Hat Yai – City South of the Border

Located just south of the Malaysia-Thailand border, Hat Yai is known for its many night markets and culture, Hat Yai is what many people would call a “must-visit” in Thailand. Here’s what we did in both our one-night stopovers in Hat Yai

Note: This is an excerpt from THIS post
Read to know more about our 16-day road trip and the other destinations we visited 🙂

Stay 1 – Cross the border

Stop Number 2 of our road trip, Hat Yai. Of course, before we get to Hat Yai, for the first time in my life, I have to cross the Thailand border by car. It was, actually a hassleless experience for the passengers, for the driver Im not too sure. Getting to Hat Yai from Cameron takes a good 6 hours no break on a good day, not including passing the border which changes your timezone (Keep that in mind)

Before reaching the Malaysia-Thailand border, which took much longer than anticipated, we settled lunch at a KFC not far south of George Town if I remember correctly.

At the Malaysia-Thailand border, the jam was, thankfully, barely noticeable compared to Singapore-Malaysia. In Thailand, it doesn’t take too much longer to jet your way to Hat Yai

First stop in Hat Yai, a sticker/license plate shop to grab some cool stickers for the car and for home.

The license plate we got is actually still on our dashboard, as a memo

Off to the hotel! The Bed Hotel Hatyai. General thoughts about the hotel, it was actually alright, the beds served us fine, the toilets were alright minus a hanging light and a loose toilet bowl. The aircon was alright and there was a TV, nothing fancy but it served us perfectly. One thing EXTREMELY important about this hotel if you’re staying at it, is the water heater is enabled using a button below it. I was oblivious to this button which led to me taking a cold shower. This becomes a reoccurring trend where I do things wrong and immediately after the right way is found.

Another thing about the hotel for people who are driving here, parking is to the far right of the picture below, down the road and to the right. There’s very little parking but thats where it is.

Here’s some pictures

Dinner was settled at the food court directly opposite the hotel (I.E where the first photo is taken) (Reference). Food was actually great, some chicken rice and noodles. After that, we decided to explore around, walking until we got to the Lee Garden Night Market. Another famous night market around the hotel was Kim Yong. It was quite a bustling place actually, and a lot of the restaurants there felt more like you were back in Singapore than Thailand, there was even a Zhi Char restaurant. Here’s some photos

Before we end off for the first stay, leaving Hat Yai for Koh Samui, there’s one important landmark to visit, the Reclining Buddha. Considered a visit in Hat Yai due to its vicinity, the Reclining Buddha is situated on an island southeast of Hat Yai, a very popular Buddhist temple known for its large Reclining Buddha

Stay 2 – Seeking the Jersey

Although revisiting Hat Yai was totally optional, we decided to take one extra day in Thailand after arriving back in the mainland at Pak Bara from Koh Lipe. Reason being? I need to buy football jerseys. As a Manchester City fan, I was still missing 3 kits from my collection of 6 starting from 22/23, so thus, we returned to the land of night markets

Landing in Pak Bara courtesy of a speedboat from Koh Lipe, we drove East to Hat Yai. Stopping at a PTT for lunch, as usual. #PTTbestgasstation

On to the hotel! The Three Hatyai. This hotel was, phenomenal. I left Hat Yai wishing we stayed there for longer! This room was unbelievable, probably one of the best we stayed in. TV shows replays of UCL football, bed was comfortable, swirly flush toilets, a bidet, balcony… Hell I had the best shower of the entire trip there, amazing! Everything you could ever want, it was so, so good considering the next 2 hotels we stayed in were, frankly, terrible. The ONE nitpick I have was the lack of parking, other than that, flawless.

About the parking, it was full by the time we got to Hat Yai midday, so we went to the ASEAN Night Bazaar first in search of football jerseys. Good news, I found 2! Bad news, I was missing one which I would ultimately order at home from the internet, nice place though

Later on in the night, we’d visit our hotel before returning back to the Lee Garden Night Market for dinner. Funnily enough, on the 13th/14th day of our road trip, it was a shock yet relief hearing Hokkien. It felt so much like I could’ve been in Singapore and not in Thailand, everyone spoke Hokkien or Chinese, the food tasted like any zhi char from Singapore! Although I didn’t want this holiday to end, it had a sort of bitter homesickness to it

(frankly I just wanted to play Honkai Star Rail)

Sleep was fantastic, in case you were wondering

Waking up the next day felt incredible. It rained during the night and was still raining when we went out for breakfast. If you ignore the tuk-tuks in the second photo, I could be in China.

Conclusion – Off to Samui/Ipoh!

Hat Yai feels more like home than traditional Thailand, a welcome surprise for an unexpecting traveler like me. If you like night markets, there are many here!

If you’re going to Hat Yai, here’s some things to take note of

  • The Three should be the first hotel you check, trust me.
  • There are a lot of night markets to look at, explore!
  • I wouldn’t say there are any MUST-DO’s in Hat Yai

Make sure to refer to the post link HERE to have a look at the other places we visited during our 16-day road trip across Malaysia and Thailand. That’s all from me, make sure to drink your food and eat your water.

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