Trang: A glimpse of authentic southern Thailand

Trang is a city in southern Thailand, possibly known as a stopover before going to the islands of the Tarutao archipelago, which includes the island of Ko Lipe. If we did not go to these islands due to lack of time, we wanted to stop by the city, known for housing some old houses with Sino-Portuguese architecture.

1- Sino-Portuguese architecture in southern Thailand

Sino-Portuguese architecture is a hybrid architectural style incorporating Chinese and Portuguese architectural styles, often for commercial buildings known as "shop houses".

I was talking to you about it recently in my article on Phuket Town, this style of architecture, brought by the Chinese Hokkien during the migrations of the end of the 19th century, is mainly found in the Malaysian peninsula, namely on the Thailand side, in cities like Phuket Town, Ranong, Takua Pa (north of Phuket), the city of Phang Nga or Trang, which we will talk about here, and even in Satun to a lesser extent.

We could also cite the Malaysian side George Town on Penang Island, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Ipoh (which I haven't yet written the article about despite my visit!) and we also find this architectural style up to Singapore. We also speak of the same style concerning the old Macau and Haikou on Hainan Island in southern China.

2- Short walk in the city of Trang

In concrete terms, this is when we went to the in-laws' house at Nakhon Si Thammarat that we were taking a short trip to Trang, located in the neighboring province. We decided to take the plane from Bangkok to reach Trang, thinking that we could then reach Nakhon Si Thammarat by bus.

Trang province is primarily known for its islands. The most beautiful are Ko Kradan and Ko Muk, south of Ko Lanta. Leaving aside the beautiful landscapes and white sand beaches, the city of Trang still has something to attract. It has a unique character and a pleasant atmosphere, and given that it is very little visited, it could clearly be included in the "Unseen Thailand" category, which highlights places that have an appeal, but which are often overshadowed by a popular attraction nearby.

Trang was once a bustling port located on the region's trade route. The flourishing trade led to urbanization with Trang City's first settlers being Hokkien Chinese merchants, whose descendants make up the majority of Trang City's residents today.

This ethnic mix (Thai, Hokkien but also Malay) has allowed to obtain a culture apart in the city of Trang. Walking in the city, one can notice the mixture between the local and Chinese culture, particularly visible by its architectural heritage. The Sino-Portuguese shop houses are the dominant feature of the old city.

Many of these historic houses are still used as commercial premises today. In addition to the Sino-Portuguese style, there is a specific variant in Trang, the so-called Pan Ya houses. Also on 2 floors, these houses consist of 2 sections, a front and a back. On the ground floor, the front part consists of an interior courtyard while the dining room and kitchen will be at the back. Upstairs, there will be the bedrooms.

And as is also relatively common in these cities with a historical character, we can find some street art here and there to brighten up the city walls a little.

We encountered some shortly after the start of our visit, in an alleyway between Huai Yod 2 Street and Ratchadamnoen Avenue. Most of the Sino-Portuguese style houses are located on Thanon Ratchadamnoen.

So it is mainly along this artery that we walked, this allows, in addition to the period buildings, to pass in front of the municipal market. At the level of the perpendicular street Soi Ratchadamnoen 1, shortly before the large crossroads from where you will see the city clock on a roundabout, you can see another mural.

Back at our starting point, we got on our scooter (rented from our hotel, because we had visited the cave that I talk about below that very morning) and I stopped by to see the church of Trang.

A Presbyterian church where you can see a "modern" building (I put it in quotation marks, because it's not very aesthetic to my taste) with a small old-fashioned church next to it, with a yellow painted brick wall.

Unfortunately, the storm was coming and as I had no more batteries on my camera, I lacked the motivation to explore the city further. Namely, we could have passed along Kan Tang Road (behind the market) and also along the main artery Rama VI and Soi Rama VI 1 where you can also see beautiful remains.

This explains among other things why most of the photos have a slightly yellowish tint, I took them with my phone and I had applied a filter before, forgetting to remove it…

We had just enough time to take refuge in a café spotted on Google Maps before the rain began to fall heavily. By the way, the café in question is a good address, it is the Gray 18 Café, along Visadekul Street.

