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In Thailand, the sun rises earlier than Malaysia. The morning sky is already bright and sunny by around 6:30am. On Day 2, I took an early bath and walked all the way to the second and third largest open wet market in Hat Yai หาดใหญ่. I referred to an illustrated map given to me by the guest house manager. It was a useful map detailing all strategic locations and places of interests in Hat Yai หาดใหญ่. But still, I needed to ask for directions from Thais to get to these two markets in Montri Road 1 & 2. The map is not drawn according to scale and exact location.

Starting a conversation with Thais is really difficult. I can only speak English, Malay and Cantonese. Most of the time, I speak in English. When I asked for directions, 90% of Thais were scratching their heads. Instead of giving me an answer, they will be talking back in Thai language. It was really difficult. Some of them don't even understand what a toilet is. But then again, I am happy to say Thais will go extra mile to help you. On so many occasions, general public or even total strangers help me to flag down a tuk-tuk and asked the drivers to send me to the proper destination. They'll speak in Thai to enable the driver understand my next destination. Fortunately, I have name of places that I want to see in two languages - English and Thai.

Coming Soon Part 4 & 5 of my Hat Yai หาดใหญ่ trip. After that, I'll be publishing posts about my visit to Bangkok. I'm waiting eagerly for these Bangkok posts because the BEST PICTURES will be included in these future posts. Bangkok is really HOT. But, the sunny sky was great - I snapped loads of NICE pictures over there :)

Title: Debone Dried & Salted Fish
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 10:26am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 125

These salted fish look fresh and delicious. Fried salted fish is normally eaten with plain white rice.

Title: Chillies & Onions
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 1 September 2009, 10:11am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 180

A close-up shot. Looking at this picture reminds me of Thai curry! YUMMY!

Title: The Bitter/Stink Beans (Petai)
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 9:16am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 125

Many thanks to fellow blogger and traveler fufu for identifying the name of this veggie. According to Wikipedia, 'they are best when combined with other strong flavoured foods such as garlic, chile peppers, and dried shrimp, as in "sambal petai" or added to a Thai curry such as Thai Green Curry of Duck.' Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkia_speciosa

Title: A Unique Seller
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 9:41am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 125

A lady pedalling ceramic coin boxes - CUTE and brightly coloured! Some of the coin boxes were shaped into little piggies :)

Title: The Man
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 10:28am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/6.3, ISO Equiv.: 100

I actually asked him to pose for me and hold pieces of salted fish. I captured this moment when the traders were laughing at him.

Title: Tasty Salted Fish
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 10:27am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 100

Salted fish dried to perfection!

Title: Afterlife Luxury
Location: Somewhere, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 1 September 2009, 10:18am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/8.0, ISO Equiv.: 100

Chanced upon a traditional Thai Chinese shop selling incense papers. The picture above shows an interesting geometric flower shaped paper. Incense paper used for ancestor worship comes in several forms; each represents a present for the ancestor's spirit. Paper coloured yellow with a gold foil printed on it represents a gold tael.

Title: Can You Guess What This Is?
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 9:52am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 180

These are twisted organs in pigs known as intestine! A chunky addition to Bak Kut Teh 肉骨茶. According to Wikipedia, the Bak Kut Teh name literally translates as "meat bone tea", and, at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic) for hours. Additional ingredients may include offal, varieties of mushroom, choy sum, and pieces of dried tofu or fried tofu puffs.

Title: Grilled Sweet Potatoes
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 10:02am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/7.1, ISO Equiv.: 100

I didn't expect to see a street vendor selling grilled sweet potatoes. First time seeing a movable stall selling this wonderful food. There were loads of Thais lining up to buy from her. I should've try it.

Title: Green Veggies & Thai Spices
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 1 September 2009, 10:01am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 125

I can see bamboo shoots, ginger, red tomatoes, abalone mushroom, onions and 'kunyit'/turmeric.

Title: The Street Vendors
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 2 September 2009, 9:20am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 125

This lady was selling bottles and packets of lime juice. Plates of groceries were place on top of the plastic baskets.

Title: Busy & Jam-Packed With People
Location: Wet Market, Hat Yai หาดใหญ่, Southern Thailand
Date: 1 September 2009, 9:54am
Camera: Nikon D60 with Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Equiv.: 110

The road is wide. But, the morning traffic was insane. The road was jam-packed with crowds going to work or buying groceries.

