Greater Hatyai–Songkhla Metropolitan Area

The Greater Hatyai–Songkhla Metropolitan Area is an urban corridor in Southern Thailand's Songkhla Province between two cities--Hat Yai, the commercial center of the province and the region, and Songkhla, the provincial capital. Located 30 km apart, the twin cities are complementary to each other. Hat Yai is a bustling modern city with thriving commercial and tourism sectors. It is a weekend shopping and entertainment destination for tourists from neighboring Malaysia, especially Chinese Malaysians, who like to visit Buddhist temples and Chinese shrines in the area. On the other hand, Songkhla is a serene centuries-old port city with beautiful beaches and fine Sino-Portuguese shophouses.

Population

The metropolitan area has an estimate registered population of 799,985 with the city population of 438,685, but an estimated real population is over 1,000,000. The area covers parts of 4 districts in the province, namely Hat Yai, Songkhla Town, Sadao and Singha Nakhon.



The population figures are referenced from the data provided by the .

Education

Hat Yai became the educational centre of the region since the establishment of the first university in Southern Thailand, Prince of Songkla University in 1971. Despite being the second campus, the Hat Yai campus is currently the main campus of the university, having the largest number of faculties and students. In addition, there are 5 other universities in the area. Some of the universities were upgraded from...
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