HISTORY OF SONGKHLA
Songkhla is the provincial capital of Songkhla Province. The city itself is surrounded by beaches such as Samila & Son Awn and also known as "the great city on two seas". With the beaches, some historical centres and nice green parks, this place is definitely a good battery recharge point before heading to livelier Hat Yai.
Songkhla or Singgora in Malay, was a city of an old Malay Kingdom of Langkasuka with heavy Srivijayan influence. It has been under Thai suzerainty since the 18th century.
Previously a port and a coastal trading post where Indian, Persian and Arab merchants came to exchange their products, this place was initially named "Sing Lha" after the 2 lion-shape islands at the mouth of the city's lake. Currently, these 2 islands are known to us as Ko Nu (Rat Island) and Ko Maeo (Cat Island).
THE STATUES
At Songkhla beach, the most interesting part is about the statues. One of that is dragon that was placed separately by it head, body and tail. The This Dragon Head or " Nag : as stated on the inscription plaque was constructed in 2007 and is a new attraction for Songkhla Lake . The area is part of Songkhla Municipal Song Thale Park. The dragon head is situated at the estuary entrance to Songkhla Lake. The dragon sculpture is divide to 3, one is head at the lake, the body is at the park and the tail is stretching along the side way. It symbolizes wisdom and intelligence.

The Great Serpent Nag in Songkhla which located in southern Thailand at Song Thale Park, Laem Son On in Songkhla City. The Great Serpent “Nag” is the deity of the divine creation of water as well as fertility for all living things. The people of southern Thailand believe that ‘Nag”, the Great Serpent, sprays divine water so as to make people feel fresh and happy, as well as purify the blemishes which occur within our minds and bodies. This is place where the body (belly) of Nag that had been separate into three parts had been place which symbolizes the city’s riches. Local peoples said this place is very nice to visit because the beach had many unique things which symbolize to their culture.

The last part of dragon which is the tail was constructed in one area of Samila beach along Chalatad Road was symbol to the charisma and strength of community of the people.

Because of the time, we are unable to view near sight of the body and the tail of the dragon. However, taking picture with the head of dragon and acknowledging its history was satisfying enough to us.
SAMILA BEACH, SONGKHLA
We visit the very famous beach of Songkhla City, which is the Samila Beach with white sand and beautiful scenery. It has a large grassed area, then a beautiful sandy beach, leading to the crystal clear ocean. It has a beautiful beach that is well worth a visit. About twenty five km's from Hat Yai we will find Songkhla.

Just back from Samila beach we will find a lot of eating places. Most specializing in delicious seafood, we are also havening taste those big chicken sausage. There are many of shops selling the usual tourist items. The beautiful and vary tourist items selling with cheaper price than other places.

A lot of trees help to shade the sun. Although this area is not as popular as some other places in Thailand, it does boast the longest concrete bridge, and the only natural freshwater lake.
At the end of the beach you will come to Ban Kao Seng, which is a Muslim fishing village. Well worth a visit to see the colorful fishing boats up on the beach. There a plenty of local vendors along the grassed area of the beach. There are two different of statues that we found at the beach. First, we found the bronze statue of the mouse and the cat.

The bronze statue of the mouse and the cat designed, molded and cast by Mr. Montri Sungmusikanon in 2000, and it was built in commeration of the election when the people in Songkhla Municipality voted for Mr. Uthit Choochuay for the mayor in 1999. The sponsors donate 1.2 million baht for the construction of the statue. It is now become one of attraction of tourists at Songkhla. From legend of the songkhla town, a merchant from China coast sailed his junk loaded with different kinds of goods to songkhla town often. One day while walking and buying some goods, he glanced at a cat and dog so he bought them from their master and raised them in his junk. Board for a long time, they get bored and consulted each other on how to get back home. The dog told the cat that their master possesed a magic crystal which could prevent drowning. Therefore, the cat forced a mouse, one of the residnets of the junk to steal the magic crystal and to get away together with them. Once the junk was approaching Songkhla town, the mouse stole and kept the crystal in its mouth. The three animals fled and swam heading to the shore in front of the town. Ahead of the others and with the crystal in its mouth, the mouse swam thinking of the great value of the thing it had stolen. While swimmimg, it thought that as soon as they landed, the dog and the cat may take the crystal away. Consequently it decided to go away from them and solely posses the thing. At the same time, the cat that thinking the same thing, tried to approach the mouse. Because of that, the mouse thought that the cat was trying to pounce on it, so it made an effort to swim away. As the result, the mouse accidently let the crystal out of its mouth. After losing it, both animals became exhausted and finally drowned. It was said that the dead bodies of animals turned into the islands called Koh Noo (Mouse Island) and Koh Maew (Cat Island). Only the dog could get to the shore, but too much exhausted, it died and turned into a hill, called Kao Tangkuan (Tangkuan Hill) located in front of Songkhla Bay. The magic crystal when falling into water was completely broke into tiny pieces and turned into the sandy beaches called Heatsaikaew extending north in Songkhla Bay. Second statue that we found at the beach was golden mermaid statue.

Golden Mermaid at Leam Samila is the most well-known symbol of Songkhla Province. It is in a fact character from Phra Aphai Mani, a popular book in Thai literature by Sunthon Phu. In this folk tale, a mermaid sat and combed her hair on a beautiful beach on a stary night. A young fisherman met and frightened her and she fled into the sea. The fisherman waited for her but she disappeared forever. This bronze statue was sculpted in 1966 by Jitr Buabus and has since become the symbol of this beach. Many tourists lining up to have their picture taken with the mermaid and we together grabbed a chance too. Most of us bought some souvenirs for their family and friend like keychain, mermaid statue, and accessories and so on. There are many booths that sold variety of foods along the Songkhla Island but not all of them are Halal. We tried to find a muslim stall that have a symbol of star and half moon. We also have an opportunity having a picnic at Songkhla Island before continued our journey back to Malaysia.