Before you plan a trip. Five of Pattani's twelve districts remain under the Emergency Decree extended from 20 July to 19 October 2026, and the UK advises against all but essential travel to the province, the US advises increased caution, and Australia says reconsider your need to travel. The hub sets out the decree, the advisories and the published incident data in full. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to travel against your own government's advice — check its current advisory and your insurance first.
Krue Se, Lim Ko Niao and Luang Pu Thuat
Krue Se Mosque stands on the Pattani–Narathiwat road just outside the town: brick and mortar, rounded columns, a Middle Eastern manner, and generally dated to the reign of King Naresuan between about 1578 and 1593 — which puts a substantial mosque here when the sultanate was at its commercial height. It was never finished, and the local telling attributes that to the curse of Lim Ko Niao, the sister of Lin Daoqian, who by tradition hanged herself from a cashew tree after confronting her brother and who came to be venerated by Pattani's ethnic Chinese as a goddess embodying filial piety. Her shrine, Leng Chu Kiang, is a few kilometres away in the old town, which is why the two sites are almost always seen on the same afternoon. The Pattani Central Mosque, begun in 1954 and formally opened on 25 May 1963 by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat after nearly nine years of construction, is the province's principal mosque and one of the largest in Thailand, its form widely compared to the Taj Mahal. And out in Khok Pho district, Wat Chang Hai Rat Buranaram — over three hundred years old, its builder unrecorded — holds the stupa containing the ashes of Luang Pu Thuat, a monk revered nationally rather than locally, which is why a Buddhist temple in a Malay-Muslim province draws pilgrims from all over Thailand.
Anoru's Chinese-Peranakan shophouses
The Thailand Film Office's location register carries “Old Town Pattani” and describes its old Hokkien Chinese building stock — the shophouse street through tambon Anoru in the capital district. It belongs to the same architectural family as Phuket Town, Songkhla and Penang, in a province almost no visitor reaches, and it sits inside a town municipality that also covers Sabarang, where the general hospital and the provincial hall are, and Chabang Tiko, where the Sultan of Patani moved his residence in the nineteenth century. This is the one genuinely walkable part of the province. The Leng Chu Kiang shrine is here too, so the old town and the Krue Se story are a single outing.
Pattani Bay, Laem Tachi and the open Gulf
The province's 170 kilometres of Gulf coast — a figure two separate official tourism sources give identically — split cleanly in two. Inside Pattani Bay, sheltered behind the long Laem Tachi sand spit, the shore is fishing settlement and kolae boat country: the painted wooden craft of the Malay-Muslim coast, in a province where fisheries employed more than 80,000 people as of 2019 and where the Ministry of Agriculture bans trawlers and destructive nets within four nautical miles of shore — the only such protection in Thailand. Outside the spit, Panare district faces the open Gulf, and Hat Talo Kapo is the beach the Thai government's own film-location register carries for the province. Southeast of that, Sai Buri sits at the mouth of the province's second river. Be clear about what these are: working coastlines with fishing villages and no resort infrastructure.
Yarang Ancient City and the Sai Khao waterfall
Yarang Ancient City, up the Pattani River in Yarang district, is the archaeological ground of the port polity that preceded the Patani Sultanate — moats, mounds and religious structures, and in a real sense the origin of everything else on this page. Namtok Sai Khao National Park in Khok Pho district spreads across Pattani, Yala and Songkhla and carries a waterfall of seven tiers with a top drop given as forty metres; on the park's exact area, fees and hours our source did not render cleanly enough for us to publish numbers, so we leave those to the park itself. Khok Pho is also the district holding Wat Chang Hai and all four of the province's railway stations, including the class 1 one confusingly named Pattani — so an inland day here can reasonably be done by train and taxi rather than by car.
Pattani things-to-do FAQ
What is Pattani best known for?
