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83-516: Hat Yai ( Thai : หาดใหญ่ , pronounced [hàːt jàj] , also Haad Yai or Had Yai ) is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border and the fifth-largest city in Thailand with a population of 191,696 (2024) in the city municipality ( thesaban nakhon / city proper ) itself and an urban population of 404,044 (2021) in the entire district of Amphoe Hat Yai . Hat Yai

166-580: A car bomb exploded in the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel, killing at least 5 and injuring hundreds. Both Thai nationals and Malaysian tourists were among the victims. The Royal Thai Army believes that members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) group carried out the terrorist attack. On May 6, 2014, two bombs exploded in front of a convenience store and a police station, injuring 9 people. Hat Yai Junction has become

249-411: A dialect continuum . Thai language is spoken by over 69 million people (2020). Moreover, most Thais in the northern (Lanna) and the northeastern (Isan) parts of the country today are bilingual speakers of Central Thai and their respective regional dialects because Central Thai is the language of television, education, news reporting, and all forms of media. A recent research found that the speakers of

332-565: A second language among the country's minority ethnic groups from the mid-late Ayutthaya period onward. Ethnic minorities today are predominantly bilingual, speaking Thai alongside their native language or dialect. Standard Thai is classified as one of the Chiang Saen languages—others being Northern Thai , Southern Thai and numerous smaller languages, which together with the Northwestern Tai and Lao-Phutai languages, form

415-413: A tonne of freight by rail costs 0.93 baht per kilometre compared with 1.72 baht by road, but 86 percent of Thailand's freight moves by road and only 2 percent by rail. Completed double tracking projects: Phase one of the project includes five sections of double-track railway with remaining two projects under construction: Cabinet approval is expected to allow the signing of contracts for phase two of

498-607: A tropical monsoon climate (Am), which is hot and humid, like other parts of Southern Thailand. Hat Yai has only two seasons; wet and dry. The wet season, which is influenced by monsoon and rain storms , is from April to December, while the sunny dry season is only from January to March. Additionally, there have been occasional floods in Hat Yai, due to the heavy rain; it can rain for twenty-two days in November with more than 317 mm (12.5 in) of precipitation. Hat Yai has

581-541: A 722-km route to Lamphun Province in the north of the country, and a 433-km route to Khon Kaen in the northeast. SRT also operates special services aimed at tourists, such as the SRT Royal Blossom train, SRT KiHa 183 Excursions, steam train services and weekend Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi and Suan Son Pradipat province. Most of these special services feature special trains, and are priced at a premium, with added services. Refurbished old KiHa 183 trains debuted on

664-465: A faster way to travel. Hat Yai International Airport (upgraded to an international airport December 1972) is 9 km from downtown, serving destinations throughout Thailand and connecting the city to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore . It is also an important airport for Muslims on pilgrimage to Mecca. The airport is listed as Thailand's fifth busiest airport, serving 4,256,107 passengers in 2018 . There are two main hospitals in Hat Yai. Hatyai Hospital

747-533: A four-way distinction among stops and affricates . The maximal four-way occurred in labials ( /p pʰ b ʔb/ ) and denti-alveolars ( /t tʰ d ʔd/ ); the three-way distinction among velars ( /k kʰ ɡ/ ) and palatals ( /tɕ tɕʰ dʑ/ ), with the glottalized member of each set apparently missing. The major change between old and modern Thai was due to voicing distinction losses and the concomitant tone split . This may have happened between about 1300 and 1600 CE, possibly occurring at different times in different parts of

830-575: A line branches to connect with the Malaysian railway at Padang Besar and the mainline continues to Su-ngai Kolok passing through Yala Province . The Eastern Line begins at Bangkok before heading through Chachoengsao , Prachinburi to terminate at Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaew Province , 255 kilometers from Bangkok. There is a reopened rail link to Cambodia from Aranyaprathet. A branch line also connects Khlong Sip Kao Junction to

