Anyone visited Southern Thailand near Malaysia?

[Beachlover]

A lot of you guys seem to visit your BF's family in Isaan and other areas on Northern Thailand.

Has anyone visited Southern Thailand near Malaysia? I mean provinces like Surat Thani, Pattani, Hat Yai, Songkhla.

I'm curious... how would you describe the area? Do you think it's too dangerous to visit?

[llz]

I already visited Surat Thani, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Songkhla provinces - although not for long trips.
There is no more security problems than in other parts of Thailand, except in the three southernmost provinces -Narathiwat Yala Pattani - and the southern part of Songkhla province.
Lots of desert beaches and nice people in the area, beautiful boys and a quite intreresting - although very tame by even Phuket standards - gay scene in Hat Yai.
The only problem is that most of the year is very rainy so you must carefully choose the time where you will go there.

[Beachlover]

Thanks llz... that's helpful to know.

Someone told me in Pattani there are bombings every day... Songkhra is ok but the insurgency is slowly creeping North.

Sounds like a beautiful area... one boy told me, "my home not like here... is beautiful... swimming can see fish [does this cute snorkeling mask movement with his hands]".

Have you been to Hat Yai?

[pong]

throughout the years i have visited each and every of Thailands 76 chiangwats=provinces. As above, like ilz, explains, only the most southern, notably Pattani and Yala, are bomb/terror/ etc. prone and better avoided for the mo. If this would even include the railline HYai-southeast toward Sungai Kolok is up to you-the main aim of bombers seem to be anything related to Thai govmt-and the SRT is undoubtedly a Thai Govt. thing, as are schools and post etc.
Tourists mainly go the the south for its many pristine beaches and islands. I am not that much interested in that-look in anyguidebook or mainstream travellerfora for more info. For the rest it does not differ too much from any provincial Thai surroundings-but the food maybe different for truly Isan-hooked fans and there tend to be more Chinese.
HYai is a prime weekend haunt for Malays (read chinese) seeking short-time pleasures. In this field there is also a quite hidden gay proportion available. The city itself is not notable at all-the 13 in the dozen overloud, overbusy looks everywhere the same tipical Thai province town. It also used to be a favorite stop for the longertime Thai farang doing visaruns-but that was before Cambodia/Laos opened up for that. The railline south from HYai into Malaysia-border padang Besar and on to Butterworth/KUL is not in danger.

[Brad the Impala]

All good advice above. Just to add that I particularly took to Songkla. For a provincial capital it is relaxing, and the people are friendly in a natural Thai way. There was a good breeze off the sea, and a good beach that was a peaceful place. The place just had a good atmosphere. It is also a university town, and has a navy base. I remember thinking "I could live here".

[Diec]

Yes, but what about the sex? I'm over 74 years old and just adore sex with 18 year olds. Do these legal boys know how to please a man of older age?

[Beachlover]

throughout the years i have visited each and every of Thailands 76 chiangwats=provinces. As above, like ilz, explains, only the most southern, notably Pattani and Yala, are bomb/terror/ etc. prone and better avoided for the mo. If this would even include the railline HYai-southeast toward Sungai Kolok is up to you-the main aim of bombers seem to be anything related to Thai govmt-and the SRT is undoubtedly a Thai Govt. thing, as are schools and post etc.
Tourists mainly go the the south for its many pristine beaches and islands. I am not that much interested in that-look in anyguidebook or mainstream travellerfora for more info. For the rest it does not differ too much from any provincial Thai surroundings-but the food maybe different for truly Isan-hooked fans and there tend to be more Chinese.
HYai is a prime weekend haunt for Malays (read chinese) seeking short-time pleasures. In this field there is also a quite hidden gay proportion available. The city itself is not notable at all-the 13 in the dozen overloud, overbusy looks everywhere the same tipical Thai province town. It also used to be a favorite stop for the longertime Thai farang doing visaruns-but that was before Cambodia/Laos opened up for that. The railline south from HYai into Malaysia-border padang Besar and on to Butterworth/KUL is not in danger.

Thanks Pong... nice to know it's reasonably safe. That was my main concern.

I didn't know there was any gay scene in Hat Yai... I guess it is more for locals though.

[Beachlover]

All good advice above. Just to add that I particularly took to Songkla. For a provincial capital it is relaxing, and the people are friendly in a natural Thai way. There was a good breeze off the sea, and a good beach that was a peaceful place. The place just had a good atmosphere. It is also a university town, and has a navy base. I remember thinking "I could live here".

