🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
The dessert scene across Songkhla–Hat Yai splits into two lanes. The first is the old-town Songkhla lane — Nang Ngam Road and the streets around it, where several stalls have been passing recipes down through generations. One bite and you understand the loyalty. The second lane is Hat Yai: a city where fresh-milk shops, bakeries, and bingsu stalls compete for space in almost every block. We've ranked them and will tell you straight which place suits which kind of sweet tooth.
11 Dessert Spots & Cafes Worth Trying
Clay-Pot Ice Cream — Nang Ngam Road (Songkhla)
The old-town classic: coconut milk ice cream churned inside a clay pot until it sets dense and fragrant, then scooped over bread or into a bowl and topped with peanuts, lotus seeds, and sticky rice. It's the first thing people think of when they think Nang Ngam Road. Open every day, no days off.
Pa Mol's Charcoal Egg Cakes (Songkhla)
Tiny bite-sized egg cakes grilled over charcoal, brushed with butter — crispy around the edges, soft and warm inside with a faint smoky scent. Pa Mol has been selling them for years at the same price, a few baht each. Perfect to snack on as you walk the old town, and they travel well in a box.
Pa Ae Fresh Milk (Hat Yai)
The original Hat Yai fresh-milk shop, open nearly 30 years — started as a cart, now fills a shopfront that stretches all the way to the intersection. The draw is steamed bread with pandan custard, soft and properly sweet, paired with real cow's milk (no milk powder). It runs as an evening tea shop and is packed almost every night.
Thong Ngam Thai Dessert Cafe (Songkhla)
A Thai sweets cafe in a heritage shophouse on Nang Ngam Road, plating thong yip, thong yod, foy thong, kanom chan, and klip lamduan with proper care. Served alongside cold herbal drinks. A good place to sit down and rest mid-walk — quieter than most street-level spots and genuinely pretty.
Cheewit Cheewa Salted-Egg Bua Loy Bingsu (Hat Yai)
The place Hat Yai locals bring up most when talking bingsu. Fine shaved ice drenched in coconut milk, loaded with chewy bua loy dumplings and salty, creamy salted egg yolk — the contrast cuts the sweetness well. Large portions that a whole table can share. Best visited as a group.
Paula Bingsu Kakigori (Hat Yai)
Japanese-style kakigori shaved ice with a fluffy, cloud-like texture, piled high with fruit and sauces — very photogenic. Popular with Hat Yai's younger crowd. Flavors rotate through Thai tea, strawberry, and melon depending on the season.
Ting Ting Ginger Bingsu (Hat Yai)
Hard to find elsewhere — the signature here is bingsu with warm ginger syrup: shaved ice poured with just-sweet, gently warm ginger water. A dessert that's kind to your stomach and not cloying at all. If you find most Thai desserts too sweet, this one will hit right.
Begin Cafe (Hat Yai)
A local cafe that grew from Hat Yai roots into multiple branches. The Thai-Akharn junction branch on Si Phuwanarat Road is the one people recommend. Serious coffee, homemade cakes, and baked goods — a solid afternoon spot for working or catching up with a friend.
E.P's Cafe (Songkhla)
A bakery cafe in Songkhla Old Town that locals recommend for its homemade cakes. Open morning to evening in a warm, decorated heritage building. A natural stop on the Nang Ngam Road loop — order coffee and a cake slice and watch the street from inside.
Cafe Amazon — Baan Nakorn Nai (Songkhla)
A branch inside a heritage house that won a local architectural preservation award. The old building sits right on Nakorn Nai Road in the old quarter — it's a photo stop and a familiar-brand coffee break wrapped in a setting you won't get from any ordinary branch.
Heart Made Roastery (Songkhla)
A roastery and cafe in a Chinese-shophouse in the old quarter. If you're genuinely into black coffee, this is where you sit down and talk beans for a while. Rotating single-origins and small bites on the side. Not the place for sugary menu items — come for the coffee itself.
Timing Tip
Traditional sweet stalls in Songkhla Old Town — the clay-pot ice cream and Pa Mol's egg cakes — tend to open mid-morning and sell out early. If you want to catch both, walk Nang Ngam Road in the early afternoon before the evening crowd arrives.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Songkhla food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
Local Songkhla Sweets Worth Trying
Beyond sit-down spots, Songkhla has traditional sweets you'll find at markets and souvenir shops. Many use real palmyra palm sugar and fresh coconut — a Southern Thai sweetness that's different from what you'll find in other regions.
- Kanom Du — An old-style sweet made with real palmyra palm sugar, fragrant with toasted rice and coconut, chewy and just sweet enough. Popular as a take-home gift.
- Kanom Bok — Steamed, soft and slightly chewy, mildly sweet from palmyra sugar with a coconut aroma. Available near Nang Ngam Road.
- Tao Kua — A Songkhla staple: rice noodles with fried tofu, fresh vegetables, and a sweet-sour sauce. Technically savory-leaning, but the flavor is sweet-forward — locals eat it as a snack.
- Luk Chup — Mung-bean paste sculpted into miniature fruit shapes and glazed with glossy agar. Available at Thai sweets shops and souvenir stores around town.
A 2-Day Dessert Trail: Songkhla–Hat Yai
If you have two days, give day one to Songkhla Old Town for traditional sweets on foot, then spend day two in Hat Yai hitting the fresh-milk and bingsu spots. The two cities are about 30 km apart — roughly 40 min by car or shared van.
Songkhla Old Town — Traditional Sweets on Foot
Hat Yai — Fresh Milk, Bakeries & Bingsu
Which Spot Is Right for You?
You Want Old-School Thai Sweets
Walk Nang Ngam Road in Songkhla Old Town — clay-pot ice cream, Pa Mol's egg cakes, and Thong Ngam Thai Dessert Cafe are all within easy walking distance.
You Want Bakeries & Coffee
Begin Cafe and E.P's Cafe both take their cakes and coffee seriously — the kind of places you can sit in for a couple of hours.
You Want Bingsu & Cold Things
Hat Yai is the bingsu city. Choose from salted-egg, kakigori, or ginger-cut bingsu — three very different directions.
Plan a full eat-and-explore trip to Songkhla–Hat Yai
See the Songkhla Travel Guide →