913-578: A loss every year since it was turned into a state-owned enterprise under the Transport Ministry in 1951. As the worst financially performing state enterprise, it reported a preliminary loss of 7.58 billion baht in 2010. In the fiscal year ending 30 September 2016, the military government budgeted 7,600 million baht for SRT infrastructure investments to be used for track duplication, an extension of Bangkok's elevated railway, and construction of bridges, fences, and track improvements, however,

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996-487: A minibus terminal which hosts the largest minibus service in southern Thailand. There are also several private minibus services which focus on tourist destinations, including Phuket , Ko Samui , Ko Pha Ngan , Pak Bara Peer in Satun (a gateway to the islands in the southern Andaman Sea), Langkawi , Penang , Kuala Lumpur , and Singapore . The minibus service has gained popularity in recent years as minibuses are considered

1079-582: A rehabilitation plan that will be presented to the State Enterprise Policy Commission on 30 July 2018. The commission, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is expected to approve the plan. The plan calls for SRT to become the largest railway state enterprise in ASEAN . By 2027, anticipating income growth from asset management and cost management, SRT foresees profits of over 20 billion baht. Hopewell Holdings of Hong Kong

1162-426: A reputation for being a shopping destination for both Thais and foreigners. There are numbers of department stores, shopping malls and markets throughout the city. Suntisook Market on Nipat U-tid 1, 2 & 3 roads are among the best-known. Their main products are imported processed food, cosmetics, fabrics, gadgets and electrical appliances. The city's major wet market is located near the railway station. And another one

1245-530: A syllable that formerly began with a voiceless consonant (including glottalized stops). An additional complication is that formerly voiceless unaspirated stops/affricates (original /p t k tɕ ʔb ʔd/ ) also caused original tone 1 to lower, but had no such effect on original tones 2 or 3. The above consonant mergers and tone splits account for the complex relationship between spelling and sound in modern Thai. Modern "low"-class consonants were voiced in Old Thai, and

1328-594: A target of terrorism in the separatist campaign conducted by the Patani United Liberation Organisation and similar radical groups. On April 3, 2005, bomb attacks were carried out at a Carrefour Hypermarket and Hat Yai International Airport , killing two and injuring dozens. On September 16, 2006, a series of bomb attacks killed four and injured more than 70. Although no group has claimed responsibility, local separatists are presumed to have been responsible. On March 31, 2012,

1411-421: Is Central Thai , the enclave language spoken by Thai Chinese, the encircle language, Southern Thai varieties such as Songkhla and Sadao dialects are also common as well, and varieties of Songkhla Malay which spoken by Malays. The population of Hat Yai Municipality was 156,802 as of 2019, making it the fourth largest city municipality (city proper) in the country after Bangkok , Nonthaburi , and Pak Kret , and

1494-399: Is Kim Yong market on Supasarn Rungsan road. Kim Yong market (also Gim Yong) is a famous market located in the center of Hat Yai, Songkhla. The market is divided into 2 parts. The first part is a 2-floor building previously called the “Chaloemthai” cinema. The second part is an outdoor market, alongside the road. The goods in this market are varied and each part of the market is different. On

1577-443: Is a tonal and analytic language . Thai has a complex orthography and system of relational markers . Spoken Thai, depending on standard sociolinguistic factors such as age, gender, class, spatial proximity, and the urban/rural divide, is partly mutually intelligible with Lao , Isan , and some fellow Thai topolects . These languages are written with slightly different scripts, but are linguistically similar and effectively form

1660-641: Is a westerly branch towards Khiri Rat Nikhom while the main line continues south to Thung Song Junction in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province where another branch reaches Kantang in Trang Province . Not far away, another branch separates off the mainline at Khao Chum Thong Junction . The main line from Nakhon Sri Thammarat continues through Phatthalung before reaching Hat Yai Junction in Songkhla Province . From here,

