T.I.C.D.: Songkhla Lake region (Part I: Lake islands)
All of the islands in Thailand's largest lake, condensed.
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T.I.C.D. ticker: So far, we’ve covered 769 islands and 200 notable coastal areas in 42 sections, including this one. (To view all previously published sections, see the welcome page or the working Table of Contents.)
Entering Songkhla and Phatthalung provinces…
The Songkhla Lake region is shared between this pair on the N side of the Deep Southern Gulf coast, well away from the conflict zone in Thailand’s far southeast. Songkhla sees Phatthalung’s lake coast and raises it a bunch of vast beaches on its Gulf coast nearby. But it is not a competition. Both sides deliver for travelers into culture, nature — especially birdwatching — and slowing down.
Songkhla Lake region
In Thailand, Songkhla Lake is unlike anyplace else. Fed by the freshwater that flows from the Banthat and Sankalakhiri mountains while also pushed by saltwater from the nearby Gulf of Thailand, this 987 sq.-km mass of water is technically a coastal lagoon complex splashing into 25 islands along with villages and protected environments. It is one of a few places in the country — the others being Khao Sok and the N Kanchanaburi area — that I would call a proper ‘lake region.’
What is collectively called ‘Songkhla Lake’ is actually a trio of connected fresh and brackish lakes with channels in between and dry-season depths of just over a meter in most places. Talay Sap Ton Nok is totally different from Talay Noi, while the imposing Talay Luang is a world unto itself in between.
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