Thanks... nice to hear Songkhla City has a nice seaside and pleasant atmosphere.

I heard Hat Hai is the 4th largest city in Thailand.

[Beachlover]

Darn... Smart Traveler (Australian Government website) advises not to travel to the Songkhla Province (amongst 3 others)... anyone have any comments on this?

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/ ... e/thailand (http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/advice/thailand)

Darn... Smart Traveler (Australian Government website) advises not to travel to the Songkhla Province (amongst 3 others)... anyone have any comments on this?

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/ ... e/thailand (http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/advice/thailand)

My first thought is that if it means there are going to be fewer Australians there, it's all that more attractive a destination.

[pong]

[/quote] I didn't know there was any gay scene in Hat Yai... I guess it is more for locals though.[/quote]

NO-its purely aimed at visiting Malays-and the supply of boys hence tends to be as white skinned as possible, thus boys from the North/ChMai popular. As with the str8 trade-its mainly done via intermediates, available in any HTL. There used to be a kind of gay-aimed bar, in the centre, but its soo long ago for me to have been there-this may well be of the past too. Maybe look yourself at sites like thailandscene or utopia-asia for more info.
Yes, HYai is about Thailds 4th (be it 5th-or 3d-who would care) largest city-and has all the bad signs of that, incl. traffic jams. it is IN the province=chiangwat of Songhkla, another town, about 20 kms way and on the seaside, frequent buses take 20/25 mins. Skla is also a big uni-town. Thus: if you are not used to that, skip this town-there is nothing really to attract a visitor who comes there for the purpose of visiting Hyai-anyone who does comes for something else, mainly transport, or weekend pleasure for its southern neighbours.

[Brad the Impala]

Darn... Smart Traveler (Australian Government website) advises not to travel to the Songkhla Province (amongst 3 others)... anyone have any comments on this?

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/ ... e/thailand (http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/advice/thailand)

The inclusion of Songkhla in that quartet of dangerous provinces is over cautious, in my opinion. I can understand the caution for Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.

[Beachlover]

Well it might be. But there have been a few bombings and foreigners killed in Hat Yai, Songkhra. This activity isn't as intense as in places like Pattani where it happens everyday. But boys have told me it is slowly creeping North and getting worse.

So don't go, then.

[Brad the Impala]

Well it might be. But there have been a few bombings and foreigners killed in Hat Yai, Songkhra. This activity isn't as intense as in places like Pattani where it happens everyday. But boys have told me it is slowly creeping North and getting worse.

I must have missed the killings of foreigners in Songkhla, when was that?

Personally I wouldn't be nervous to travel to Pattani either, as the targets are representatives of the government, not tourists.

Representatives of the government? Not from what I read in the paper. Teachers, monks, rubber tappers, vendors, passers by... Personally, I wouldn't be afraid, either, but it is definitely not just "representatives of the government" that are losing their heads down there (literally).

[rincondog]

Many of the problems, which means the bombs going off, in the three southern provinces do not get a lot of publicity. There are bombings which never get publicized outside of the local area.

What is your purpose in visiting, if you want to see the scenery and take in the culture of the area then it might be worth the risk. If on the other hand you just want to check out the gay scene in the area, then I would think that would be a foolish risk when lots of other places which are much safer are available.

I don't think tourists are specifically targeted yet, mainly because there aren't many there. However, it is a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time. Sitting at a sidewalk restaurant or bar with a car bomb going off near you could be your last Thai experience. In the three southern provinces there isn't much night life because most locals stay home because they don't feel it is safe to be out at night. Have a nice trip.

[Beachlover]

Well it might be. But there have been a few bombings and foreigners killed in Hat Yai, Songkhra. This activity isn't as intense as in places like Pattani where it happens everyday. But boys have told me it is slowly creeping North and getting worse.

I must have missed the killings of foreigners in Songkhla, when was that?

Personally I wouldn't be nervous to travel to Pattani either, as the targets are representatives of the government, not tourists.

I read it on Wikipedia and wikitravel pages for Songkhla Province and city and Hat Yai.

That was going to be my next thought... whether they were targeting tourists. I read they were targeting some places where tourists congregate.