1743-479: Is able to attract a large number of people, not only local people but also foreigners and travelers. The city has two large weekend markets, namely Asian Trade and Greenway, which are both located on Kanchanavanit Road. They mainly sell second-hand products, including clothes, shoes, decor and souvenirs. In addition, there are several large shopping centers in the city, including Diana, Odean, Robinson, Central, Siam Nakharin, Big C, Big C Extra, Tesco Lotus and Makro. By

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1826-683: Is also a branch off the mainline from Ban Dara Junction to Sawankhalok in Sukhothai Province . The Northeastern Line begins on the same route as the Northern Line, splitting at Ban Phachi Junction towards Nakhon Ratchasima . Then at Thanon Chira Junction , the line splits with one route passing Khon Kaen and Udon Thani before terminating at Nong Khai 624 kilometers (388 mi) from Bangkok. The other route passes through Buriram , Surin , Sisaket to reach Ubon Ratchathani , 575 km (357 mi) from Bangkok. There

1909-1141: Is also another branch route originating from Kaeng Khoi Junction in Saraburi Province passing through Chai Badan District in Lopburi Province and Chatturat District in Chaiyaphum Province , before joining the mainline heading towards Nong Khai at Bua Yai Junction in Nakhon Ratchasima Province . The Southern Line begins in Bangkok and heads west towards Nakhon Pathom before splitting into three different routes. One route heads west to Kanchanaburi Province (210 km (130 mi)) while another heads north towards Suphan Buri (157 km (98 mi)). The Southern Line itself continues southbound through Ratchaburi , Phetchaburi , Hua Hin , Prachuap Khiri Khan Province , Chumphon , to Surat Thani 678 kilometers (421 mi) distant. From Surat Thani, there

1992-552: Is also located in the urban area of Hat Yai. In addition, Ramkhamhaeng University 's campus is near the international airport. Hat Yai is also home to several famous high schools, including the country's top ten, Hatyaiwittayalai School (public). Another well-known public school is Hatyaiwittayalaisomboonkulkanya School , the former branch of Hatyaiwittayalai. In addition, there are several popular private schools in greater Hat Yai, including Saengthong Vitthaya School , Thidanukhro School , and PSU Wittayanusorn School . Hat Yai has

2075-659: Is celebrated with Buddha boat processions or sports events like a run up Khao Tang Kuan hill. In September or October at the Chinese Lunar festival, the Thai and Chinese present their offerings to the moon, "queen of the heavens", in gratitude for past and future fortunes. Hat Yai is also well known for its spectacular celebrations of the Chinese New Year festival. Although Thai elements have been incorporated (for example, Thai pop stars have been invited to perform),

2158-536: Is cheaper—only roughly half the cost of road transport —safer, and more environmentally-friendly than road transport, accounted for only 1.4 percent of freight tonnage carried in 2015. SRT aims to boost its share of cargo transport to six percent with its rail duplication by 2022. Expansion of SRT's freight service, which could earn more money than the heavily subsidized passenger service, has been neglected for decades in favour of Thailand's roads. The SRT's poor financial performance and resistance to reform, coupled with

2241-655: Is operated by the Ministry of Public Health , while Songklanagarind Hospital is a university hospital operated by the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University . Demographically, Hat Yai is notable for a higher proportion of Thai Malays and Thai Chinese citizens than other cities of comparable size in other regions of Thailand. Unlike most of area in Southern Thailand, the main language spoken in Hatyai

2324-416: Is possible for freight trains to travel between Thailand and the neighboring countries (Malaysia and Laos), the amount of international rail freight presently constitutes only a minuscule portion of Thailand's foreign trade. In 2012, merely 95 thousand tons of export cargo left Thailand by rail, as compared to 12 million tons of cargo exported by road, and 114 million tons of cargo exported by ship. For import,

2407-492: Is the business center. Originally named Khok Samet Chun (โคกเสม็ดชุน, " shore eugenia knoll"), Hat Yai was a small village until the southern railway was built there, making it one of the major rail hubs of 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

