Welcome To Yala!
This is a little page to tell you a little about Yala, Thailand.
Yala, Thailand is at the far south of Thailand. It is a majority Muslim province of the predominantly Buddhist Kingdom of Thailand. In many ways it is very different from the rest of Thailand, especially in the way people are.
Yala is a clean city, some say it is the cleanest city in Thailand and I have found nothing in my year here to dispute that fact.
There are many hotels here in town, my personal favorite is the Park View Hotel, they recently bumped up their rooms to 420 baht per night, but it ain't so bad. The rooms are mostly clean, comfortable, and have working air conditioning. They have their own little Thai style nightlife area with massage parlor and night clubs, but it isn't so much in your face that you can't avoid it.
My favorite food stall in Yala is a mid-size Chinese eatery across the street from Latino's Club. They serve up great food at 20 baht per plate. I don't know the name, but it is easy to find.
My favorite nightspot is Latino's Club. They have live music, decent food, and is not filled with undesirable women(read: I can take my wife there).
All transport is by tuk-tuk here in Yala. The standard fare is 9 baht, but after 9pm or so it increases to 10 baht per ride. Just tell the driver where you want to go and jump in.
The worst thing about Yala is that it lacks most Western creature comforts. You can not find ANY American style fast food here. There are no burgers, pizzas, steaks, you name it. There is Thai food and that is about it. Also there are no movie theaters that play movies in English. Forget it. Oh yeah and English books and magazines can not be found. The nearest place to find those comforts is in Hat Yai, a 2 1/2 hour drive away.
I don't really have any pictures to put up here right now, but if you have any specific travel questions about Yala, feel free to drop me an email at n7nvx@yahoo.com .