It is worth noting that while Trang originally developed following the rush towards the tin mines in the region, another source of income was to arrive in Trang itself, from 1899, considerably influencing current agriculture. Brought back from Malaysia by the first governor of Trang, Phraya Rassadanupradit Mahitsarapakdi, the first rubber trees were introduced into the kingdom.

Today, Thailand is the leading producer of natural rubber with more than 35% of world production alone!

Finally, Trang does not have the monopoly of ancient monuments. You can also come across some in the port city of Kantang (25 km south of Trang), whose old train station alone illustrates the legacy left in the region. In fact, that's where I was going when we finally decided to stop at the café, because the rain was threatening to fall (and after that, we finally didn't have time).

Finally, you will also find these architectural styles in the town of Huai Yot (30 km north of Trang). It is also near the latter that one goes to visit a tourist site in the region, the Le Khao Kob cave.

To see photos of these buildings (for lack of having been there…), you can look the dedicated article on the Bangkok Post (in English).

The next morning, we took the time to have lunch at a dim sum restaurant, Laytrang 2 (along Sai Ngam 1 Alley). Then we headed to the bus terminal on the outskirts of the city to reach Nakhon Si Thammarat (3 hours drive).

Walking tour in Trang on a map

The map is centered on the old town, zooming out you can see the other places mentioned in this article like the cave, the bus terminal or even the Gray 18 cafe, which is off-center. The loop indicated is 2 km of walking and is supposed to make you see a lot of interesting shophouses and streets.

3- Tham Le Khao Kob, the flooded cave

It was actually from this cave that we started our visit to Trang the morning after our arrival. For this, we had rented a scooter from our hotel (the Mitree House) and we headed towards the north of the city.

There are several caves in the area, but we chose Tham Le Khao Kob because the visit is done by boat, which is a bit different from the classic cave tours. In addition, "Le" is pronounced "Ley" as in Thaley, which means "sea" in Thai.

It is also spelled Khao Kop Cave or Ley Khao Kob.

We arrived after a good half hour of travel since it is 30km from the center of Trang. We followed the main road (Highway 4). If you go there without driving, you can always hire the services of a songthaew, you will find some next to the station.

Also promoted as “Unseen” by the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand), those who don’t visit it are said to have seen nothing in Trang… This natural cave is crossed by a river and flows through this network of underground passages surrounded by mountains.

Inside, there is actually a complex of several caves, each with their own name, Chao Sao Cave, Kon Ton cave or Rak Sai cave to name a few. The development of the cave and the provision of boats for the visit allow locals to work and promote local eco-tourism.

It was quiet the day we visited, considering it was the middle of September, the rainy season. However, the weather was nice that morning and the site is open every day (8am-18pm).

After making inquiries, we paid the 300 Bahts to have our boat. We are both comfortable and it takes no less than 2 people to handle the boat, we will soon understand why.

At first, we follow the river on the outside, under a part covered by vegetation. 2 minutes later, we were already under the complex. Knowing that given the water level, we must lie down completely horizontally to avoid bumping into each other, and in less than 5 minutes, we were docking at the first stop.

The least interesting, because it was small and nothing special. The next stop was more fruitful. We went along a landscaped path, whose tubular shape clearly showed the passage of water. Further on is a larger room whose ceiling is covered with numerous stalactites and stalagmites. In the middle is an area dedicated to spirits with the little house that goes with it.

Accompanied by our guide, one of the co-pilots of the boat, we go a little deeper following the paths whose lights are sometimes tinted to highlight the shapes surrounding us. We also sometimes have to lower our heads if we want to avoid blinding ourselves.

One of the rooms really impressed me with its ceiling completely covered with thousands of small stalactites. Arrived at the end of the corridor, there was a shape resembling an elephant, with 2 front and back legs formed by 2 separate blocks.

Finally, towards another area, one could see like a curtain in formation, with young columns formed by the junction of a stalactite and stalagmite.

So far, the tour was pretty cool, but what happened next was just going to get epic. The next area is called the Dragon's Lair. The guide explained that going through this narrow passage is like getting out of a bad patch in life, get through it and your worries will go away with it!

When I say narrow, the difficulty does not come from the width, but from the height under the ceiling. What is more in this season (September, as a reminder). The water level being particularly high, we had to not only be perfectly vertical but nothing had to stick out of the boat, not even our feet or even our noses!!