2490-524: Is the largest city of Songkhla province and is part of the Greater Hat Yai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area (a conurbation with a population of about 800,000), forming the largest metropolitan area in the south, and the fourth-largest metropolitan area of the country. The city is often mistaken for being the provincial capital. In fact, Songkhla is the capital and the center of administration and culture while Hat Yai

2573-741: Is the terminus of all Eastern line services and commuter services from Bangkok on the Northern, Northeastern and Southern lines. Phahonyothin and Ladkrabang Inland Container Depot (ICD) are the main freight terminals. The Northern Line runs alongside the Northeastern Line until the Ban Phachi Junction . There, it splits from the Northeastern Line and proceeds through Lopburi , Nakhon Sawan , Phichit , Phitsanulok , Denchai , Lampang , Lamphun , before finally reaching Chiang Mai , 751 km (467 mi) from Bangkok . There

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2656-553: The Airport Link . Nearly 91% was single-track railway (3,685 km (2,290 mi)) while 6%, mainly important sections around Bangkok, were double-track railway (251 km or 156 mi) and 3% were triple-track railway (107 km or 66 mi). The network serves 47 provinces and around 35 million passengers annually. The passenger count is expected to double by 2032, when the network grows to 6,463 km (4,016 mi) to serve 61 provinces. The SRT has suffered

2739-636: The Asian financial crisis of 1997, resulted in stringent restraints being placed on SRT staffing. In July 1998, the Thai cabinet issued an order that the SRT could only hire five new employees for every 100 retirees. As of 2018 , the order remains in effect. SRT officials estimated in 2017 that the enterprise needed to boost staff by 20 percent to 12,000. In 2018 SRT claims that it needs 18,015 employees to operate efficiently, but only has 10,035 on staff. The train maintenance workforce has dwindled to 500 from 3,000 over

2822-542: The Central Thai , Mon , Lao Wiang , Phuan people in Central Thailand and the vast majority of Thai Chinese enclaves throughout the country. It is the sole official language of Thailand . Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali , Sanskrit , Mon and Old Khmer . It

2905-673: The Eastern and Oriental Express on their tracks which runs from Singapore to Bangkok and vice versa, although trips in 2024 did not enter Thailand. A link across the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge to Thanaleng railway station , near Vientiane , opened in March 2009. In December 2010, following Chinese plans to extend their standard-gauge railway network to Xishuangbanna on the China–Laos border and further into Laos,

2988-466: The Northern Thai language (also known as Phasa Mueang or Kham Mueang) have become so few, as most people in northern Thailand now invariably speak Standard Thai, so that they are now using mostly Central Thai words and only seasoning their speech with the "Kham Mueang" accent. Standard Thai is based on the register of the educated classes by Central Thai and ethnic minorities in the area along

3071-570: The Southwestern branch of Tai languages . The Tai languages are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family , which encompasses a large number of indigenous languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Guangxi south through Laos and Northern Vietnam to the Cambodian border. Standard Thai is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout Thailand. The standard is based on

3154-474: The fifth-largest city ( Urban ; with a population of 400,000) in the country after Bangkok , Chiang Mai , Korat and Khon Kaen . Prince of Songkla University is the oldest and largest university in southern Thailand. The main campus is near Hat Yai downtown; the campus area covers Hat Yai city and Kho Hong town. This public university is always ranked one of the top national universities. The first private university in southern Thailand, Hatyai University ,

3237-504: The Khmer system first before the Thai borrowed. Old Thai had a three-way tone distinction on "live syllables" (those not ending in a stop), with no possible distinction on "dead syllables" (those ending in a stop, i.e. either /p/, /t/, /k/ or the glottal stop that automatically closes syllables otherwise ending in a short vowel). There was a two-way voiced vs. voiceless distinction among all fricative and sonorant consonants, and up to

3320-642: The Lao National Railway. The rail link to Cambodia via Poipet from the railhead at Aranyaprathet was constructed in 1941, but was closed in 1961 due to strained Thai-Cambodian relations during the Cold War. The rail connection was repaired and reopened in April 2019. Cross-border services briefly ran until it was suspended by the outbreak of COVID-19 . Currently, no cross-border services operate. Railway connections to Myanmar (Burma), notably

