Kim Yong Market

Kim Yong Market is Hat Yai’s best-known everyday market, a dense grid of covered stalls a short walk from the railway station that draws as many Malaysian day-trippers as Thai locals. Its reputation rests on cross-border trade — Hat Yai has functioned as a shopping stop for southern neighbours for decades, and Kim Yong is where that traffic concentrates, with vendors used to quoting prices in both Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit.

The stalls lean heavily toward food: dried fruit, preserved and salted snacks, southern Thai curry pastes, and fresh produce fill most of the aisles, alongside clothing, household goods, and small electronics stalls further in. It’s a market built for buying rather than browsing — locals stock up on dried goods and spices here the way they would at a supermarket, and the pace reflects that rather than a curated tourist-market atmosphere. Trading starts early with the food and produce sections, picks up through mid-morning, and continues into the evening as some food stalls stay open after the general market winds down.

Insider Tip: Go for the dried and preserved foods — Kim Yong’s dried fruit and salted snack stalls are what locals specifically travel here for, more than any single “must-see” stall or dish.

Watch out: The market gets genuinely crowded on weekends when Malaysian visitors cross the border in numbers — a weekday morning visit is calmer if you want to browse rather than queue.

Kim Yong sits in the heart of Hat Yai, within Songkhla Province, and pairs easily with a stroll through Hat Yai City Park or a visit to the Khlong Hae floating market on weekends.