Now I'm at hatyai but not via car

I'm staying at Sakura budget hotel

With friend
Walked all the way from the train station to the immigration in the dark

This.
24-48 hours before and after piap

Need opinion from people with experience

How to get to songkhla from hatyai without using tuktuk?
Grab?

I did already
Using grab

No choice since don't know where to get public transport

It really depends
I stayed at the middle of hatyai(not city centre)
27x-28x per trip to samila beach
Thn I walk from there all the way south till old town

Thn take grab back to hatyai...stop at lotus hatyai
252 baht

Hatyai is not that attractive to spend more than a night.

To me it's just a stopover (in my backpacking days) before continuing further to Krabi, Koh Lanta, Phuket or Samui.

Usually it's on the way back home, arriving early in the afternoon, find hotel, then buy next day bus ticket home, and taking the local bus to Songkhla in the late afternoon.

If just for a taste of what is like over the border, a good option would be Betong. Nearer to KL, drive using PLUS to Kuala Kangsar, then the good state road to Pengkalan Hulu, park car at a paid car park besides the border post, take bike taxi to Betong.