Kuala Lumpur and Penang

By Bus and Train to the south.

Naturally that is not as fast as a airplane could be, by air is a connection from Phuket to Penang, to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore also from Hat Yai by firefly and Tiger Air. Actually most traveler use the bus between Thailand and Malaysia, although they have a rail link from Hat Yai not many use it.


People travel to the south will hear about insurgency since some mad Islamist blow up bombs almost every day but this is limited to the very south west at Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat there is everyday trouble. 

Want to do this in slow motion? a typical route could be to take the ferry from Pak Bara on the lower Thai west coast to Langkawi Island or from a other terminal about an hour drive behind the border. 

From Langkawi a ferry to Penang is available, from there visit one of the best Malaysian National Parks, "Taman Negara" its great stuff, almost a must when you travel there, lots to see, great nature and real oriental experience. This is already far beyond Phuket to Krabi and the Hat Yai Bus Station.

Arriving at the border.

The border crossing is closed from 11 pm to 5 am (Thai time), if you get stranded enjoy the great nightlife at Danok this remote Thai village, its unbelievable what energy sexy business can unfold bringing hundreds of good paid jobs. 

This is work for Thai bar girls who come from all over the country to make money in the nightlife business which is right before the border post pictured right. 

Nightlife at the border town of Danok Sadao There are plenty of discos, nightclubs, bars and pubs, everything is dedicated to all kind of fun mainly for the guys

This is a typical small city, quite chaotic but as long as it is the private sector it works quite, in the country the problem always starts when the state is involved because there most jobs are not distributed via qualification.

On the highway to Penang

The Border on the Malaysian side

After a couple of kilometers on the road to KL, the four lane highway is merging into a toll way. Petrol is much cheaper on the Malaysian side but if you didn't already change money it might be a problem to get money since the first ATM at the Petronas Station is manipulated in a way only allowing you to take Ringit 50,-and this is for sure not enough to fill your tank.

Typical old Chinese Style
Shop Houses

Motorway to KL

Anyway enjoy your drive to the south and the fact that the Malaysians obey at least a little bit traffic rules and also not driving all the time on the overtake lane, as it is usual in Thailand, the whole is a little bit more civilized.

You could make a side-trip to Langkawi but the ferry wont take any vehicles so better forget it. 

After around 3 hours drive you come into Butterworth with the the connection to the Penang Bridge. Try to avoid coming in via the bridge in the morning between 7 am and around 9 am since that is a traffic nightmare. It is also very difficult to find the way to the ferry, means better use the road over the bridge for inbound. 

When leaving its better to use the ferry since there is no problem to find the way from that side.

Now its a flat out run to KL on the motorway. A very interesting side trip is to visit Taman Negara, that's one of the best National Parks in the country, it's more or less on the way, it just needs a drive to the east around half way.

Its a kind of a jungle adventure trip there, 

rent a boat or just hike around, the place looks real great a ideal setting for some good shots with a tele lens. There are a few more places like that notable at Sarawak up the Rajang River at Sibu. When the intention is to drive all the way down to Singapore with a car leave the car at Johor Bahru, driving in Singapore is a nightmare because of their road tax system and no parking spaces unless putting the car into one of the high rise car park buildings which are very complicated to enter and expensive. Singapore is a nightmare to stay everything is over-regulated. 

There is no need for all of that since from the border there is a public bus directly to downtown and the best to do there is take the SMRT Singapore light train system, its the fastest way to move around on the island, unfortunately the ticket machines are often not working and most of the time the train is totally overcrowded, this people cant manage that things.