To Krabi and further.
The distance is almost exactly 200 km by road with a bus, car, motorbike and some even walk. The countryside is jungle, mangrove forests and incredible limestone formations plus kayaking in the mangrove forest and the emerald waters of the Andaman Sea. Use a car, bus or the ferry via Phi Phi Islands.
All road travel starts in Phuket Town which is also the administrative center of the island,
For road trips rent a car or take the bus, a alternative could be a scooter or motorbike but road travel is very dangerous, its better to have some metal protection around you.
Traveling from Phuket to Trang.
To Malaysia via Hat Yai by Bus and Train
Train travel in south Thailand
Doing a Motorbike Ride
Rent a Car
Phuket Nightlife at Patong, down town, Karon - Kata and more
Thai and Thailand Girls in the Nightlife Scene
Hat Yai to Phuket via Krabi and Bangkok
The islands, coast, beaches and the hilly inland are a ideal playground for great day trips through a lush tropical countryside with all the ingredients Thailand is famous for.
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| Phuket to Krabi travel in south Thailand |
Weather is almost endless summer, from November to May and some rain in between. But even if it rains it's hardly more than 2 days of not having the sun, that means it’s still better as in most places in the Mediterranean area, in particular when you consider the costs.
There is a wide spectrum of holiday activities waiting for you as you can see at the pictures and elsewhere. The nightlife has a high score on the interest list and that has some good reasons.
A different situation is the war in the very south at the border to Malaysia. There are Islam terrorists and criminals supported by Malaysia and financed by people of the Arab Peninsular as we know from other places on the globe.
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| Behind Ao Luk |
The country is ideally suitable for surface travel because the infrastructure is there and vehicles are remarkable good, new and comfortable. There are no aircraft on this route although Krabi has an international airport which is used by flights from Bangkok, Singapore and charter flights, very recently also coming in from Russia.
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| Road travel in Thailand |
Along the way are plenty of hotels and other accommodations for a stop the best is drive to Ao Nang there are plenty. Try the Trang Hotel in the city center (they also have a good travel agent and pretty Thailand girls in the massage shop) about Baht 800,- it's not far off the train station where there are some more hotels around.
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At the bottom of the page you will find information traveling from Phuket to Malaysia.
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| Phuket Bus Terminal |
Start is at the new Phuket bus terminal
which is at the road to the airport. When using the bus you can always tell the driver to stop, get off have a look around, come back to the main road and just wait a while, there are continuously buses big and small plus van's moving back and forward,
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| Phuket to Ranong Visa Run |
The little problem is when re-enter Thailand they only give you a visa for 2 weeks.
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| The road to Ranong |
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| Sarasin Bridge |
The journey is over the Sarasin Bridge and after through Phang Nga Province and the bay
This is the first and only bridge built from the island to the rest of the country in this case Phangnga Province. The name was given by a wealthy Thai Chinese family and the 700 m bridge was built in 1967 before it was only a ferry operation. In 2012 /13 it was replaced by a new higher and larger one.
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| Phang Nga Bay |
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| Phang Nga Bay sailing |
This opens up panoramas you never saw before. Very popular are day trips to "James Bond" island, you won’t be alone there. The road cuts through mangrove forests and wide rivers with fish farming . All this became very developed during the last 10 years it's a popular travel and "green" destination. A feast for the eyes, places to relax, beaches, jungle, rock climbing, excellent food, good and very good hotels for all sizes of wallets, spa's, friendly people etc.
At the waterfronts are plenty of hotels, big and small, luxury and cheap accommodations, cottages and apartment every possibility is available. About 70% of the drive is over a excellent 4 lane highway which makes it a day trip distance.
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There are several companies who arrange a ship just the size you want and off you cruise into the Andaman Sea or Phang Nga Pay.
Which is a success story by itself, emerging to the limelight via the James Bond
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| Krabi limestone atolls |
The hongs or limestone atolls of the bay and similar at the Krabi Archipelago and Trang Islands are legend, an absolute highlight of any vacation. The bay is accessible via the visitor center after the intersection behind the Phunga Hotel before approaching the city.
