{"id":922,"date":"2011-10-24T08:14:24","date_gmt":"2011-10-24T08:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/thai\/?p=922"},"modified":"2011-10-24T08:14:24","modified_gmt":"2011-10-24T08:14:24","slug":"geography-of-thailand-part3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/thai\/geography-of-thailand-part3\/","title":{"rendered":"Geography of Thailand Part3"},"content":{"rendered":"

South \u0e20\u0e32\u0e04\u0e43\u0e15\u0e49 paak3 dtai3
\nSouthern Thailand<\/a> is the least populous region of Thailand. It\u2019s mainly a thin vertical stretch of land, surrounded by amazing beaches (\u0e0a\u0e32\u0e22\u0e2b\u0e32\u0e14, chaai1 haad2) on both sides. Although the south has it\u2019s own Thai dialect of fast-talkers, large numbers of central-dialect people from Bangkok are moving there to start tourism companies and hotels. Phuket (\u0e20\u0e39\u0e40\u0e01\u0e47\u0e15, puu1 get2) is probably the most famous city there. I\u2019ve only been there once, right after the tsunami, so it was pretty deserted and quite when I went. I generally enjoyed the place. But supposedly it\u2019s normally filled with bar after bar of farang and bar girls, and the beaches are too crowded to enjoy them. I hear the Full Moon Party is good there, though. Koh Samui (\u0e40\u0e01\u0e32\u0e30\u0e2a\u0e21\u0e38\u0e22, go2 sa2mui1) is probably the second most famous place, but it\u2019s an island somewhat difficult to get to. It\u2019s also not as pretty as Phuket, and the beaches are smaller. But I like it as it\u2019s not as crowded or developed (yet).<\/p>\n

There are two other famous cities of the south: Hua Hin (\u0e2b\u0e31\u0e27\u0e2b\u0e34\u0e19, hua5 hin5), which is a beach resort area where the King often resided; and Hat Yai \u0e2b\u0e32\u0e14\u0e43\u0e2b\u0e0d\u0e48 (haad2 yai2), famous for shopping. I\u2019ve been to both, but only for a day each so my opinions of both places being so-so don\u2019t really count.<\/p>\n

If you travel really south, deep deep south to the southern three most provinces just before hitting Malaysia, that\u2019s where the \u2018southern insurgency\u2019 can be found. Bombings and shootings happen weekly, with about a dozen people dying every month. Even after 10 years, no one knows for sure the cause of the violence.<\/p>\n

hi-res video of Phuket:
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