3403-540: The Northeastern Line at Kaeng Khoi Junction . At Chachoengsao Junction , there is another branch to Sattahip . Along the route to Sattahip, at Si Racha Junction , there is yet another branch towards Laem Chabang Deep Sea Port and further at Khao Chi Chan Junction for Map Ta Phut Port, in Rayong . As of January 2023, all services terminate at Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) station. No services run to Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal. The Maeklong Railway , also operated by

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3486-404: The Northern Line was regauged over the next ten years. On 1 July 1951, RSR changed its name to the present State Railway of Thailand, which has the status of a state enterprise agency. On 7 April 2020, the Thai cabinet named Nirut Maneephan as the new chief of the SRT, the 29th governor in its history. As of 2020 SRT had 4,044 km (2,513 mi) of track, all of it meter gauge except

3569-521: The SRT Board approved the addition of 1,330 new workers to bring the workforce to 15,550, still fewer than needed to address staff shortages. As of 2020 , SRT employed 9,204 employees and 3,721 yearly staffs totaling 12,925 while employment quotas respectively was 18,015 and 4,056 totaling 22,071. To address a long list of complaints accusing SRT of a lack of transparency in bids for projects and procurement deals, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha fired

3652-652: The SRT Light Red Line. The Red Line project is a new commuter rail system also owned by the SRT and will replace portions of rail lines running through Bangkok, eliminating at-grade crossings. Currently, two lines operate: the Dark Red Line and the Light Red Line . Thai railways transported around 11 million tons of freight per year in 2007–2012, which was around 2% of the total amount of freight moved by all modes of transportation. While it

3735-468: The SRT had managed to disburse only 53 percent of its allotted investment budget of 60 billion baht, compared with an average disbursement rate of 80 percent by Thailand's other 55 state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Disbursement rate is seen as an indicator of efficient management. SRT's budget from government for FY2020 was 13,574.9 million baht, increased from 9,087 million baht in FY2019. "If you look at

3818-499: The SRT has debts amounting to nearly 190 billion baht. The SRT consistently operates at a loss despite being endowed with large amounts of property—the SRT is one of Thailand's largest land holders, owning an estimated 39,840 hectares — and receiving large government subsidies. SRT's latest property development scheme is the Chao Phraya Gateway project. It capitalises on SRT's 277 rai , 1.16 kilometre stretch of land on

3901-548: The SRT network, gifted by the JR Hokkaido Railway Company , are now some of the most popular excursion train services, providing day and overnight tours to different provinces such as Ayutthaya, Hua Hin, Chacheongsao, Nakhon Nayok and Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi. Use Caterpillar C175-16 ACERT engines Used for special services only. (only 953 in use) (only 824 and 850 in use) (only 713 and 715 in use) In 2018, 91% of Thailand's 4,044 km rail network

3984-426: The SRT they are a bit like a patient in [intensive care] and everyone is saying to him 'you are the future' and trying to kick him out of bed when he is still moaning and groaning," said Ruth Banomyong, a logistics and transport expert at Thammasat University . The SRT annual operating losses are estimated at a minimum of 10 billion baht. In 2018 and 2019, the SRT lost 12 and 17 billion baht respectively. As of 2021

4067-768: The SRT, is independent of the national rail network and is split into two sections. The line begins at Wongwian Yai in Bangkok before terminating at the Mahachai station in Samut Sakhon , where a ferry is used by passengers to cross the Tha Chin River . The line starts again across the river at Ban Laem and continues until the Mae Klong station of Samut Songkhram . SRT operates different types of rail services, each with different service patterns as outlined below: SRT operates long-distance passenger services on

4150-583: The Southern Line, was opened on 19 June 1903. The first railway commander of the RSR was Prince Purachatra Jayakara , Prince of Kamphaengphet. The Northern Line was originally built as 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge , but in September 1919 it was decided to standardize on 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) meter gauge and

