What to see in Hat Yai
The South's eat-and-shop city — a hilltop cable car, a giant Buddha, a floating market, a waterfall and the sea close by

Hat Yai Municipal Park on Khao Kho Hong hill is the city's number-one sight, and the highlight is the Hat Yai Cable Car, which carries you up the hill for a view over the whole of Hat Yai. At the top stands Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaj, a giant golden standing Buddha you can see from far off, a place of real meaning for Hat Yai locals. Lower down, the park has exercise grounds, a lake and shady trees for a stroll. You can go up by cable car, the park shuttle, or drive yourself to the standing Buddha. It's a sacred site, so dress modestly.

In the same Municipal Park as the standing Buddha, but a separate spot — the Guan Im shrine, a white statue on the hill that's revered by Hat Yai's Thai-Chinese community, with steps and a place to make wishes, and a view that's just as good. You can walk on to more viewpoints and gardens. If you're with family or you like photos, the park also has Magic Eye 3D, a trick-art museum where you pose inside the painted scenes — kids love it, and it's a good stop in the midday heat because it's indoors. You can fit the cable car, the standing Buddha, Guan Im and Magic Eye into one visit.

The highlight at Wat Hat Yai Nai is the reclining Buddha, Phra Phutta Hatthamongkhon, a giant reclining image over 35 metres long, one of the largest in the South. People come to pay respects and make wishes, and beneath the base there's a hall and a place to make offerings. The temple grounds are shady and it's close to town, so it's easier to reach than the other out-of-town sights, and it's usually folded into a Hat Yai temple round. It's a temple, so dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, and take your shoes off before the Buddha hall.

Khlong Hae is Hat Yai's well-known floating market — vendors paddle boats along the canal selling southern Thai food, Thai sweets and seafood by the water. The feel is friendly and the prices are easy, with bridges and waterside salas to sit and eat, and it's a pleasant place to wander with a camera. The key thing: it's open only on Saturdays and Sundays (and Fridays in some periods), from afternoon into the evening — come on a weekday and it's quiet with the stalls shut. Go in the late afternoon into the evening for the best light and the fullest spread, and there's Wat Khlong Hae nearby if you want to add a temple.

If you want to escape the city for some nature, Ton Nga Chang is the closest option — a multi-tier waterfall in the Ton Nga Chang Wildlife Sanctuary. The name comes from a tier that splits into two streams like an elephant's tusks. The lower tiers are an easy walk and have pools you can swim in on days when the flow is gentle; the upper tiers mean a hike up the hill, more tiring and slippery, so wear shoes with good grip. The surrounding forest is shady and a good place to breathe. I'll be straight: in the rainy season the water is high and powerful, beautiful but to be treated with extra care — don't get in if the water is in spate or the rangers say not to.

Hat Yai is a food city, and the Greenway Night Market is one of the liveliest evening spots — a big open lot packed with street-food stalls: grills, seafood, fried snacks, sweets and drinks, with open-air seating and live music on some nights. Beyond the food there's shopping too, from clothes to souvenirs, all easy-going and well priced. It's the place to head after a day of sightseeing, fun and casual with no need to dress up. Nearby in town there are other night markets and Kim Yong Market if you want to keep going.

That tall white tower on the Hat Yai skyline is Lee Gardens Plaza, in the middle of the city's commercial district. Around it is the heart of Hat Yai, and it's all walkable — Kim Yong Market, the go-to for souvenirs, snacks and imported goods that Malaysian and Singaporean shoppers love, plus department stores, dim-sum houses, Hat Yai fried-chicken stalls and old coffee shops. Stay at a hotel in this area and you can walk to almost everything, which makes it a good base for the city. I'll be honest: in-town Hat Yai is more about eating and shopping than photo spots, but the busy-city atmosphere has a charm of its own.

What many people don't realise is that the sea is only about 30 minutes from Hat Yai — the city of Songkhla (the provincial capital) has both an old town and a beach you can do in a day. Walk Songkhla old town along Nang Ngam, Nakhon Nok and Nakhon Nai roads, past pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses, street art, cafes in old buildings and local food. Then on to Samila beach, a long sandy stretch with the Mermaid statue, Songkhla's emblem and the photo everyone takes, plus a cool sea breeze and seafood restaurants along the shore. It rounds out a Hat Yai trip with both an old town and the sea in one outing.