Songkhla is a historic port city on Thailand's southern coast, sitting along a narrow strip of land between the Gulf of Thailand and a large inland lagoon, and while the city itself carries an old airport designation, the practical pickup point for car rental in this part of southern Thailand is Hat Yai International Airport, roughly thirty minutes inland, which hosts the region's active rental counters from both national and international companies. Songkhla's own old town, with its preserved Sino-Portuguese shophouses and laid-back waterfront, is easiest reached by driving in from Hat Yai rather than expecting facilities within Songkhla itself, and most itineraries treat the two cities as a single combined stop.
From Hat Yai, the drive to Songkhla's old town takes roughly thirty to forty-five minutes along a well-traveled route connecting Thailand's largest southern commercial hub to its historic coastal neighbor. Beyond Songkhla, the coastline continues south toward smaller fishing towns and, eventually, the Malaysian border, while inland routes connect back through Hat Yai toward Thailand's broader south. The lagoon side of Songkhla offers a quieter, more rural driving character compared with the busier commercial roads around Hat Yai, with fishing villages and causeways lining much of the inland shoreline.
Driving is on the left throughout Thailand, and the roads connecting Hat Yai and Songkhla are generally well paved and easy to navigate, though traffic thickens noticeably around Hat Yai's commercial center during the day. The monsoon season, roughly October through December in this southern part of the country, brings periods of heavy rain and occasional flooding on lower-lying coastal roads near the lagoon, so checking conditions before a Songkhla drive during those months is sensible. Fuel stations are frequent along the Hat Yai to Songkhla corridor, making this an easy, well-supported route for renting a car and exploring this quieter stretch of southern Thailand's coast.