[Beachlover]

Many of the problems, which means the bombs going off, in the three southern provinces do not get a lot of publicity. There are bombings which never get publicized outside of the local area.

What is your purpose in visiting, if you want to see the scenery and take in the culture of the area then it might be worth the risk. If on the other hand you just want to check out the gay scene in the area, then I would think that would be a foolish risk when lots of other places which are much safer are available.

I don't think tourists are specifically targeted yet, mainly because there aren't many there. However, it is a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time. Sitting at a sidewalk restaurant or bar with a car bomb going off near you could be your last Thai experience. In the three southern provinces there isn't much night life because most locals stay home because they don't feel it is safe to be out at night. Have a nice trip.

I was only thinking about visiting... haven't decided if I want to yet.

Reasons for visiting are I heard the scenery and sea are very beautiful there. And... I am a little bit in love with a Thai boy who comes from there.

Do not visit for the sea. It is nothing special on that stretch of the Gulf.

[Beachlover]

I also met this other cute - but straight - boy, Wut from one of the Southern provinces. gallery/image_page.php?album_id=26&image_id=2616&sk=t&sd=d&st=0 (http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=26&image_id=2616&sk=t&sd=d&st=0) I forget which one. He gave me a massage everyday at Civarome Massage (corner South Pattaya Rd and 2nd Rd)

He said he had left work for 3-4 months to go home earlier in the year. I asked him what he did then. He said,

"Oh nothing... just fishing... and [makes a bow and arrow movement - no idea what this meant] and psst"

He was telling me, "where I come from, not like here, is very beautiful... water can see fish [makes a snorkeling mask out of his hands]"...

I asked him if the insurgency was causing any problem. He said, "yes, have bombing... ah the... polit and teacher... and m-monk... every day they go booooooom! [throws his hands up]"... lol he was so cute the way he described everything.

Hatyai & Songkla is safer compared to the southern town of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani. Though a few years back, there were some incidents of bombings especially at the airport. However, since then, there has not been any major untoward incidences occured over there. You would just have to judge the risk-benefits by yourself =). It's a waste those areas are affected due to those bigots!

p/s: Hmm...I don't think Hatyai & Songkla have a very happening gay scene at all. Though it does have a lot of cabaret-transvestites shows. Do careful if u wanna look for boys. Cheers from Simon Welcome To The World Of Simon Lover's Sexy Blog! (http://simonlover83.blogspot.com)

[fedssocr]

It's a waste those areas are affected due to those bigots!


Which bigots would those be exactly? The problems down there go back decades if not 100 years. The area of those provinces has much more in common with Malaysia than it does with Thailand. Ever since Siam claimed that area there have been people who want to be part of Malaysia instead. Many of the Muslims think they are mistreated by the Buddhist central government. And then there were Thaksin's efforts in the area which certainly didn't help relations at all. So we see the results of the insurgency with lots of totally innocent people being killed Buddhist and Muslim alike.

[rincondog]

fedssocr:

Ever since Siam claimed that area there have been people who want to be part of Malaysia instead.

Malaysia did not exist as a country when Siam claimed those areas in the early 1900's. Malaysia was not a unified country until 1963.

Oops..Was referring to those overzealous separatists who goes on killing the innocents....Last time Hatyai was very peaceful. But nowadays, the number of Malaysian tourists are dwindling due to it. I'm not sure hw the Thai gov handle@mishandle the situation over there, but luckily at the moment, the Malaysian border side is still peaceful.

I dun think those areas wanted to be with Malaysia at all. Instead, i think they are fighting for a separate country as Pattani has a longer history than the Malaysian Northern States, i dun think they will swallow their ego by joining Malaysia as they have long established a sense of unique identity specifically found in their community only...

Welcome To The World Of Simon Lover's Blog! (http://simonlover83.blogspot.com)

[Beachlover]

Hatyai & Songkla is safer compared to the southern town of Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani. Though a few years back, there were some incidents of bombings especially at the airport. However, since then, there has not been any major untoward incidences occured over there. You would just have to judge the risk-benefits by yourself =). It's a waste those areas are affected due to those bigots!

p/s: Hmm...I don't think Hatyai & Songkla have a very happening gay scene at all. Though it does have a lot of cabaret-transvestites shows. Do careful if u wanna look for boys. Cheers from Simon Welcome To The World Of Simon Lover's Sexy Blog! (http://simonlover83.blogspot.com)

Thanks simonlover83