Being the seat of the old Patani Sultanate, and for holding the sacred sites of three different communities within about thirty kilometres of each other. Krue Se Mosque, on the Pattani–Narathiwat road just outside town, is brick-and-mortar with rounded columns in a Middle Eastern manner, generally dated to the reign of King Naresuan between roughly 1578 and 1593, and famously unfinished — local tradition ties that to the curse of Lim Ko Niao, whose Leng Chu Kiang shrine stands a few kilometres away in the old town and who is venerated by Pattani's ethnic Chinese as a goddess of filial piety. Because of that story the two sites are almost always visited together. The third is Buddhist: Wat Chang Hai Rat Buranaram in Khok Pho district, over three hundred years old with an unrecorded founder, holds the stupa containing the ashes of Luang Pu Thuat, whose amulets are among the most sought-after in Thailand. And the Pattani Central Mosque, begun in 1954 and opened on 25 May 1963 by Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat after nearly nine years of construction, is the province's principal one, with a form widely compared to the Taj Mahal.
Is there an old town worth walking?
Yes — Anoru, and it is genuinely unusual. The Thailand Film Office's own location register carries an entry for 'Old Town Pattani' and describes its old Hokkien Chinese building stock, which is the Chinese-Peranakan shophouse street running through tambon Anoru in the capital district. This is the same architectural family you find in Phuket Town, Songkhla and Penang, in a province most visitors never reach. Anoru sits inside the town municipality alongside Sabarang, which holds the general hospital and the provincial hall, and Chabang Tiko, where the Sultan of Patani relocated his residence in the nineteenth century. It is also the one part of the province you can genuinely explore on foot.
What about the beaches?
The province has 170 kilometres of Gulf coastline — a figure two separate official tourism sources give identically, which is why we trust it — and it splits into two very different halves. Inside Pattani Bay, behind the long Laem Tachi sand spit that all but closes it off from the open sea, the shore is fishing settlement and kolae boat country, the painted wooden craft of the Malay-Muslim coast. Outside the spit, Panare district gets the open Gulf, and Hat Talo Kapo (also rendered Tala Kapor) is the beach the Thai government's own film-location register carries for this province. Further southeast, Sai Buri sits at the mouth of the Sai Buri River. Set your expectations correctly: these are working coastlines with fishing villages, not resort beaches with loungers, and there is no tourism infrastructure of the kind you find on the Andaman side.
What is there outside the capital?
Two things in particular. Yarang Ancient City, inland up the Pattani River in Yarang district, is the archaeological ground of the port polity that preceded the Patani Sultanate — moats, mounds and religious structures, and the origin point of the whole history the province is built on. And Namtok Sai Khao National Park in Khok Pho district, whose territory extends across Pattani, Yala and Songkhla, carries a seven-tier waterfall with a top drop given as forty metres. On the park's exact area, entrance fees and opening hours our source did not open cleanly enough for us to publish figures, so we describe it and leave the numbers to the park. Khok Pho is also where Wat Chang Hai is, and where all four of the province's railway stations sit.
What should a visitor know about local customs?
That this is Thailand's most distinctly Malay-Muslim province and the rhythms follow that. Roughly 88 per cent of the population is Muslim on the 2014 census and Pattani Malay (Yawi) is widely spoken alongside Thai. Friday prayers and Ramadan shape the week and the year far more than temple days do. Dress modestly, especially at mosques and in the smaller towns; ask before photographing people. The provincial motto describes Pattani as an excellent halal centre and the food reflects it. On alcohol we will not state a rule we cannot source — we found no legal restriction specific to Pattani beyond ordinary national Thai law — but fewer venues sell it and the public culture is markedly more conservative than in central or northern Thailand, which is a practical reality rather than a regulation. And read the security section on our hub before planning a trip: part of the province remains under an Emergency Decree extended to 19 October 2026, and the UK, the US and Australia all carry standing travel advice.
Sources & References
- Pattani province — Wikipedia
- Krue Se Mosque — Wikipedia
- Pattani — Tourism Authority of Thailand
- Pattani filming locations — Thailand Film Office, Department of Tourism
- Following in the footsteps of Lim Ko Niao and the Krue Se Mosque — thailand.go.th
- Thailand travel advice (updated 30 June 2026) — UK FCDO
- Tourism Authority of Thailand
- Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), Thailand
Opening hours, fees and festival dates change and several of Pattani's are set locally each year. Confirm with the site or the provincial tourism office, and check your own government's current travel advisory before travelling.
Related Pattani guides
Where to live · Getting around · Expat community · Pattani city hub
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Hero photo by Walter Coppola on Pexels. General information, not travel or security advice — check your own government's current advisory before travelling.
