Hatyai..is It Safe?

[mrmazinkle]

Want to travel and stay in Hatyai..2 questions please..Is it safe for Farang at this time with all the problems in the south of Thailand....If so anyone recommend any monthly apartments..not to far from a beach or the sea..from about 12 to 15000 baht.>Many thanks for any replies..Thomas..

[snowflake]

No problems in Had Yai.

The problems you are talking about are just south of Had Yai. There are many nic apartments to stay at. Good luck.

PS. I almost moved to Had Yai this year, but the contract I was offered was not good enough...

[H2oDunc]

Hat Yai is a lovely town. It does one of the best bike weekends in the calendar. Its very vibrant with some very good Chinese eateries. We always used to stay at the Novotel in town. Very nice hotel and 3 times a week they have an all you can eat buffet which are great. I have also ridden right down to the border through all 3 supposed dangerous regions and found everyone to be very nice and helpful. They also have some beautiful beaches and accom is cheap.

[Swanky]

My best friend lives in Songklah just near Hat Yai. Her aunt has a restaurant on the beach but haven't been there in a few years due to the things going on. She also said it wasn't particularly safe for a farang woman travelling alone to go there, I don't know though, am looking at making a trip around Christmas as she's just had a baby.

I check the embassy warnings but nothing to tell so I guess it is OK.

[junki3korean]

hat yai is safe, i havent heard of bombs going of for at least two 2-3 years now......but there aint much there...alot of chinese mainland girls that only speak mandarin.

[Losangels]

Yes it is safe, stayed in Hadyai for a couple of nights in March at the Sakura Hotel in downtown.

Down stairs was a karaoke bar with mostly Chinese customers therefore mostly Chinese songs were played, some of the girls working there were Chinese. Didn't cost much to drink there.

Many nice places to eat (sea food&Chinese), prices very reasonable to cheap and delicious food.

Nice weather and no air pollution, wish I had more time to spend there

[relayer]

...[major snip]...

They also have some beautiful beaches and accom is cheap.

There are no beaches in Hat Yai. You're thinking of Songkhla about 35Km to the east along the gulf.

Speaking of Songkhla, I did see an apt for rent for 12K baht/mo. a while back but it was not near the beach nor walking distance to the markets and eateries, and somewhat overpriced for what was offered. Songkhla's only advantage is that it's right on the gulf. Other than that, there's hardly anything else there worth staying for. 12K-15K baht could easily rent you a small house in either Hat Yai or Songkhla (if you can find it, that is!). I almost rented a two-story, 3/2 in a managed complex located near Carrefour in Hat Yai for only 5K baht/mo but it needed too much work to make it livable so I had to pass it up...

Unlike Songkhla, Hat Yai has all the major stores (Big C, Tesco Lotus, Carrefour, Makro, a number of large dept. stores, etc., etc.) and multitudes of mostly Thai-Chinese-owned shops and eateries. It's the fourth largest city by population in Thailand yet air pollution is virtually nil, thanks in part to being located more or less on an isthmus, so it has good air flow sweeping over it most of the time from both the gulf side as well as coming in from the Andaman Sea side (depending upon the time of the year). I can verify this because I have a view of the hills to the north and I can almost always see them clearly during my (so far) year-long stay here.

Another thing I especially like about Hat Yai (and southern Thailand, in general) is that there are a lot of roaming street vendors selling fresh sliced fruit for the usual 10 baht/bag. Nothing like indulging in some sweet pineapple or papaya on a whim for mere pennies. Try finding that in most other major cities in the world...

Is Hat Yai safe? Safer than Phuket these days, that's for sure. And certainly safer than Pattaya. It's only when you venture further south into the "problem" provinces (Yala, Naratiwat, etc.) that the probability of witnessing an adverse event increases.

[VTR1000]

Yes it is safe, stayed in Hadyai for a couple of nights in March at the Sakura Hotel in downtown.

Down stairs was a karaoke bar with mostly Chinese customers therefore mostly Chinese songs were played, some of the girls working there were Chinese. Didn't cost much to drink there.

Many nice places to eat (sea food&Chinese), prices very reasonable to cheap and delicious food.

Nice weather and no air pollution, wish I had more time to spend there

Last time I was in there a gunfight broke out in the coffee shop!

[JimsKnight]

TIT

Nothing like a bit of action to get things going

[ham]

Three bombs apparently set on motorcycles by southern insurgents killed a woman and wounded at least 71 passersby in Sukhirin district of Narathiwat on Tuesday, police said.

from http://www.bangkokpost.com/

This is on the way to Kota Baru!

[Robski]

but there aint much there...alot of chinese mainland girls that only speak mandarin.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Hats off to Hat Yai I say!!

[MiG16]

relayer has given spot on info , rightly so, considering he lives there

(and clarified the confusion between HatYai and Songkhla)

its quite safe in Hatyai - if you are thinking in terms of the insurgency and violence that has been going on in south thailand the past 4 years.

ofcourse, when it comes to other general risk, these remain as it does in any other major cities and towns around the world

price-wise I think it depends whether you are looking for apartments, or house. but it certainly wont be walking distance to the beach from HatYai

driving to Songkhla is one option ..although the distance is only about 26km, the road is small and can get slow when theres traffic. theres also a beach in other direction....right adjacent the highway..heading towards Had Sakom...but its not a very nice beach.

further from Songkhla is Had Kaew, which is much nicer

good luck

[windyless]

I'm making at trip to Hat Yai this weekend. Is it safe to make the trip due to the current politic?

Your opinion is much appreciated.

[relayer]

relayer has given spot on info , rightly so, considering he lives there (and clarified the confusion between HatYai and Songkhla) its quite safe in Hatyai - if you are thinking in terms of the insurgency and violence that has been going on in south thailand the past 4 years. ofcourse, when it comes to other general risk, these remain as it does in any other major cities and towns around the world price-wise I think it depends whether you are looking for apartments, or house. but it certainly wont be walking distance to the beach from HatYai driving to Songkhla is one option ..although the distance is only about 26km, the road is small and can get slow when theres traffic. theres also a beach in other direction....right adjacent the highway..heading towards Had Sakom...but its not a very nice beach. further from Songkhla is Had Kaew, which is much nicer good luck

Yes, ~26 km to Songkhla is the more correct figure.

Also, the downtown streets and sidewalks upgrades appear to be all but finished now, so it is pleasant to walk downtown again.

The only loud explosions here are all the fireworks. It seems no matter what the holiday or commemoration, someone's always setting off some serious gunpowder...

Edited November 27, 2008 by relayer