Songkhla steps up

Sunrise in Songkhla. The lingering syllables of a mosque’s call to prayer bounce between the rooftops of the city’s compact Old Town. Formica tables unfold on the sidewalk; motorbikes are kick-started with a roar. Breakfasters fuel up with big bowls of silky rice porridge and steamed Chinese buns from a glass cabinet. Across the street, one of Songkhla’s last remaining rickshaw drivers flashes me a toothless smile.

Though I’ve lived in Thailand for the better part of a decade, this small coastal city in the country’s deep south only appeared on my radar a few years ago, when the who’s who of Bangkok’s creative scene started visiting on long weekends. They’d share pictures of age-old Chinese godowns and new-wave cafés