Hat Yai

A whole hill east of town turned into a park, with a Guanyin statue, a big golden Buddha and a Chinese pagoda. A cable car runs up to a lookout over the city and toward Songkhla Lake. Ride up around dusk and see the town lights come on.

A weekend-only evening market of dozens of small boats moored on a canal, cooking noodles, skewers and sweets on board. Customers sit on the bank steps and trade cash for food in baskets on long poles. After sunset the steps fill fast.

A temple holding a 35m reclining Buddha, said to rank among the largest anywhere. A door leads inside its base, where a small shrine and more images sit. It lies a little west of the centre, so take a tuk-tuk or taxi.

The old market in the heart of Hat Yai, heaped with dried squid, nuts, and biscuits and chocolate from Malaysia. Fried chicken and skewer stalls crowd the ground-floor entrance, and the morning is less crowded than the evening.

Songkhla's old lakeside quarter, 40 minutes from Hat Yai, where Sino-Portuguese shophouses line Nakhon Nai and Nakhon Nok roads. Murals of local life cover the walls and old coffee shops open at dawn. In the midday heat many shutters come down.

Songkhla's long sandy beach, whose emblem is a mermaid statue combing her hair on a rock. Two islets offshore are called Cat and Rat islands, and seafood stalls trade in the shade of the pines behind the sand. Swimming is barred in the rough season.

The name means elephant tusk, for the way the water splits into two falling strands, and it runs down seven tiers. Some 40 minutes' drive west of Hat Yai, it is fullest toward the end of the rains. The path to the upper tiers is slippery, so wear trainers.

An island in Songkhla Lake reached by road over a bridge. Households weaving the cloth named after the island set looms by the roadside where you can watch, and lakeside restaurants serve fish from the pens. The museum on the hilltop looks over the whole lake.

A mansion a Chinese-descended official built in the later 19th century, red tiles and courtyards in southern Chinese style. As a museum it shows southern prehistory, Buddha images and old household tools, and closes on Mondays and Tuesdays.

A Muslim fishing village on the coast south of Songkhla, its beach lined with korlae boats, prows swept high and every surface painted. No two are alike, and the most are on the sand in the morning after fishing. Ask before photographing villagers.

A 100m-odd hill above Songkhla old town's northern edge, topped by a bell-shaped chedi and a late 19th-century Western-style pavilion. Ride the inclined lift or climb 300-plus steps; up top, Songkhla Lake and open sea flank the hill.

A big southern mosque on Hat Yai's eastern fringe, its white dome and four corner minarets said to copy the Taj Mahal. A broad pool in front mirrors it whole, so photographers circle the rim. Avoid prayer times; women bring a scarf for hair and arms.

Where the cape north of Samila Beach runs out, a giant naga rears its head over the water. One side is the mouth of Songkhla Lake, the other the Gulf of Thailand, each a different colour. A pine-shaded path leads out, and anglers take the breakwater at sunset.

A shallow marsh lake in Phatthalung, roughly two hours by car up from Hat Yai, crossed by longtail boat among water lilies and herons. Buffalo herds swim out to graze, a scene unique to this lake. Blooms unfold at dawn and close by midday, so board early.