Hat Yai Surpasses Bangkok as City with Worst Traffic in Thailand, Likely Due to Influx of Malaysian Tourists

Netherlands-based location technology specialist TomTom recently published its 14th edition of the TomTom Traffic Index, an annual report that provides a unique overview of global traffic trends, revealing a rather surprising result for the list of most congested cities in Thailand.

While many would assume that the country’s capital, Bangkok, would be crowned the city with the worst traffic in Thailand, the unwanted title actually goes to Hat Yai in Songkhla province which borders the Malaysian border.

Hat Yai surpassed Bangkok as the city with the worst traffic in Thailand last year

Featuring 500 cities across 62 countries, the latest edition of the TomTom Traffic Index ranks these cities based on their average travel time, as well as congestion in 2024, thus providing access to traffic information city-by-city.

For Thailand, the study found that Hat Yai was the city with the worst traffic last year, with an average time per 10km of 24 minutes and 12 seconds. Moreover, Hat Yai ranked 102nd globally, with a congestion level of 40%.

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Meanwhile, Chiang Mai placed second as the Thai city with the worst traffic thanks to an average travel time per 10km of 23 minutes and 31 seconds, as well as a congestion level of 37%.

Making the top 5 cities with the worst traffic in Thailand are Khon Kaen in third (22 minutes and 19 seconds average travel time per 10km), Bangkok in fourth (21 minutes and 51 seconds average travel time per 10km) and Nakhom Rachasima in fifth (20 minutes and 57 seconds average travel time per 10km).

The influx of Malaysian tourists to Hat Yai may have contributed to the unwanted statistic

According to TomTom, the difference in travel times across cities stems from a combination of static and dynamic factors that significantly influence traffic flow and overall driving conditions.

Static factors are fixed aspects of a city’s infrastructure and planning that influence travel times such as road network design, while dynamic factors are ever-evolving conditions that impact traffic flow daily such as seasonal traffic surges.

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While TomTom didn’t expand on the factors for Hat Yai, one dynamic factor that may have adversely impacted the traffic conditions last year could be attributed to the city’s popularity among Malaysian tourists.

Previously, we shared how a whopping 4,506,898 Malaysians visited Thailand during the first 11 months of 2024.

These include some 100,000 Malaysians who flocked to Southern Thailand during the Hari Malaysia long weekend last September, 36,000 of which entered through Songkhla Province, where Hat Yai is located.

Meanwhile, over 400,000 Malaysians visited Southern Thailand via land from 21 to 31 December 2024, with over 30,000 accommodations in Hat Yai and Songkhla province fully booked from Christmas to 2025 New Year’s Day.

Given that most of these Malaysians who went to Hat Yai last year drove their own vehicles, it could be one of the reasons why the city had the worst traffic in all of Thailand last year.

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So, what do you guys think of Hat Yai being named the city with the worst traffic in Thailand in 2024? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: As M’sians Flock to Thailand for Holiday, PMX Announces Immediate Steps to Boost Langkawi Tourism Industry