Phuket to Penang

This is a bus ride through south Thailand. 

A interesting trip through the green jungle of Phang Nga, Krabi,Trang and Songkhla Province over still excellent roads which are already getting rotten since maintenance and repair is not very common in Thailand.

It starts at the Phuket main Bus Station at 6 am after 7 hours on the road Hat Yai is reached. It needs to change the big Phuket bus into a smaller van and 4 hours later Penang the island in Malaysia, read more.

The train only leaves in the morning from Hat Yai for Butterworth and Kuala Lumpur via Padang Besar but starts in Hat Yai which has the largest rail station in the southern half of Thailand. Be aware that by around 4 pm all transportation left.

At the main coach terminal I change the van from Phuket via the Malaysian border to Butterworth and the Georgetown Center.

Most people tell that's faster which is not true because of the heavy traffic and the ferry lands directly at the town pier. Actually there is not a big difference but it is for sure better to step out from the car and enjoy the breeze coming in from the Andaman Sea read more.

Using the Penang Ferry needs to by drive a different way not towards the bridge but before to the pier where the car boards the ship it works quite quick. Considering the you roll off the ship right in Georgetown Town Center this is an enormous shortcut read more. 



Renting a Scooter in Penang could be a good idea because the waste of time in this countries is endemic and a 4 day trip it is easily possible to have two days disappear just by hanging around and wait for this and that. Since the scooter / motor-bike prices are around $ 7,- it makes sense don't think about public transport (they have some) but all is extremly slow read more.

If you ever do the journey to Malaysia maybe Kuala Lumpur on your own consider that the insurance booth at the border opens at 8 am and closes at 6 pm sharp. ALso the border is closed completely from 11 pm to 5 am. 
There is some benefit because of that since Danok

has the hottest nightlife in south Thailand, it's not very large but they still bring all the sex stuff which is closed down in Phuket and Bangkok since years.

More information about road travel in the south they have many self designed vehicle such as the one left where they make a cage from steel wire and mount it to the scooter, read more.

A other possibility is to drive from Hat Yai to Pak Bara where the ferries for Ko Tarutao are leaving and there is also a boat connecting to Langkawi and from there another ferry to Pulau Pinang as the island is known in Malaysian language. Keep in mind that this are land borders and the Thai stamp only 2 week visa into the passport at a land border. All other visa regulations apply either with the one issued at the consulate in Georgetown or when arriving with the aircraft. If you need to wait rent a scooter and move to Batu Ferringhi.

What's on when you hit the highway in the northern half where they move around on long distances with this double decker monster. The problem is they copied this coaches from German designs but have no idea about the physics. The result are continuous crashes in mountainous regions because this big buses are not build for narrow and steep roads, read more.


Here is a trip with the motorbike / scooter this two wheeler are the most popular vehicle on the road and also very dangerous because the drivers think they can beat the physics which ends in unbelievable amount of accidents since also most don't care about any regulation. From Phuket via Hat Yai to Malaysia and further to Penang / KL could end up in an adventure trip. 

• Pictures of south Thailand
• Rent a holiday home
• How to Retire and Planning on Phuket
• Retirement Investments in Phuket Thailand
• Phuket Nightlife Shopping Fun
• Phuket History
• Tiger Bar Nightlife in Patong
• Vegetarian Festival