Thailand’s south-eastern corner: forest, peat swamp, quiet beaches and the end of the southern railway.
Narathiwat is Thailand’s south-eastern corner, where the southern railway ends at the Malaysian border. About four in five people are Muslim, most speak Patani Malay as a first language, and three-quarters of the land is forest and hills. The town sits on the Bang Nara River, close to the casuarina-lined beach at Ao Manao and the Thaksin Ratchaniwet Palace, the royal family’s southern residence. Inland are the Talo Mano Mosque, built of wood in 1634, the Pa Phru To Daeng peat swamp and the Hala-Bala forest. Several governments advise against travel here, and the market is small and local.
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