Robinson Departmental Store Haadyai

Robinson Departmental Store in Haadyai,Songkhla is just a stone throw from the Hatyai Junction main rail terminal.

 This departmental store is slightly off the main tourist belt of the Haadyai Walk street where most of the hotels and guesthouses were located.

 Tourists should not miss this secluded departmental store which has big savings and very popular among the locals.

Having 32 branches all over Thailand,the operating hours are from 10:30am till 9:00pm At the basement,were the supermarket and the food court.

Usually,I just give this supermarket a miss but this time around after buying my 3:30pm rail ticket to Bangkok,my attention was driven to the early morning sound of drum beatings.

 My eagerness to check it out was worth the effort.Interestingly the employees were having some fun activities before the department store open for the day's business.

The sweltering morning heat did not deter me from taking photos and recording their fun activities and uploading them on you tube.

 It's really fun to be with the Thai people.

All good things have to come to a close and it's back to work for the employees. I proceeded to the supermarket section and got hold of a 5 litres SINGHA brand mineral water that cost 33Baht which will last me for three days while in Bangkok.

Bogus Buddhist Monk in Hatyai,Thailand South.

Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2011 is back between June 15 till August 15.
This grand Coca-Cola bottle and the shopping bag display model was just beside the ODEAN Shopping Centre in Haadyai.

 It's an annual shopping extravaganza which offers world-class shopping, a diverse selection of quality products and services, special discounts of 10 - 80 per cent and promotional offers being extended by leading department stores, shopping complexes, King Power Duty Free shops, airlines, hotels, spas, hospitals, jewellery shops and participating retail outlets.

Special attention is also being paid to promote the sale of locally-made products; such as, handicrafts, apparel, decorations, and home-use products made under the umbrella of the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) scheme.




On Sunday 31st August 2011,there will be an International Alms Offering And Mahasanghadana to 12,600 Monks along Niphat Uthit 3 ,that is the Hatyai Walk area.

It's a very grand ceremony that should not be missed by all visitors and tourists.

  As early as 6:00am in the morning,Thai monks were already on their alms round at the Kim Yong market.

  Eldery Thai monks with their new orange saffron and alms bowl passing by the street vendors.

A lone Thai monk being offered food by a well wisher.

A group of Malaysian tourists took this opportunity to offer food and made a prayer.

The chief Abbot leading the group.

As I moved along I managed to capture a monk who has a bald head front but with some hairs behind.
The two Thai Buddhist monks have their saffron and alms bowl with barefooting.

As the well wisher knelt after the offerings,the monks will do some chanting.
The same well-wisher came over to this bogus monk to offer a little bit of token not being aware whether he's a real monk or not.
Now where is the alms bowl so that well-wishers may put the food into.
How can the bogus monk "wai" with the foodstuff in his hand.I doubt he's chanting at all.

He is supposed to stand still and not look left or right.
Over here is not similar to his hangout around Pavillion/KLCC/Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur where the tourist police will nab him.

 He's looking to my left hoping to get some prey.
By the way why are the slippers on,must be bare-footed the general rules.
You have no alms bowl so how much foodstuffs can you store.

His bag has a cap ready for instant transformation into lay people.

So greedy..wanna check what's in the plastic bag.
Don't worry lol,no rotten eggs.

As I approached near him to have a closeup photo,he instantly moved away.
When I have left the spot,he came back here again.










I've seen him in Kuala Lumpur so he must be here looking forward to cheat on the generosity of others.
 This photo was from an old Malaysian news report regarding their Modus operandi which is very simple.
They work in a group and aim for the tourists walking along the the Jalan Sultan Ismail and near the Pavillion Shopping Complex area in Kuala Lumpur.
Firstly they will try to hand over a charm or amulet and a booklet for the foreign tourists to write donation amount on it. So to all tourists in Kuala Lumpur and Hatyai as well,beware of this particular scam!!

 Elderly nuns taking a rest.

Haadyai Kim Yong market

After 13 hours of journey from Bangkok,the bus finally reached Haadyai bus terminal closed to 10:30pm.

 Haadyai is the 3rd largest city in Thailand and a more popular weekend destination for both Malaysian and Singaporean travellers.