So we did a whole passage with our heads to the side as well as our feet. The edges of the boat were rubbing the ceiling and our 2 pilots, in the water, had to push the boat into the water (because our weights did not sink the boat enough!) to make a way.

Hello claustrophobic friends!! However, I was confident, I tell myself that they do that all the time, even if he explained that today, it was a bit difficult to get through and that it has already happened that a boat got stuck... Obviously far from me the idea of ​​dissuading you, but do it with full knowledge of the facts, because for our part, we did not expect such an experience!

Knowing that if they had torches, we were almost in total darkness on the difficult part, because he was more busy pushing us than lighting, which can add to the anxiety.

Personally, I loved the experience, because it is clearly something unique, after I was still happy to find daylight again. We are greeted by mischievous monkeys who live there on the hillside, at the exit of the cave, the walk will have lasted 45 minutes including almost 20 to skim the ceiling!

In summary and in video, here is what it looks like:

4- Getting to Trang

There are plenty of options for getting to Trang, which is well served by transport.

– By plane: I'll start with the most direct and fastest. Air Asia and Nok Air serve Trang daily. For Air Asia, you have no less than 3 daily flights with departures at 7:50, 13:15 and 17:40. For Nok Air, only one flight at 10:05. In both cases, the fare starts at €2 (on sale) for a 20h1 journey.

[timetable agent= »16406″ from= »Bangkok » to= »Trang » lang= »fr » class= »avia » curr= »EUR » noreturn= »1″]

– By train: Departure from Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok, you have train 83 with departure at 17:05 (15h journey) and train 167 with departure at 18:30 (17h journey). As usual with the train in Thailand, you should not be in a hurry. But these are night journeys, it saves a night in a hotel and therefore does not really "lose" time during the day.

Sleeper bed fare (2nd class) from 551 Baht (15€).

[timetable agent= »16406″ from= »Bangkok » to= »Trang » lang= »fr » class= »train » curr= »EUR » noreturn= »1″]

– By bus: Paradoxically, it is faster than by train since it takes "only" 12 hours from Bangkok. Departures are regular and are from the Sai Tai Mai terminal or Southern Bus Terminal. The buses are generally very comfortable with a seat that is almost vertical for VIP buses and even a hostess to distribute snacks and blankets.

Knowing that these are night buses, departures are only at the end of the afternoon (16:40 p.m., 17 p.m., 19 p.m.). Prices start at €18.

[timetable agent= »16406″ from= »Bangkok » to= »Trang » lang= »fr » class= »bus » curr= »EUR » noreturn= »1″]

– By car:Exit Bangkok via Rama II then follow Highway 4 (passing Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon) then follow Highway 41 (from Surat Thani to Thung Song, Huai Yot and finally Trang). Allow 11 hours to do this. The ideal in this case is to stop along the way to visit a bit of the country, rather than doing it in one go, I would tend to split the descent over at least 2 or even 3 days.

5- Where to stay in Trang

We stayed at Mitree House, near Trang train station. Located in an old house restored and converted into a hotel, it was a very good choice in terms of quality price. If you arrive in Trang by train, I would say that this choice is essential, but the location remains excellent in any case because it is close to interesting streets (less than 500 m) and the municipal market (300 m).

Mitree House
Budget: from 650 Baht (17€)

I had taken a large room overlooking the balcony, because I found that it gave a little extra charm. In the end, it is not essential, because it is more exposed to noise (although this street is rather quiet at night). But the biggest "problem" came from the light from the street lamp (the curtains are not thick). Prefer rooms without windows or at the back if these details bother you.

• Learn more and book Mitree House

6- Conclusion

Trang is still worth stopping to see something other than beaches. It is a historic city with palpable charm (incidentally, efforts have been made regarding the electrical cables, not visible or limited on certain arteries mentioned in the article).

Trang demonstrates once again that Thailand is full of surprises and that getting off the beaten track obviously allows you to see interesting things, even if they are not necessarily promoted by traditional guides.

And as the title deliberately indicates, this is just a preview. Because in addition to the beaches and islands, there are also its share of waterfalls and natural parks, mangroves and an entire ecosystem that has nothing to envy its northern neighbor, Krabi province.