A Thai Small Town Through a Telephoto Lens: Three Months in Charming Songkhla

These past three months have been idyllic. I am still here, in Songkhla, but the countdown has begun - June 12 is on the border stamp in my passport. The closer to the departure, the more I appreciate each day in this charming town.

Sunny roofs of Songkhla old town

Enjoying my time here wandering the town with a 70-300mm lens all the time... Believe me or not, I wanted to sell it when I was in Bangkok in March. Too much stuff is with me, and I didn't mind raising some boost money.

The date of foundation in Thai numbers

But I wasn't sure about selling it... A few days after that, I arrived in Songkhla, mounted this telephoto lens, and started shooting only with it... A sudden change in perspective, typical for me.

Everybody loves Thai 7-Eleven

You can notice the telephoto-ness in the images: there is almost no distortion of buildings (more or less right angles), and there are many close-ups of objects that are usually far from the viewer like this 7-Eleven sign above.

Babushka Corolla

What about people, what about street photo?..

Having a vacation from them, a vacation from street photography, from interaction with strangers in the streets.

Blossom on the rooftop

Not a coincidence that I’m having it in Songkhla — it’s a small town, not much happens on the streets here. For me, it was an excuse to unplug from street photo hunt for a while. I really needed that.

White-colored kingfisher

Close-ups of buildings, cats, and birds - these are what I am focused on in Songkhla.

Tangkuan Hill (เขาตังกวน) is the capital city of Songkhla Monkey Kingdom

But the main opportunity is monkeys, of course.

A road sign "Attention! Monkeys cross the street."

I saw macaques of different species many times in different countries, but Songkhla turned out to be the best location to photograph them.

Crossing the street along the wires

This is when a telephoto lens becomes a trump card.

A challenge even for a monkey

I found amazing spots to watch these beasts and visit them from time to time.

Old-style house and sun-lit monkeys

This house is one of my favorite places. Look how lovely these monkeys are lit. And look at the majestic background. Lucky me.

Rooftop walkers

I regularly return to these houses to see if the macaques are there.

Northern arched gate of Wat Sai Ngam (วัดไทรงาม)

Wats are another attraction - homes for birds, cats, and dogs, aside from the fact that Buddhist temples are often beautiful.

Decoration of an arched gate of Wat Matchimawat (วัดมัชฌิมาวาส)

At first sight, a 70-300mm isn't a perfect choice to shoot buildings but... if you don't have a special mission to document these buildings how they are irl, a telephoto lens is actually a good choice.

Songkhla, a city of textured walls

This town is full of charming details and cozy shabbiness.

Sun-lit rooftop with a TV antenna

I already posted my impressions about its architecture in one of the previous posts and going explore it more during the last 2 weeks I have in this lovely place.

All photos were taken with a Nikkor 70-300mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 by the author in April-May 2025 in Songkhla, Thailand