Hardly do you see westerners(thai people will call "falang") except those on transit to Phuket or Penang spending their time in Haadyai.

Haadyai bus terminal(off Sripoowanart Road) is about 6km from town and is about 3km walking distance to DIANA shopping centre.
Another 1km straight ahead is the Florida Hotel,cross the road and you'll be near to town centre.

Just beside the DIANA complex is a man-made lake where during weekends there is an open air food bazzar surrounding the lake with live entertainment by local popular singers and is usually packed.
Most of the local people prefer to shop at this complex leaving those in town to the tourists.
DIANA complex is also a more popular hangout for the youngsters.

Haadyai Railway Station is just right in the middle of town and very convenient to all travelers.

If you were to stay at Cathay Guesthouse,it's just less than a kilometre walk.
 Hat Yai Train Station is the southernmost Major Rail 'Hub', Depot, and Junction on Thai Railways Southern Line for both passenger and Freight trains.

 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.

Kim Yong market(thai:"talad")is also in the town centre and a very busy morning market.
One can witness interesting activities ongoing and also savor some of the cheap food in the area.

Inside the building on the left were many stalls selling all sorts of items be it the wet market categories,groceries,footwears,garment,electronics and lots more.

It's quite a large market and a shoppers paradise to hunt for good quality made-in-thailand products.
 If you love stainless steel and silverware cooking utensils with the popular brand "ZEBRA",you need to cross the road to the otherside where there is another wholesale market(less than 2km away).

Thai vegetables name:-onion(hua hom),white onion(hua hom yai),carrot(hua phak kat daeng),cabbage(ga lam),basil leaf(bai gra phao),ginger(khing),chilli(prik),lettuce(phak gaat haawn),cucumber(dtaaeng gwaa),bean sprout(thua ngaawk),sweet potato(man thaeht)

 



The beautiful garland called"dookmalai" is part of the Thai society.
Each and every household on the prayers altar,temple statues and even in cars or buses will hang the garland which depict good luck.

Flowers are traditional at Thai Weddings as well as Western Weddings and make the big day very colourful and special.
They make the room, garden or hotel in which you have the ceremony, dinner and party very attractive and fragrant flowers can fill the area with a lovely smell. If you would like to get some artificial dook malai as souvenirs,there are small ones that cost 25baht

In fact dook malai(phuang malai) is a charming way to honor any festivals or occassions.

One of the most commonly used flowers are the yellow chrysanthemum which are skillfully tied with a banana stem fibres and some red ribbons.

White jasmine flowers with its sweet scented aroma adds to its transquility.
 Thai street vendor is selling her homemade delicious cakes like eggtart ,pineappletart,Thai milk cake,Thai mango cake and some exotic cake pudding.There is also the Thai cake(pui fai),a kind of wheat flour made dessert cake where the chinese also used to make as offering to chinese gods at the altar.


Inside the building ,the market stalls are plenty with a variety of stocks to cater to the masses.

Bargaining is a necessity here.The passageway are very narrow so you need to squeeze through.

Muslim traders seemed to be many here dealing with a variety of businesses.They were very hardworking and have a good sense of entrepreneurship.

This is the place to get fresh sea harvest which were very cheap.

A Muslim shopper walking pass the pork stalls. Thai Muslims also respect other religion rights and have a great degree of understanding. 

Muslim chicken vendor stall beside a pork stall.
This is something very unique to be found in Thailand where no other countries in Southeast Asia ever has such harmonious citizens interacting and mixing freely among themselves without the need to talk about religious segregation.

Though Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country with multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population,Muslims conservatives are found all over Thailand and there are also mosque in every provinces.

The only exceptions are those hardcore deviantionist who thought that they have a big brother in a neighbouring country in the south where the present ruling leaders will sponsor their mischief by putting on a mask and pretending to be peace brokers...read here.

There were couple of pork(thai:muu) seller stalls around this huge Kim Yong market. The Chinese like to eat pork especially the famous dish called "bak kut teh" (meat bone tea).

It consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices for hours.
Bak kut teh is usually eaten with rice or noodles and often served with youtiao / cha kueh [yau char kwai] (strips of fried dough) for dipping into the soup. For lunch menu,maybe can try 'rice with barbeque pork on top' (thai:khaao muu daaeng), pork chops(thai:chin neuua muu),minced pork soup(thai:ba chaaw),sliced pork(thai:muu phaen),pork fried rice(thai:khaao phat muu)





Monks on morning alms round near Kim Yong Market.
It was the 3rd day of the Thai New Year(Songkran) and tourists can witness  this street scene.
 Buddhist monks and novice on morning alms round chanting video

Rice and dried food are normally being offered as alms.
This has been a Buddhist custom which has sustained for thousand of years. The person who offers the morning alms will get the effects as follow.
1. He will reborn during the Buddhist time every lifetime.
2. He will have a lot of properties.
3. His properties will not be ruin by any disaster.
 4. Most people will love him.
5. He will have many good friends.
6. He will be well–known from his good deeds.
7. He will have self–confident in public.
8. When he passes away, he will go to the fortunate realm.
9. He will attain Nirvana easily.

A newly refurbished temple monastery near the market.There was a small shrine on the 3rd floor near the roof top and this building has quite similarity in architectural design to those seen in Ho Chi Minh City,Vietnam.

Hatyai Midnight Songkran

Sawatdee Pee Mai to all visitors.

It's the Thai Lunar New Year-SONGKRAN. Thailand,"The Land of Smiles" welcomes everyone far and near to join in this auspicious celebration from the 11th April till 15th April 2011.

Thai calender year is 2554.That is 543 years difference between the Buddhist calender and the Gregorian year.

The "SONGKRAN" festival happens during the hot season in mid April.
This festival happens in all Buddhist "THEREVADA" countries, i.e. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma (Myanmar).
 Songkran is the ancient New Year's Day. Now the official New Year's Day happens on the 1st January.
But the most popular feast in Thailand is still "SONGKRAN".(วันสงกรานต์)

 It will be celebrated all across Thailand so choose any one of your destinations here:--Where and when to celebrate SONGKRAN 2011 in Thailand?



Hatyai Midnight Songkran  2009 was a fantastic celebration  held at the Hatyai Walk,from Odeon Shopping Center intersection, Niphat Uthit 3 Road,and Sanehanusorn Road.

Never before will you have the opportunity to be honoured as a Thai guest and mixing around with all the local Thai people on the street ,witnessing the water splashing and the events line up.

 The Muay Thai boxing ring is right in the middle with the food stalls all along the road will make you busy all night long with non stop entertaiment.  

The Programmes This Year 2011(2554):

11April:- 5.30 pm - 10.00 pm
Miss Songkran beauty contest and free concert.  

12April:- 7.00 pm - 10.00 pm
Hat Yai Midnight Songkran procession and Opening Ceremony on Sanehanusorn Road (in front of Lee Gardens Plaza)  

4.00 pm - 1.00 am
Foam Party on Sanehanusorn Road Street
Performances Muay Thai and dance sport, concerts featuring Big Ass, Neko Jump, Khanom Jean, and local youth bands  

13th April:- 9.00 am
The presentation of merit-making offerings to Buddhist monks and temples Seek blessings from elders in the Rot nam dam hua ceremony
 Scented lustral water and other ritual offerings are presented to elders and individuals held in high esteem in a gesture of respect.
 Procession of the Phra Puttha Sihing Buddha image and the ritual bathing of the sacred Buddha image





It's never too old to join in the fanfare. Catching up good old days of childhood enjoyment.






Modern days splashing with water gun.

 She's well equip with her water bullets.

Kids really enjoy all the splashing.

Haadyai has a new added attraction --the KLONG HAE floating market which was opened way back in late 2008.

There will be a traditional Thai Songkran here and do check it out as well.
 The celebration theme is "Journey back in time to Songkran Celebrations of Times Past" (Songkran Yon Vithi Thai)  

APRIL 13 - 15, 2011

The presentation of merit-making offerings to Buddhist monks and temples.
 Seek blessings from elders in the Rot nam dam hua ceremony
 Scented lustral water and other ritual offerings are presented to elders and individuals held in high esteem in a gesture of respect.
 Be part of the local scene — dress up in a traditional Thai costume and join the fun-filled Songkran water-splashing.

