Hat Yai Update | 26 May 2023

How I Book Hotels In Thailand And Elsewhere

Having lived in Thailand since 2003, I have booked many hotels while travelling around the country. Occasionally, I have spent an enormous amount of time trying to find the best deal. However, I almost invariably end up booking through Agoda. Not only are Agoda rates almost always the lowest, but it is a company I have learnt to trust over the years. In 2023 there were stories about another large online hotel Booking company (whose name I won't mention) who failed to pay accommodation hosts and whose customers turned up at hotels to find that they did not have a reservation. I have never had any such problems with Agoda, and the few minor issues I've had have been dealt with efficiently by their customer service representatives.

Agoda is a company I trust and recommend. Use the following link to book your next hotel room!

https://www.agoda.com/partners/partne...

Disclaimer. I am an Agoda affiliate and will receive a small commission for any completed bookings that are made through my links. However, I only promote goods and services that I am happy with and use myself.

Are You Interested In Learning How To Read Basic Thai?

Being able to read enough basic Thai so that you can negotiate menus and read signs is incredibly useful, and it's not that difficult. It's not like Japanese or Chinese, where you have to remember thousands of characters. Like English, it's just consonants and vowels. Yes, there are more characters than English, but phonetically Thai is a lot more consistent. English vowels and vowel combinations change sound in different words (cough, rough, through, thought, bough, etc). In many ways, Thais is actually easier to learn than English. If you are interested, try the tutorials on my other YouTube channel. With some effort and dedication, you will be able to read quite well after around six months.

   / learntoreadthai  

Video Description

I rarely go into central Hat Yai these days, but now and again I'll take a look around just to see what has changed. That's what I did today, and I took a camera along to share the experience.

Shops close. New shops open. Restaurants close. New restaurants open. It's always changing, but in many ways it stays the same. The biggest change to ever hit Hat Yai was in 2013 when Central Festival opened. That single event caused a mass exodus of people and businesses, who moved away from Lee Gardens Plaza to relocate at Central Festival. The town has never been quite the same since.

Despite this, the Lee Gardens Plaza area still remains popular with tourists and that's where you can still find the old, traditional markets along with many massage shops.