A few kilometers after passing the town the cruise is right through dense jungle. Behind Ao Luk starts a great limestone scenery, creeping up those limestone formations around at this area is a carpet of dense greenery function as a habitat for many insects, small animals (the bigger ones are already gone), birds, flowers and plants.
There are 2 possibilities for the journey
or road travel. Maybe staying there for a day or more and take the Krabi ship or a speedboat to
Ao Nang.
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| Phi Phi Don Beach |
There is no direct connection over the water between Krabi
and Phuket, it is only through Ko Phi Phi Don, usually this is available
throughout the year but there are some exceptions.
The area is still very nature oriented since it is really
difficult to penetrate the thickets around the road. In the last couple of years the people got more conscious
about their environment and don't exploit them for quick money anymore, it paid
off somehow. This is really interesting for road travel with tall jungle trees stand out from the
thick undergrowth. The main highway is changing between a good 2 lane and
a excellent 4 lane one prone to very bad accidents because of the extreme
bends, the highway is currently upgraded.
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| On the road |
This will add a lot of safety for the traveler since as usual no one cares about traffic rules and terrible accidents are the result, if you come from Bangkok it’s the same situation.
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| Limestone Caves at Ao Luk |
Beyond Ao Luk several roads branch off to the right into the mangrove
forests, pretty places with several caves around, A Thai cave tour video is
here. Phang Nga has nothing to do with Koh Phangan, the first is a Thai
province between the gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea and second is a
island off Koh Samui.
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The limestone formations are somehow bizarre and surrealistic, Salvatore Dali could have formed them, and there are some rock climbing gardens.
Most climbs are of the pre-bolted route
variety, there are literally hundreds of climbs with difficulty levels from beginner
to the expert, pretty straight climbs and other with overhangs etc. This is a
feast for the eyes and real unique, you won’t find anything like this again, not
in China and not in Vietnam which have somehow similar limestone parts, read more.
The Trang archipelago is probably the best in the south, it is easy accessible, by
bus, train and aircraft. This is one of the pristine island and beaches in this part of the Andaman Sea, there are also some marvelous caves, called "hongs" which means room. The reason is, very long time ago this was a closed cave, erosion took away the limestone top and it broke, now it's open and when the sun comes in the beach inside makes a great view, read more.
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| Ao Nang and Railay Beach Resort |
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| Travel to Trang |
bus, train and aircraft. This is one of the pristine island and beaches in this part of the Andaman Sea, there are also some marvelous caves, called "hongs" which means room. The reason is, very long time ago this was a closed cave, erosion took away the limestone top and it broke, now it's open and when the sun comes in the beach inside makes a great view, read more.
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| Nightlife fun at Patong Tiger Bar |
If you are with a car and coming from Trang to Malaysia at Hat Yai just keep on driving the motorway towards Pattani, the road signs are sometimes confusing and not thought through. If you see a road sign indicating Sadao, its not marked orderly, drive to the left and turn under the bridge to the right after its only straight on.
The problem with this Phuket to Malaysia routing is, this part runs from one town into the next.
Sadao Danok night
Actually after leaving the highway that's the worst of the whole journey. There is one traffic light after the other and all are switched in a way that you will get red at every intersection. Its the usual nightmare when people do something and don't think first about what they are doing.
If you are with a car and coming from Trang to Malaysia at Hat Yai just keep on driving the motorway towards Pattani, the road signs are sometimes confusing and not thought through. If you see a road sign indicating Sadao, its not marked orderly, drive to the left and turn under the bridge to the right after its only straight on.
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| Sadao Danok night |
When traveling from Phuket to Malaysia
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| Phuket to Malaysia border |
On the trip to the south you will finally end up at the Hat Yai Bus Terminal or maybe you change the bus to keep on traveling to Penang, Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
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| Hat Yai Bus Terminal |
