Koh Yo

Ko Yo is a small island inside Songkhla Lake, reached from the mainland by the 1,700-metre Tinsulanond Bridge — Thailand’s longest bridge when it opened in 1987 and still the main way in. The island’s economy runs on fishing and weaving rather than tourism infrastructure: cage-farmed fish and crab traps line the shallows, and small workshops still produce Ko Yo’s distinctive handwoven cotton.

The weaving is the reason most visitors detour here. Ko Yo cloth is known for unusually fine, small-scale patterns — names like lai rom sai (banyan-shade), lai rot sukhon, lai chan hom, lai dok rak and lai suphannika have been passed down through local weaving families, and a handful of home workshops still sell lengths of cloth directly. The island’s other major draw is the Institute for Southern Thai Studies, also known as the Thaksin Folklore Museum, a Thaksin University institution set across pavilions of southern Thai architecture covering everything from kris daggers to shadow-puppet leather to regional textiles — open daily 08:30-17:00, with its own separate entry fee.

Away from the museum, Ko Yo is a genuinely lived-in fishing village rather than a preserved one. Longtail boats work the lake at dawn and dusk, wooden houses sit on stilts over the shallows, and several Buddhist temples anchor the community, including Wat Thai Yo with its hilltop pagoda and Wat Haem Pho, home to Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha in the parinirvana pose, built in 1994. Fruit orchards fill the island’s interior between the coastal settlements.

Watch out: Songkhla Lake is a brackish lagoon connected to the Gulf of Thailand, not the open sea — don’t expect surf or a swimming beach here. The appeal is the lake views, the bridge and the village, not a beach day.

Insider Tip: Go in the late afternoon and stop on the bridge itself for sunset over the lake before continuing into the village — it’s one of the better free viewpoints in Songkhla, and locals treat it as a normal after-work stop rather than a tourist photo op.

Reaching Ko Yo from Songkhla town is a 15 to 20-minute drive across the bridge, easy by car, motorbike or taxi. Cash is worth carrying for the weaving workshops and informal seafood stalls — card acceptance is patchy outside the folklore museum. November to February brings the most comfortable temperatures for wandering the island on foot or by motorbike, though Ko Yo works as a half-day trip in any season.