Songkla and Khao Nam Khang National Park lie within a two-hour drive radius from Hatyai, the staging town to these two locations. You can either fly or take a lengthy trip by bus to Hatyai.
Hatyai is South Thailand’s commercial centre. A colourful place for shopping and food. This is a place where you find a mix of Malaysian and Thai cuisine. Songkla is famous for its long, wide and fine sandy beaches facing the blue water of the Gulf of Thailand. This is therefore a place well known for its fishing activities and of course the seafood.
Khao Nam Khang National Park is famous not just for its lush tropical rainforest but also for the historical Malayan Communist Party camp that is now opened for visitors. The Communists built the camp in the midst of a hilly region in the 1970s. The main feature is a tunnel with 3 floors and 16 entrances with built in. This underground complex has its own kitchen, sleeping quarters, meeting rooms and even a shooting range. The facilities outside this complex include a parade square, basketball court, large meeting hall and even a wedding hut where wedding ceremony among the communist comrades takes place. The park has been a battleground between the Chinese Malaysian Communists (CMC) with Thai and Malaysian security forces. A peace agreement in 1989 has since ceased all conflict. Two former communists Mr Leong Yee Sin and Pang Min Sang now run the camp and operate as historical guides to tourists. They are ever ready to with their interesting accounts of their ordeal and adventures then. They have added an exhibition area with archive photographs and memorabilia, a small restaurant, souvenir and herbal shop.
Waterfalls are abundant and they add interesting side trips in the park.