4233-527: The Thai government agreed to start negotiations on building a standard-gauge network. This would initially involve two lines: from Bangkok to the Lao border, and a longer line from Bangkok along the peninsula to the Malay border. In 2024, long distance overnight train services between Bangkok and Vientiane Khamsavath railway station were started. Shuttle trains to Udon Thani are also being operated in conjunction with

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4316-491: The Thai-speaking area. All voiced–voiceless pairs of consonants lost the voicing distinction: However, in the process of these mergers, the former distinction of voice was transferred into a new set of tonal distinctions. In essence, every tone in Old Thai split into two new tones, with a lower-pitched tone corresponding to a syllable that formerly began with a voiced consonant, and a higher-pitched tone corresponding to

4399-420: The building, many shops and stalls can be found along small streets. Most of the shops sell batiks from Malaysia and Indonesia and Muslim clothes while the majority of stalls sell foods and fruits. Moreover, chestnut is another popular product, which visitors prefer to buy. They can notice chestnut stalls easily by the man who roasts the chestnut and by the smell. Because of the variety of goods in this market, it

4482-490: The celebration remains distinctively Chinese. “Despite being several generations removed from Hat Yai's original Chinese pioneers, the New Year celebration provides strong evidence that the community is still influenced by and strongly identifies with its Chinese roots. Thai language Thai , or Central Thai (historically Siamese ; Thai: ภาษาไทย ), is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai language family spoken by

4565-444: The day of travel at the station. Since May 2024, a waiting list function has been added, allowing registered users to wait for available tickets if they have been sold out. The SRT operates all of Thailand's national rail lines. As of 2023, Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal is the main terminus of all long-distance services from Bangkok on the Northern, Northeastern and Southern lines, while Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) railway station

4648-545: The dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai script . Hlai languages Kam-Sui languages Kra languages Be language Northern Tai languages Central Tai languages Khamti language Tai Lue language Shan language others Northern Thai language Thai language Southern Thai language Tai Yo language Phuthai language Lao language (PDR Lao, Isan language ) Thai has undergone various historical sound changes. Some of

4731-413: The end of 2013, Central Festival, one of the largest shopping centers in Southern Thailand. An important Buddhist temple is Hat Yai Nai Temple or Wat Hat Yai Nai. It is home to the third largest reclining statue on the planet. People travel from all over Thailand just to pay respect to this statue. Held on the first night of October, Chak Phra is a Buddhist festival specific to the south of Thailand. It

4814-508: The first floor of the building, there are fresh foods, such as vegetables, meats, certain seafood, groceries, clothes, snacks, and dry foodstuffs. It is well known that Kim Yong Market has many kinds of dry foodstuffs from China and snacks like chocolates and chips from Malaysia. On the second floor, there are electric appliances which are made in Thailand and China. All of these imported goods are inexpensive because they are tax-free. Outside of

4897-560: The following lines: Until 2016, SRT operated international services to Butterworth in Penang , Malaysia , in conjunction with Malaysian state operator KTM . Direct trains from Bangkok now only run as far as Padang Besar , due to the opening of KTM ETS . Since 2021, there 3 return trains operate from Hat Yai Junction and terminate at Padang Besar across the Malaysia–Thailand border . SRT has also historically allowed operation of

4980-627: The governor and board of the State Railway of Thailand in February 2017, using his special powers under Section 44 of the interim constitution. Since 1 February 2017, Tickets can be purchased online , in person, as well was on the phone by dialling 1690. Since 1 February 2024, all long distance special express and express train tickets open up 90 days in advance. Most other tickets can only be bought up to 30 days in advance. For local ordinary and commuter trains, they only can be bought on

5063-419: The infamous Death Railway , are defunct. The SRT operates commuter rail services from Bangkok along the Northern and Northeastern Lines up to Ayutthaya, Ban Phachi Junction, Lopburi and Kaeng Khoi Junction. Ten trains run along the route on a daily basis. A new service serving between Thon Buri and Salaya was launched on 22 October 2010, extending to Nakhon Pathom on 1 June 2022 to act as a feeder service for

