Street Vendors & Hawkers, Hat Yai

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There are a variety of local fruits in Thailand... but some of them are seasonal... Southern Thailand is noted for its rambutan and mango... not sure about pineapple... There are fruit stalls all over the place... in market place, in front of hotels, in front of restaurants, in front of shopping complexes etc...

The fruits are nice and juicy especially the mango and pineapple... the pineapple is certainly comparable to the famous specie in Chiangrai...

Thai dessert tends to be very sweet in nature... and it is colourful as well... I would say that these dessert certainly have a high fusion of Chinese food as there are a lot of Chinese type of desserts... including the "bak chang"...

The pig trotter is one of my favourite dish and nowhere else can you get better pig trotters than in Thailand... The braised trotters can be found in street stalls, up-class food courts as well as Chinese/Thai restaurants... You can have just trotters as dish or just rice or noodles with trotter meat for one person at hawker stalls... but beware of the high fat content of the meat...

I would say that the standard and quality of braised trotters in Thailand is quite consistent having taken it in Bangkok, Chiangmai, Chiangrai, Hua Hin and Hatyai... In one word - it is certainly delicious and making you want more of it... hehe...

There are many street stalls or shops selling seafood... The seafood are displayed along the 5-foot way and preserved by crushed ice... Popular seafood includes fish, prawns, lobsters, different types of shell fish, etc...

All you have to do is to select what you want and the "chef" will then cook them for you... besides seafood, many stalls also specialised in Thai preparation and Thai dishes such as Tom Yum Kung...

Seafood stalls in the popular tourist shopping area tend to be more expensive than those out of this touristic area...

The grilled cuttlefish is also a popular snack in Hatyai and you have find stalls all over the city... The cuttlefish is grilled over charcoal fire and then soften by hammering it... It make a delicious snack and can be eaten by itself or with a chili dip...

There are many stalls selling deep fried chicken, crabs and other delicacies... as well as limited choice of Chinese dim sum... Some of these stalls are actually operated by Muslims and hence the food are (presumbly) halal...

Favorite Dish: The fried crab, especially the small one are very tastely and crunchy... but beware, while it is nice to eat, it will raise your uric acid level very high... i eat some once (not during this visit to Hatyai), and then was not able to walk the next day due to the high uric acid ending with having my leg joints badly swollen...

Khao Neow Mamuang is a Thai dessert... It is actually Thai sweet sticky rice with ripe mango... It taste best with santan (coconut milk) toppings which is provided separately... Just add some to the dessert when you want to eat... As mango tends to go rancid easily, it is best eaten when prepared... It is to be noted that Southern Thailand produces some of the best mango in the kingdom...

There is a stall just outside the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel that sells this delicious dessert..

Favorite Dish: A full portion of the sweet sticky rice and an entire medium size mango cost only 20 baht... The vendor will only slice the mango at the time of purchase to ensure its freshness...

If you like fried food, then Hat Yai really offers a lot!!!! There are plenty of street hawkers selling the fried food like fried chicken, seafood, sausage, banana, etc... i think this is the local 'FAST FOOD', except that you need to buy drink at another stall.
I didn't try any because i was really full the whole time i was in Hat Yai... so bad...

Feeling thirsty while shopping in Hat Yai Street? Well i went for their local dessert twice from the hawkers all a long the road in front of Lee Garden Plaza at the night time. They have all kind of nuts and other things as you can see from the photo below. If you like bird nest, then you can eat it for only 100Baht.

Have you ever hear of banana toast? well this was my first time seeing it in a satay-style way. They actually toast the banana slices on a stick. Then they squeeze it and dip into a specially made sauce. It cost 10 Bath for 4 sticks.
I don't have a clear pic, except my gf eating it.... hahahah....