Songkhla woos tourists with popular Hat Yai fried chicken
The Songkhla provincial administration and the business sector are highlighting Hat Yai fried chicken at a street food festival, hoping to promote gastronomy tourism in the southern border province.
The Street Food Festival @ Hatyai was launched at the Supasarn Rangsan Park in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district on Wednesday. Songkhla Governor Jessada Jitwat and Natee Ratchakitprakan, the chief adviser to a deputy prime minister, presided over the opening ceremony. The festival will continue until July 3.
Songkhla Chamber of Commerce chairman Thanawat Poonsilp said Hat Yai fried chicken was highlighted at the fair, which would help make the dish better known to draw more visitors to Songkhla and Hat Yai to try it.
Thanawat said the chamber had enlisted 20 Hat Yai fried chicken shops in Songkhla to organise the Hat Yai fried checked fair at the Street Food Festival to promote the dish.
He said the dish could be further developed into a tourist attraction for Hat Yai.
Thanawat added that Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has sent an invitation to Michelin Guide to try Hat Yai fried chicken. The minister hopes the dish would help drive the tourism industry in Songkhla.