To get around anywhere, while there is almost always an option to hail a cab, for the budget conscious (like me), one might be looking for public transport options. Here’s how you can get from Hat Yai to Songkhla via public transport.
To do so, there are 2 main segments. First is from Hat Yai airport to Hat Yai bus terminal. Second is from Hat Yai bus terminal to Songkhla city.
From Hat Yai airport to Hat Yai bus terminal
From Hat Yai airport, there is a minibus and van that goes to the bus terminal.
Before boarding, you have to buy your ticket at the ticket counter right outside of airport arrival hall gate 8. Afterwards, you can wait at the sheltered bus stop nearby. Here is the location pin on Google Maps for ease of navigation.
For one-way, regardless of distance, the minibus ride costs 60 THB while the van ride costs 100 THB. The minibus stops along more stops in Hat Yai city than the van before reaching the bus terminal. So I would recommend taking the van instead to save time. Based on my experience, the whole journey of the van was 50 minutes long.
For those curious, the minibus’ route is written on the pink board. However, it is written in Thai and I think most people just want to head to the bus terminal, which is the final stop. One stop that I do recognise is Hat Yai clock tower, which is a historical landmark. So if u want to alight there instead, just let the driver know beforehand.
“Officially”, the minibus and van operates from 8am to 8pm. The minibus frequency is every hour, while the van frequency is every half an hour.
As a safety precaution, please do check the vehicle before boarding. For instance, the van that I took was labelled “Airport Limousine” and the driver asked to check my ticket as well.
Story time:
When I was doing my own research pre-trip, I only knew of the minibus option. However, when I reached the minibus ticket counter at around 3pm, the staff told me that there was no more minibus for the day due to low demand.
She then offered to help me hail a cab to the bus terminal, and told me that the price would be 200+ THB. Skeptical that she could be charging me extra, I politely declined and decided to check Grab. Indeed, it was at around 260+ THB, which was way more than what I was prepared to pay.
But a few minutes later, she asked if I wanted to take the van for 100 THB, and that’s how I learnt about the van option. As my Thai language mastery isn’t very good yet, I wasn’t sure if she had offered the van option the first time round as well.
Precisely because of my experience, I wanted to share my knowledge here so that others can benefit also if they are heading to Hat Yai!
From Hat Yai bus terminal to Songkhla
From the Hat Yai bus terminal, there is a van which goes to Songkhla city, ending at Songkhla bus terminal. The service is provided by Pho Thong Transport, and available from 6am to 7pm. Frequency is every 15 – 20 mins.
Their vans depart from gate #14 in Hat Yai bus terminal. But don’t worry about finding it! Because there would be a few staff who would approach you and ask where you want to go. I told one of them “Songkhla” and was swiftly directed to the Pho Thong van.
Below are their two available routes:
Here is their website and their Facebook page for more information.
For one-way, the van ride costs 35 THB. However, you can request for a specific drop-off point for 85 THB. So when I arrived on my first day in Hat Yai, I requested the driver to drop me off at my hostel and the journey took 1.5 hrs. If you would like to do the same, please let the driver know of your drop off point (via Google Maps), before they set off.
Collection of payment was done in an interesting way that I’ve not seen before. The driver would pass a basket around in the midst of the route and every passenger would just pay when the basket reached them. If you need change, just retrieve from the basket. I was amazed with how the payment method placed much trust on the passengers’ honesty!
Side note: I would highly recommend keeping small notes with you as it would be hard to find change for 500 THB notes.
Again, as a safety precaution, before boarding, please check that the van has a “Pho Thong” logo printed on it and always confirm your destination with the driver.
Story time:
For context, my hostel was located within Songkhla Old Town, which was not on the usual route. And the driver had not driven there before.
So, he asked for the location again via Google Maps and enlisted the help of a female student sitting at the main passenger seat to help with navigation. With reference to the Google Maps displayed on my phone, she guided the driver with verbal directions. Some alleys were narrow and I was so impressed with his vehicle maneuver skills.
Truly, I am really thankful for both their help!
Not forgetting, how incredibly helpful the staff behind their customer service hotline was! Weeks before my flight, I contacted them via Whatsapp after finding their number through their Facebook page. I had numerous enquiries, such as where exactly in the bus terminal to find their van, and when coming back from Songkhla which bus stop to wait for the van.
I am very grateful that the staff was able to respond promptly, in English, and in a clear and patient manner! In fact, they were the ones who told me about the minibus option available from Hat Yai airport to bus terminal too.
From Songkhla To Hat Yai
Simply reverse the order of taking the vans to get from Songkhla city back to Hat Yai.
Story time:
For me, the tricky part was finding the correct bus stop in Songkhla to wait for the van back to Hat Yai bus terminal, as I had used a direct drop-off when I arrived. It was also made more difficult as the route map by Pho Thong Transport wasn’t visible on Google Maps.
To workaround this issue, what I did was look at the stop names on their route map and mark out location pins on Google Maps to trace which was closest to my accommodation. I also did a “recce” to confirm the location of the bus stop in real life before carrying my luggage along.
If you are staying in Songkhla Old Town, the closest bus stop is the one marked as “Songkla hospital 1”. If heading back to Hat Yai, wait at the bus stop opposite the hospital. Here is the location pin of the hospital.
Alternatives To Public Transport
Nonetheless, we should be prepared for cases where public transport options are not available and adapt accordingly. For taxi, to save the hassle of negotiating prices, on top of potential language barrier, we can use ride hailing apps.
Story time:
At first, I only knew of Grab app. My flight was at 11pm and I wasn’t sure if I could still catch any van back at night. Hence, I decided that I would just book a car ride via Grab after my dinner.
While dining at a street food stall, the lady stall owner was quite friendly and asked me where I was from & where I was heading to. Haha, I supposed her curiosity arose from my luggage, and maybe how “unnatural” my Thai speaking was 😂
When I responded that I would be heading to the airport and using Grab, she told me that Grab was expensive and introduced another app: maxim. Meh, I was slightly apprehensive of downloading a new app. But, she was so kind and initiated to check for me on her phone first.
After seeing the price difference, I was sold and immediately proceeded to download the app!
So that’s how I learnt of maxim, which is a cheaper alternative to Grab! And now I’m sharing it with you guys too 😀
The registration was quick and the app was easy to use as well. I signed up using my Thai phone number as I only had my tourist SIM card enabled, but the app allowed sign up with any foreign numbers too. maxim is also available in other parts of Thailand.
Ending Note
When I was doing my own research online on how to take public transport to travel between Hat Yai and Songkhla, I found the information available quite limited. This then inspired me to write this article and share what I’ve learnt from my own actual experience. To emphasize, an experience that wouldn’t have happened without the kindness from fellow locals. So, I hope this can help anyone who intends to visit Hat Yai or Songkhla in the future!
p.s. Check out how much I spent for my Songkhla trip here.
Thank you for reading! Happy travels!