Shop for local handicrafts. Enjoy the delicious local cuisine and colourful entertainment at the floating market throughout the three days.

Hotels around Haadyai have been fully booked days ahead but don't worry.



Songkhla town is also having one to be held at Sala Thai at Laem Samila cape.
The Cat and Mouse statue. Ko Nu and Ko Maeo well-known symbol of Songkhla, is situated off the shore of Laem Samila.

A legend says that a dog, a cat, and a mouse, on a Chinese sampan stole the merchant’s magic crystal and tried to swim ashore but drowned and lost their lives.

The mice and cats became the islands in the Songkhla Lake while the dog died on shore and became the hill called Hin Khao Tang Kuan near the bay.




The crystal was totally destroyed and became the white sandy beach called Hat Sai Kaeo.
A bronze mermaid statue on the Samila beach is the landmark of this cape.
 There are other quiet beaches around the cape which are good for swimming.
Restaurants and small resorts are available here.

 While in Songkhla,don't miss the Songkhla Aquarium.

Getting to Songkhla by local bus from Haadyai takes about 45minutes.
 Bus Fare about Baht18(2009)
At the Kim Yong market,walk across the road to the other market area called Yongdee where there is a newly completed Hatyai Square,there are many buses that pass by the main road here.  

Budget Accomodations:-

Guest House Romantic.=with cold shower and TV. The rooms are from 250bht, and 350bht for a large room, with air con.

 Songkhla Guest House=Rong Mueang, Bo Yang, Mueang Songkhla (A street behind the National museum, parallel to Th. Chana / night market). For 250 baht, you'll get an average sized clean room with fan and TV, cold shower outside (small and combined with toilet, but clean). Most expensive rooms additionally have a/c and en-suite hot shower. 150-450 baht.

 Yoma I Guest House=Rong Mueang, Bo Yang, Mueang Songkhla (same street as Songkhla Guesthouse).

 ABC Guest House=Very friendly owner. 140-300 baht.  

Queen Hotel. Good value accommodation with hot shower, TV and a/c. 330 Bath.





  Beautiful and sweet Miss Songkran Thai.

Songkran consists of four days:

 1. The first day is called Wan Sungkharn Long. On this day, houses are cleaned and swept.

2. The second day is called Wan Nao. On this day, food is prepared to be offered to monks the next day.

3. The third day is New Year's Day, or Wan Payawan. This day is celebrated by visiting the temple, presenting food and clothing to the monks, bathing the Buddha image with jasmine-scented water, and taking part in one of the many rituals believed to bring good luck.

4. The fourth and last day is called Wan Parg-bpee. On this day, repect is paid to ancestors and elders. Water is gently poured over the hands or shoulders of an elder while they recite blessings and good wishes for the new year.

 Distances from Amphoe Muang Songkhla to Neighbouring Districts:
Ranot 73 kilometres-- northern part of the Songkhla Lake.
Hat Yai 26 kilometres-- largest city of Songkhla Province,
Krasae Sin 74 kilometres--north is Songkhla lake while Thale Luang and Thale Noi on the west,

Na Mom 34 kilometres --Chanonda Lake View Resort near Na Mom Rail Station.
Sathing Phra 36 kilometres-- west is Thale Luang, the north Songkhla Lake,east Gulf of Thailand
Chana 37 kilometres--Kuan Plaithap is a 1,586 ft / 484 m mountain peak
Singhanakhon 26 kilometres-- The Port of Songkhla
Thepha 73 kilometres--Neighboring districts are Nong Chik, Khok Pho of Pattani Province.
Khuan Niang 72 kilometres--Volunteer Thailand
 Na Thawi 52 kilometres--beside the state of Kedah, Malaysia.
Rattaphum 60 kilometres--formerly known as Kamphaeng Phet
Saba Yoi 104 kilometres--The San Kala Khiri National Park located here.Also beside Kedah state.    
Bang Klam 46 kilometres--a village near Haadyai
Sadao 70 kilometres--or Danok near Changlun Malaysian immigration border
Klong Hoi Khong 43 kilometres--near Haadyai locations