Songkhla

Songkhla functions as an ecotone—a boundary zone where two ecosystems meet and exchange resources. Hat Yai, southern Thailand's largest metropolitan area, serves as the interface between Thai and Malaysian economic systems. The Sadao and Padang Besar checkpoints handle 96% of border trade with Malaysia, with total cross-border commerce exceeding 300 billion baht in 2024.

This gateway position has attracted investments in logistics, rubber processing, electronics, halal food production, and light manufacturing. Thailand is planning a "Rubber City" in Hat Yai's Southern Region Industrial Estate, recognizing that processing raw materials near the border captures more value than exporting unprocessed goods. A 40.78 billion baht motorway linking Hat Yai to the Malaysian border will commence construction between 2027-2030.

But ecotone species face unique vulnerabilities. The 2024 floods that submerged Hat Yai halted trade and threatened $400 million monthly in lost commerce. Electronic components, auto parts, and concentrated latex shipments stalled. The same geographic position that enables trade also concentrates risk—when the boundary floods, both economies suffer. Malaysia and Thailand are now linking their Special Border Economic Zones to create redundancy, essentially building parallel channels for trade to flow through when primary routes fail.