Hat Yai

History

Originally named Khok Samet Chun (โคกเสม็ดชุน, "shore eugenia knoll"), Hat Yai was a small village until the Southern Line was built there, making it a major rail hub at the time. The junction which connected the town of Songkhla with the main route was formerly in the U Tapao area, but was later moved to Khok Samet Chun in 1922 when the U Tapao area turned out to be flood-prone. At that time, Khok Samet Chun had only four residents, but thanks to the investments of Khun Niphat Chinnakorn (the railway contractor for the railway line from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Pattani), it quickly grew into a small town. In 1928, Hat Yai was made a community (chumchon), which was upgraded to a sanitary district (sukhaphiban) on December 11, 1935. It covered an area of , and was administered by the first mayor, Udom Bunlong. In 1938, the municipal administration building was completed. On March 16, 1949, Hat Yai was granted town status (thesaban mueang). On May 10, 1961, the area covered by the municipality was increased to . As a result of the town's continuing growth, on August 13, 1968, a larger, new municipal administration building was opened. On April 24, 1977, the total area of the municipality was enlarged for the second time to . Finally, in 1995, the town was upgraded to city status (thesaban nakhon). There are a total of 102 communities (chumchon), divided into 4 zones. The name "Hat Yai" is a short version of "mahat yai", meaning big mahat () tree, a relative of jackfruits in genus Artocarpus. The 2014 Hat Yai Bombings happened on 6 May 2014, when three improvised explosive devices exploded roughly seven minutes apart in the heart of Hat Yai, Thailand in the afternoon, wounding at least eight people. Additional blasts struck the railway station, and a further bomb was…

Most-observed species

• Great Myna

  Acridotheres grandis Moore, 1858 · Aves
  1,022
• Yellow-vented Bulbul

  Pycnonotus goiavier (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  979
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  852
• Zebra Dove

  Geopelia striata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  823
• White-throated Kingfisher

  Halcyon smyrnensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  755
• Spotted dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  688
• White-nest Swiftlet

  Aerodramus fuciphagus (Thunberg, 1812) · Aves
  649
• Blue-tailed Bee-eater

  Merops philippinus Linnaeus, 1767 · Aves
  589