After a rather lengthy 7h sequence of taxi, ferry, sawngthaew, local bus, and lastly motorcyle ride, I finally marked my return to the Land of Smiles with my arrival in Hat Yai, the fourth-largest city in the country, and arguably the commercial heart of the Southern provinces. As a major transport hub, Hat Yai sees hordes of tourists and businessmen from neighbouring Malaysia daily, and walking around the downtown area, it almost seems like I hear more of the Malaysian-Chinese dialects (Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese) being spoken than Thai itself! On several occasions I was greeted by vendors in those dialects, rather than Thai. Quite clearly the Chinese diaspora has had a significant influence here over the years. Yet this didn't come as a particular surprise to me. I'd known my Chinese grandparents had a
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