla is a very safe place to be stationed at. No problems there. But I feel the same as you about going so far and not seeing any of Thailands world famous tropical islands. I think my Thai cousin's advice about not traveling alone is a personal choice more so than a warning. I will take my chances since I may be relocating to Thailand and would like to have a broarder perspective of the country to help me decide if I want to live there. Thanks for the reply.

Swampy

When I was single and beforeI had my son, I travelled from Surat to Nakhon Si Thammarat to Songkla and on to Hat Yai (and then Penang) by myself using local transport (buses). The most dangerous thing was the 30 minute bus ride between Songkla and Hat Yai with a maniac driver behind the wheel. Of course, nowdays there's a bit more danger with problems in the south but they are mainly further south than where you want to go. In Songkla town itself is (or was) a pristine white beach about 3 kms long. At the end there was a Muslim fishing village where I took my favourite-ever photos (unfortunately don't have digital copies otherwise I would have attached some). They paint intricate colourful fishing boats. I'm not sure if the village would still be the same today (this was a quite few years ago) but worth investigating. Busing to Surat them hopping over to Samui or one of the other islands shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Have fun on your trip!

Hi Sylvafern,

Thanks for the reply. And I have heard many horror stories about bus rides in Thailand. Can't be any worse than bus rides in Mexico!

My cousins go back to Songkhla frequently and have noted how time seems to stand still there. My families home is a ten minute walk to Similla Beach. And according to all the photos I've seen on the net, the Muslim fishing village is intact and just as charming as when you were there.

Swampy

HI I am a single western female who has lived here for 5 years. Thailand is fine, thailand is safe. Mabye just stay in Bangkok and book a trip from there. Khao Sarn road is THE Backpacker headquarters. you can book a trip from there and have instant friends on the journey there. Bring a backpack though and not a suitcase .

Go to the lonelyplanet.com website, go to the "thorntree" discussion forum on Thailand. Thailand is proably one of the safest places to travel. Be street smart and saavy, and you should be fine.

Hi Diva,

Thanks for the tip about Thorntree. I picked up a lot of good info there.

I didn't mention that I am a young 57 (an old Hippie girl) and my backpack days are pretty much over with. I do however still like things on the semi-rustic side and from all of my research I gather that I will have many places to choose from that will suit my fancy.

Swampy

Greetings Ladies,

I will be coming to Thailand in June with my Thai (by marriage) cousin. We will be there for a month and staying in Songkhla. My cousin will be attending to her rubber plantation and visiting her family. I want to do some traveling around but my cousin has advised me against going anywhere alone. I had wanted to go to some national parks and to choose an island or two and stay in a bungaloo for a week or so. The only thing I could come up with is to find a farang bar, make some friends and see if I can find another female that would enjoy going somewhere for a few days. Any suggestions?

Swampy

Just go to Trang or Krabi (Trang is about 2-3 hours by bus from Songkhla, Krabi is about 5) there are a ton of places you can go from there. I, as well as many girls that I know have travelled solo around those areas, no problems. You can PM me for more info if you'd like.

Hi Meme,

I've decided to take your advice and go to Trang and Krabi and go to some islands from there. Can you recommend any nice, quaint, relatively inexpensive lodgings in those two towns?

Swampy

Greetings Ladies,

I will be coming to Thailand in June with my Thai (by marriage) cousin. We will be there for a month and staying in Songkhla. My cousin will be attending to her rubber plantation and visiting her family. I want to do some traveling around but my cousin has advised me against going anywhere alone. I had wanted to go to some national parks and to choose an island or two and stay in a bungaloo for a week or so. The only thing I could come up with is to find a farang bar, make some friends and see if I can find another female that would enjoy going somewhere for a few days. Any suggestions?

Swampy

Just go to Trang or Krabi (Trang is about 2-3 hours by bus from Songkhla, Krabi is about 5) there are a ton of places you can go from there. I, as well as many girls that I know have travelled solo around those areas, no problems. You can PM me for more info if you'd like.

Hi Meme,

I've decided to take your advice and go to Trang and Krabi and go to some islands from there. Can you recommend any nice, quaint, relatively inexpensive lodgings in those two towns?

Swampy

Hey Swampy good to hear you are going to explore. As far as Trang goes it is my 'home' in Thailand cause I lived there as does my boyfriends family I love it for personal reasons but I dont know, if you only have a limited amount of time you probably don't want to spend a lot of time there its more of a leaving point. From Trang you can get to Koh Lanta, Koh Mook, Koh libong and other islands, it is low season now so they will be quiet. Lanta is the most popular out of all of them so you will have an easier time meeting people if you go there. If you catch the bus to Trang just get a tuk tuk or motor bike taxi to the train station. There is where you will find all the travel places. I recommend KK travel which is right across from the train station. They will hook you up with anything you need. If you are planning on staying in Trang there are different places I can recommend just PM me. As for Krabi I spent a lot of time in Ao nang but not a lot of time in Krabi town so I can't advise you there. It really all depends on your price range as far as Ao nang is concerned you can stay in a variety of different places. I always stayed at the J hotel. close to the beach and the main strip, huge rooms, very resonable in low season. Check out the krabi forum as well there is lots of info there. Good luck!

Thais are very fearful of and adverse to travelling aloner anywhere. They marvel that foreigners do it. Pay no attention and head on out. Use the same degree of caution re personal safety that you would back home and you'll be fine. There are some security issues in the far south but Songkla on up no problem and the route you mentioned is full of western travels, including plenty of women travelling alone. I am a woman living alone -- in a remote rural area -- in Thailand and have travelled all over one my own. It's fine. Just don't go overboard and forget basic caution. And mind your valuables, keep them in hotel /guesthouse safe with just small amount of cash on your person. At the beach, I bring just a little cash and stash it inside the pages of a book. (BTW, in the one case where someone did try to swipe my stuff while I was in the water, it was another western tourist -- he stopped when I spotted him in the act).

i live on koh yao noi. its a beautiful little island. very muslim and very pretty. we arent known especially for white sandy beaches, but the scenery is really beautiful. there are boat trips to local islands, lovely bike rides etc.

currently i work at www.lomlae.com and if you want to book rooms, you can do so online.