Hat Yai หาดใหญ่ - Getting There To/From Malaysia:

Train:

Hat Yai is on the southern line connecting Bangkok to Butterworth and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

To/from Malaysia: The State Railways of Thailand's International Express leaves Hat Yai for Butterworth near Penang daily at 05:50, going via Padang Besar. In the other direction, trains leave Butterworth at 13:15 and arrive in Hat Yai at 17:30. The train then continues to Bangkok. Refer to official website for latest fares and timetable:
http://www.railway.co.th/english/index.asp

The Senandung Langkawi operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malaysian Railways) departs Hat Yai for Kuala Lumpur daily at 14:50, arriving at KL Sentral at 07:36 the next day. Trains from Kuala Lumpur depart at 20:45 and arrive in Hat Yai at 10:20 the next day. The Senandung Langkawi goes via Butterworth and Padang Besar. Please note that Malaysian time is one hour ahead of Thai time. If it is noon in Thailand, it is 13:00 in Malaysia. Refer to official website for latest fares and timetable:
http://www.ktmb.com.my/

Bus:

KL to Hat Yai:
a) Konsortium Bas Express Semenanjung http://www.kbes.com.my/
b) Sri Maju Group http://www.srimaju.com/

It's a 9 hours journey including border checking and visa processing.

Read more about bus trip from Puduraya KL to Hat Yai, Thailand:
http://tinyurl.com/q37fhj

Hat Yai หาดใหญ่ - Recommended Accommodation:

Louise Guesthouse (near Robinson Shopping Plaza & Facing Hat Yai หาดใหญ่ Rail Station)
21-23 Thamnoon Vithi Rd., Hatyai Songkhla 90110 Tel. 074-220966

Read travelers' reviews from travelfish.org - http://tinyurl.com/nv2r4g






Hat Yai หาดใหญ่ - Read More:

a) http://wikitravel.org/en/Hat_Yai
b) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat_Yai
c) http://www.hatyaicity.go.th/

Hat Yai หาดใหญ่ Wet Markets - Google Maps:


Note: The two largest wet markets are located in Montri 1 & 2. Click 'zoom here' for a close-up view.

9 comments

  1. Anonymous Says:
  2. I like the pattern of "Afterlife Luxury".
    I think it would look equally stunning in B&W.

    Wow, you can type Thai?!

     
  3. shloke Says:
  4. I stumbled upon that geometric shape in a shop selling incense papers.

    Not at all. I copied the Thai wittings from Wikitravel :)

    Cheers!
    mylo

     
  5. fufu Says:
  6. yeah you should go there with me!! i speak litle thai XD while working with my thai workers in singapore... they taught me some... and if you know hokkien and hakka, you would pick up the language very fast :) i know both dialects besides cantonese =p erm... petai cooked with belacan and shrimps~~~ oh my favourite XD

    ryc : well, it's alright... yah i just reliased that you had just visited the cities i mentioned lmao btw where is your next destination huuh other than melaka, ipoh, penang??

     
  7. shloke Says:
  8. @fufu,

    Thank you so much for helping me identifying the proper name for those cute tiny veggie = petai or stink beans :)

    Sigh...I'm such a banana guy....not knowing the common Chinese dialects. Regretted not able to speak Mandarin, Hakka or Hokkien. I noticed some Chinese Thais speak a bit of Hakka here and there. Thanks for sharing this info.

    My next location?? Gee...not sure yet. Still planning :)

    Thank you!
    mylo

     
  9. xplorer Says:
  10. i love reading your travelogue in thailand.Are you still in thailand?
    I love going to hatyai , when i was working in penang , i normally go to hatyai on a day trip to shop and to eat.I love eating the giant fried udang galah near a stall infront of the lee garden plaza hotel.check it out it's almost impossible to find udang galah that size in malaysia.Looking foward to your next posting , your journey had bring back my fond memory of thailand when i backpack across the land of smile 6-7 years back.

     
  11. shloke Says:
  12. @xplorer,

    Thanks for the kind compliment!

    I've returned from Thailand few days ago. Normally, I brought along pieces of A4 papers and pens to jot down my daily trips. So, by the time I returned to my house, I can actually refresh on those events and put it into my blog post.

    Hat Yai is simply interesting. So many stuff over there...udang galah, veggies, meat and the list seems to be endless! By the way, the food is way cheaper than Malaysia :)

    Sigh, wish I can stay longer in Thailand and explore more places like you did. I wasted precious time boarding the train. But then again, I truly enjoy the countryside view from the choo-choo train :)

    Cheers!
    mylo

     
  13. CathJ Says:
  14. Love those photos!!!

     
  15. shloke Says:
  16. Cath J

    Thanks!
    mylo

     
  17. Nic H Says:
  18. Great info! Great photos!! Great Blog!!!

    I'm curious wether you have encountered any of the violence in this area mentioned in the press? I am travelling to HatYai in 3 weeks and am worried now I might get bombed or shot??

     
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shloke
Traveling & photography are the most rewarding & enriching experiences in my life. Photography is all about discovery, enjoying myself, having adventure, learning people & nature. The greatest experience for me is the connection I felt with NATURE. If you haven’t seen Malaysia, you haven’t seen the world! My photography works are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
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