We opted for a shared minibus to Songkhla and incurred the extra seat charges to accommodate our luggage where it would be safe. After all the 28 baht fee wasn't going to blow any budget and we are well under ours to date.
 
Songkhla appears to suffer from a lack of up to date information and there is definitely a commercial opportunity being overlooked as even Google maps wasn't able to fill in the gaps to help us get around. Fortunately there is a free tourist tram service around the main sights. It doesn't actually stop along it's route and does lack detailed info, but is a good way to figure what to spend your time doing. Most places are easy enough to get to by foot or tuk tuk (20 baht per journey).
 
After our time in Nakhon Si Thammarat where there are very few tourists, it's odd to suddenly find yourself surrounded by Malaysian and Thai holiday makers. The visitors mainly consist of students and families arriving on loaded up tour buses that stop at all the key sights. This may explain the lack of tourist information and independent travellers v's package tours but it still seems popular.
 
There is a small area known as 'the dark side' where expats can be found in a handful of bars, but we only experienced unfriendly 'whites' who avoided eye contact and kept to themselves which was a great shame as I am sure they had stories and advice to share. Elsewhere around town there was little sign of Westerners, even in our hotel.
 
The highlight in Songkhla, in my opinion, is Samila beach on the East coast. It is well maintained and gives Koh Samui's beaches a run for their money; I could have spent hours here hunting through the piles of tiny shells swept up along the shoreline. 
 
The challenge of coming here was finding places to eat, as most menu's were only in Thai and English speakers were rare. We had to get used to playing charades and referring to my handy offline translator which was kind of fun.
 
There is a Chinese community, with numerous shop houses, in the old town area so there was plenty of noodle soup options to try. Underneath the stage area at the city pillar shrine there is a stall selling a special noodle soup with pork knuckle which would be an interesting experience as you also have to squat underneath to sit down.

Thankfully the arrival of the weekend night market was a welcomed chance to sample the street food stalls before ordering portions to tuck into along the roadside. 
 
As well as the night market, on Sundays there is an interesting market during the morning with fish (tropical ones, not for eating, I hope!), plants, amulets and clothes at local prices as well as a lively food and wet market area.

Just hanging out people watching and absorbing the community life in this city, is an experience all of it's own. The tourist trail has some nice places to visit including a cable car to the highest point. We found it interesting that so many sights here reminded us a lot of sights we had seen elsewhere on our travels. For example: 
- Chinese community shop houses in old town (reminds me of the Chinese community in Penang, Malaysia): wander around the area on foot admiring the architecture while nosing inside peoples homes from the street. There's an interesting variety of businesses.
- Tang Kuan hill via cable car (reminds me of the cable car up the Rock of Gibraltar - see related post here): inundated with monkeys at the entrance, the cable car is just 30 baht return per person, so cheap but the views aren't particularly great. Go just before sunset and catch the locals feeding monkeys.
- Mermaid statue (reminds me of the flame blowing dragon in Krakow, Poland - see related post here): A popular site with tourists where you can take the obligatory photo posing with the statue and purchase miniature versions as souvenirs to take home.

The most interesting place to visit in Songkhla has to be the National Museum. It's a bit pricey at 150 baht per person but the exhibits are very informative and the building itself is a stunning example of Chinese architectural style dating back to 1878.
 
Out of town is the island of Koh Yo, accessible by road or ferry and the Khao Nam Khan communist tunnels, both of which are on the list to visit when we hopefully return to Hat Yai.