There are many reasons to give Hat Yai a visit. Hat Yai is also hugely popular among Malaysians and Singaporeans to come for a weekend trip — and many of them not just for cheap market shopping.
While the places around the railway station as well as near the Lee Garden Plaza are mostly Farang oriented, the closer you get to the university at the eastern end of the road the more local Thai bars you will find.
Most of the bars have daily live music from around 9pm and some also have pool tables and TV screens showing live sports usually football. Then there are countless of smaller massage shops all around downtown, especially near Lee Garden Plaza.
Rates are similar to the ones mentioned above. Hat Yai also has a variety of soapy massage parlours. The entrance is kind of hidden as you have to walk through a small market first so look for the big pink sign on the side of the road. Once you walk in you will just have to let reception know that you are looking for a soapy massage and they will take you to the lobby with the fishbowl arrangement and beautiful numbered white skinned girls sitting behind the glass.
The girls are employed by the hotel however they do not receive salary. When they are not on stage they hang out with their male customers buying them drinks or garlands of flowers regarded as a respect for their nice performance or really just another way of tipping.
