Thale Noi Lotus Flower Lake Natural Wonder of Phatthalung South Thailand

Talay Noi (also known as Thale Noi) in Phatthalung province in southern Thailand is one of the most beautiful places I have seen.

The full official name is Thale Noi Non-Hunting Area.

We checked into the luxurious Phatthalung Dusit Princess the night before and I felt a little sad that I had to leave my indulgent crib at 5:30am in order to catch the fabled sunrise at Thale Noi.

Thale Noi wetlands is about 35 minutes by car from Phatthalung city. It is a freshwater lake of 400km² (for comparison, size of Singapore is 734km²) and depth of little more than 1 metre (amazing isn't it?).

Our long-tail boats were waiting for us in the placid mirror-like water.

We were in time but the sky was overcast, so we didn't get the coveted golden "egg yolk" sunrise view.

Nevermind, it is time to slow down and smell the lotus.

The best time to visit Thale Noi is Feb to Mar when the lotus are in full bloom. Large swathes of the wetland will be carpeted with the demure bright pink of lotus flowers. (We were well late visiting in Sep 🥺 )

When we needed to move quickly from point to point our long-tail boat would use the outboard motor which was quite noisy.

When we stopped to look closer at the aquatic life, our boatman used the long pole to manoeuvre the boat with engine off.

The Thai name "Thale Noi" translates to "little sea" in English (thale = sea; noi = little). However, Thale Noi is actually a freshwater lake.

The 400km² Thale Noi Wetland is internationally recognised as a biodiversity hotspot since 1975 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

It is the breeding habitat for nearly 200 species and tens of thousands of native and migratory birds.

A new kind of bird has become a common sight Thale Noi.

Farmers have been herding water buffaloes in Thale Noi for over 250 years. We didn't have a chance to get near to the buffaloes this time (only saw them from a distance).

Yok Yor Yak are traditional wooden fishing platforms on stilts. The fishermen would raise and lower the heavy fish nets into the water manually with only their body weight. We didn't encounter any fisherman during our visit.

Time to turn around back to the jetty.

Where am I?

Can you also see a rainbow at 11 o'clock?

Back at the jetty.

Many people have visited Hatyai, Phuket, Songkhla, now is the time to put Phatthalung province on your bucket list too. A road less travelled but full of delights.

Right at the parking lot at the Thale Noi jetty, there was a row of little shops mostly selling dried fish caught from Thale Noi.

After dried fish shopping, we went for a hyperlocal breakfast just 5 minutes walk from the jetty.

We had Khanom jeen (rice vermicelli with spicy curry sauce) with fried chicken, fried fish roe, a bouquet of herbs and vegetables, and coffee!

Our stomachs full, caffeine charged, it was time for our next stop on our 5 Day south Thailand adventure.

Acknowledgement: Some photos and videos in this article are courtesy of my travel kaki kaki, Songchai of Uncle Rich Food Leveling, and Wilber of Aroi Mak Mak 🙏