Satun

Travel Guide

Hotel Deals of the Day

best price guarantee

The sleepy but inviting provincial capital of Satun (pronounced Sah-toon) sits near the mouth of the Bambang River a few kilometres from the Andaman coast and a whopping 940km from Bangkok. While officially part of Thailand's "deep south" and home to a majority Muslim population, Satun has largely escaped the strife that plagues some of the neighbouring provinces. Satun is an entirely safe and very friendly place to visit.

Satun is one of Thailand's youngest provinces and don't be confused if you occasionally still see the Malay spelling of the town's name – Satul.

Despite the large modern mosque which dominates the central part of town, Satun is more ethnically diverse than most of the far southern provinces with Chinese and Thai communities mixing peacefully with the ethnic Malay Muslim population.

As with any Thai town, there are enough minor attractions to keep one busy during an overnight stay, including a small museum. If you're a nature lover and are in the area for longer, a trip to explore the waterfalls and wildlife of Thale Ban National Park some 40 kilometres east of Satun is worth the effort.

Satun is also a little-known gateway into Malaysia, with the Kuala Perlis boat crossing and Wang Prajan land crossing.

Wang Prajan border crossing
This border crossing to Malaysia is unknown to most travellers, and only two kilometres further north of the Thale Ban Park turn-off. Once across you can stay in Malaysia or re-enter Thailand to get a new 15-day visa. The border is open daily 06:00-17:00. There's a small market here, but little else.

Check Satun hotel rates on Agoda. Best price guarantee!

Text and/or map last updated on 21st December, 2011.

Jump to a different destination in Thailand

Get orientated with a map of Satun, Thailand

Satun reviews

Backchat from the Travelfish community

Not a soul has had a thing to say about this place -- why don't you get the ball rolling?

Have your say

You need to be logged in to add a review.

Username: Password:

Not a member? you can join here.
Review title

Snappiness encouraged ;-)

When did you visit here?

This gives your review a bit of context - especially if you were last in Chiang Mai in 1932.

Your review

(Remotely sensible, non-ranting comments are much appreciated. If you don't like somewhere, please explain why -- it's all far more helpful for others that way.) Serial ranters, loons and spammers will be banished!
And please, no self-promotional URLs -- that's what your signature field is for.

So how does it rate?

On a scale of one to ten (with 10 being outstanding and 1 being bloody awful) how would you rate here under the following criteria?

Note: Ratings are OUT OF TEN -- not five!
Please note comments are edited for clarity, typos and style before they appear. Ranting tirades, spam and anything else that really belongs somewhere else won't make the cut. If you want to rant, go to Thorntree.

Please login and refresh this screen before writing your review -- thanks!