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5146-421: 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 4.4 km (1.7 sq mi), and was administered by the first mayor, Udom Bunlong. In 1938,

5229-528: The local patois as pronounced in Guangdong Ayutthaya , the old capital of Thailand from 1351 - 1767 A.D., was from the beginning a bilingual society, speaking Thai and Khmer . Bilingualism must have been strengthened and maintained for some time by the great number of Khmer-speaking captives the Thais took from Angkor Thom after their victories in 1369, 1388 and 1431. Gradually toward the end of

5312-551: The most significant changes occurred during the evolution from Old Thai to modern Thai. The Thai writing system has an eight-century history and many of these changes, especially in consonants and tones, are evidenced in the modern orthography . According to a Chinese source, during the Ming dynasty , Yingya Shenglan (1405–1433), Ma Huan reported on the language of the Xiānluó (暹羅) or Ayutthaya Kingdom, saying that it somewhat resembled

5395-409: 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 8 km (3.1 sq mi). 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

5478-400: The nation's freight transportation market, in 2016 the SRT, in a joint project with Japan, started experimenting with small, 12-foot containers. It is thought that, being smaller than the standard 20-foot containers, these containers can be more easily transported by truck between a rail station and the end customer. These containers are being tried on two routes from Bangkok's Bang Sue station:

5561-584: The past 30 years. To make up the shortfall, the SRT hires around 4,000 "yearly staffs", usually on daily wages of 300 baht. It has also caused the SRT to pay massive amounts of overtime pay to current employees. For example, one station master in Pattani was paid 61,210 baht in monthly salary, but also an additional 102,271 baht in overtime pay. As of 2020 , the staff employment quota was 4,056 but SRT hired 3,721 staffs. As of July 2019 , SRT employed 10,292 employees and 3,928 yearly staffs, totaling 14,220 while

5644-415: The period, a language shift took place. Khmer fell out of use. Both Thai and Khmer descendants whose great-grand parents or earlier ancestors were bilingual came to use only Thai. In the process of language shift, an abundance of Khmer elements were transferred into Thai and permeated all aspects of the language. Consequently, the Thai of the late Ayutthaya Period which later became Ratanakosin or Bangkok Thai,

5727-420: The public as inefficient and resistant to change. Trains are usually late, and most of its equipment is old and poorly maintained. Although SRT's operational costs amount to two baht per kilometre traveled, SRT fares defray only a fraction of that cost. SRT has not been permitted to hike fares since 1985 which is significantly below market rate. Under the auspices of the Transport Ministry, the SRT has submitted

5810-479: The rail transport's share was even smaller. Thai railways transport both bulk freight (primarily oil products and construction materials) and containerized freight. Most of the freight movement is between Bangkok and sea ports (in particular, between the deepwater port of Laem Chabang and the container terminal in Lad Krabang , in Bangkok's eastern suburbs). In an attempt to increase the railway's share of

5893-404: The railway line is the Asian highway 2 . Asian highway 18 originates in Hat Yai and runs south along the east coast of the Malay peninsula. Hat Yai Bus Terminal is a major transport hub in southern Thailand. It offers bus services that link Hat Yai with nearly every town and city in the southern region as well as other destinations, including Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima . Hat Yai also has

5976-519: The ring surrounding the Metropolis . In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages . Although most linguists classify these dialects as related but distinct languages, native speakers often identify them as regional variants or dialects of the "same" Thai language, or as "different kinds of Thai". As a dominant language in all aspects of society in Thailand, Thai initially saw gradual and later widespread adoption as

6059-688: The river in the Khlong Toei District . The SRT hopes the project will help clear its 100 billion baht debt. The project is projected to break even within eight years and deliver profits of 140 billion baht. As of April 2019 , SRT's plans are being submitted to the Transport Ministry for approval. SRT's failings are reflected in passenger numbers, which, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit have dropped from 88 million in 1994 to 44 million in 2014, and 26 million in 2020. The SRT has long been popularly perceived by

