Laem Samila

Laem Samila is Songkhla’s best-known beach, a curving stretch of Gulf coast right at the city’s edge, marked by the bronze Golden Mermaid statue that has stood on its rocky headland since 1 April 1966. Entry is free and the beach is open around the clock, though most visitors come for photos at the statue and sunset walks along the promenade rather than serious swimming.

Sculptor Chit Buabusaya cast the mermaid to illustrate a local legend recorded by the writer Khun Wichitmatra: a mermaid once sat on these rocks combing her hair with a golden comb, until a passing fisherman startled her. She fled into the sea and dropped the comb, and — so the story goes — was never seen again. The statue has become Songkhla’s most photographed landmark; a common local saying holds that visiting Songkhla without seeing Samila doesn’t really count as having been there.

The beach itself runs along a headland known locally as Laem Hin (Cape of Rocks) for the low outcrops breaking up the sand, backed by a shaded run of casuarina pines. The sand here has a fine, pale quality locals call sai kaeo (glass sand). Offshore, two small islets — Koh Nu and Koh Maew, the Cat and Mouse Islands — sit visible from the shore and give the cape its wider view out into the Gulf.

Families dominate daylight hours, with kids in the shallows and vendors selling grilled seafood and coconuts along the promenade. Evenings draw bigger crowds, when the mermaid statue and the sunset behind it become the main event — couples and groups cluster right at the rocks for photos, so if you want a quieter view, walk a hundred meters or so either direction along the sand.

Laem Samila sits an easy songthaew or taxi ride from Songkhla’s old town, and pairs naturally with the Songkhla Old Town Sino-Portuguese quarter or the funicular up Khao Tang Kuan, the hill directly behind the beach. From Songkhla itself, public restrooms and showers are available near the main promenade.

Insider Tip: Photos of the mermaid statue against a clear sunset draw a real crowd by 6 PM — arrive by 5 PM to get an unobstructed shot before the queue builds.

Watch out: Swimming conditions vary with the tide and the beach isn’t actively lifeguarded along most of its length — stick to where other swimmers are in the water if you’re not a strong swimmer.