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Songkhla
Songkhla is a province on the eastern side of the Malay Peninsula, bordering Malaysia's Kedah and Perlis states to the south, and home to Songkhla Lake — the largest natural lake in Thailand at roughly 1,040 square kilometres. The province is the most populous in the deep south with an estimated population of over 1.4 million.
Songkhla province spans 7,394 square kilometres and its landscape ranges from the long sandy peninsula of Ko Yo in Songkhla Lake to the fertile plains surrounding the lake system and the forested hills bordering Yala and Pattani. The historic city of Songkhla, the provincial capital, sits on a narrow peninsula between the Gulf of Thailand and Thale Sap Songkhla lagoon and retains well-preserved Sino-Portuguese shophouses and a famous mermaid statue at Samila Beach. Hat Yai, located inland, is the largest city in the province and the commercial heart of southern Thailand, with major rail, road and air connections to Malaysia. The province hosts three national parks and the transboundary Songkhla Lake basin supports the livelihoods of fishing communities across Songkhla, Phatthalung and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces. Songkhla's economy is driven by trade, manufacturing, rubber processing and agriculture, making it the economic linchpin of the deep south.