I haven't gone cruising in Hatyai for a long time now, or tried out any of the bars there, as I have mainly found my hookups from various gay dating sites like GayRomeo and Slave4Masters (a Recon site) - and found only guys wo are genuinely in search of fun and friendship. I have never hooked up with a Hatyai or Songkhla moneyboy on the internet yet.

The reason I haven't been looking in any of the gay bars there is that quite simply, none of the ones I used to frequent are around any more. Four years ago, after a frustrating 45 minutes walking around the 2 main streets that make up the town centre, I was informed that their new governor had shifted all the bars to a special red light district some distance away. As I had no idea where it was or how to get there, I decided not to take any chances and went cruising at the train station (a long time last gasp haunt of mine - gay guys on the left through the platform gate near the overhead bridge, gatoeys on the right in the station itself - all after 10.30pm when Robinsons closes). But since then I have made it a point to hook up only via the internet before I left Penang.

I can tell you about the town, however. The situation is quite peaceful in spite of what the newspapers say about bombings in the south - they're talking about the east coast states, while Hatyai is in Songkhla state and towards the west coast. The last bombing in Hatyai was a few years ago and the last "trouble" there was the rail strike during the Redshirt/Yellowshirt protests last year.

Things are expensive by my standards - almost like Bangkok and occasionally more expensive even. I have never paid more than 40 Baht for rice, veggies and meat during lunch at a Bangkok street vendor or coffeeshop but 50 or even 90Baht is closer to what I usually pay for the same amount in Hatyai.

The town is noisy, busy and full of traffic but the people are friendly and you can actually see a few farang families with kids walking around before they head off to Phuket (even more expensive now, from what my friends tell me).

I won't talk about shopping as Bangkok has better variety and more up-to-date selections or sightseeing as any internet search will turn up all you need to know - hatyai shops close by 9pm nowdays anyway, but I will say that hotels are much cheaper than Bangkok, though a 5-star Hatyai hotel is not in the same class as a 3 or 4-star one in Bangkok. Still, if you're not fussy and a clean, comfortable room with air-conditioning and attached bathroom (about 900 Baht) is all you need, then you won't be disappointed. No joiner fees that I know of either except at the JB Hotel. The funny thing is that hotel food is much cheaper in Hatyai than in Bangkok, for some reason.

I hope this helps if any of you are planning to come south.

Tao

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Urepentantly irrascible old fart!

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