6142-492: The royal vocabulary according to their immediate environment. Thai and Pali, the latter from Theravada Buddhism, were added to the vocabulary. An investigation of the Ayutthaya Rajasap reveals that three languages, Thai, Khmer and Khmero-Indic were at work closely both in formulaic expressions and in normal discourse. In fact, Khmero-Indic may be classified in the same category as Khmer because Indic had been adapted to

6225-535: The terminology "low" reflects the lower tone variants that resulted. Modern "mid"-class consonants were voiceless unaspirated stops or affricates in Old Thai—precisely the class that triggered lowering in original tone 1 but not tones 2 or 3. Modern "high"-class consonants were the remaining voiceless consonants in Old Thai (voiceless fricatives, voiceless sonorants, voiceless aspirated stops). The three most common tone "marks" (the lack of any tone mark, as well as

6308-411: The three tones of Old Thai were split have since merged into five in standard Thai, with the lower variant of former tone 2 merging with the higher variant of former tone 3, becoming the modern "falling" tone. หม ม หน น, ณ หญ ญ หง ง ป ผ พ, ภ บ ฏ, ต ฐ, ถ ท, ธ ฎ, ด จ ฉ ช State Railway of Thailand The SRT

6391-417: The transportation hub of southern Thailand since the railway was constructed. One of the largest railway stations in the south, Hat Yai Railway Station is an international railway station which handles 28 passenger trains per day, including 26 trains served by State Railway of Thailand and 2 trains served by KTMB of Malaysia. Hat Yai is also the hub for local train services in southern Thailand. Parallel to

6474-423: The two marks termed mai ek and mai tho ) represent the three tones of Old Thai, and the complex relationship between tone mark and actual tone is due to the various tonal changes since then. Since the tone split, the tones have changed in actual representation to the point that the former relationship between lower and higher tonal variants has been completely obscured. Furthermore, the six tones that resulted after

6557-437: Was a single-track railway . A government initiative to move air and road transport to rail passed a major milestone on 28 December 2017 when the SRT signed nine contracts costing 69.5 billion baht with private contractors to complete track duplication on 702 km of the SRT network. The government's aim is to reduce the nation's logistical overhead, some 1.75 trillion baht, by moving air and road freight to rail because moving

6640-453: Was a thorough mixture of Thai and Khmer. There were more Khmer words in use than Tai cognates. Khmer grammatical rules were used actively to coin new disyllabic and polysyllabic words and phrases. Khmer expressions, sayings, and proverbs were expressed in Thai through transference. Thais borrowed both the Royal vocabulary and rules to enlarge the vocabulary from Khmer. The Thais later developed

6723-461: Was enlarged for the second time to 21 km (8.1 sq mi). 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 ( Thai : มะหาด ) tree, a relative of jackfruits in genus Artocarpus . As the major economic center of lower southern Thailand, Hat Yai has increasingly become

6806-626: Was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam (RSR) in 1890. King Chulalongkorn ordered the Department of Railways to be set up under the Department of Public Works and Town and Country Planning. Construction of the Bangkok - Ayutthaya railway (71 km or 44 mi), the first part of the Northern Line, was started in 1890 and inaugurated on 26 March 1897. The Thon Buri - Phetchaburi line (150 km or 93 mi), later

6889-777: Was the lead contractor for SRT's ill-fated Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System . The project commenced in 1990 and was terminated by the Thai government in 1998, only 13% complete. Hopewell and the SRT each blamed the other for the failure of the 80 billion baht project. Both parties sued, and the case has been in litigation since its cancellation. On 23 April 2019, Thailand's Supreme Administrative Court upheld an arbitration committee's ruling in favour of Hopewell. The court ordered SRT to pay Hopewell compensation of 11.88 billion baht, plus 7.5% interest per year. The interest, totaling 13 billion baht, brings SRT's total liability to nearly 25 billion baht, payable within 180 days. Rail freight, which

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