Phuket to Kuala Lumpur

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Phuket to Kuala Lumpur
Phuket to Penang

Bus Phuket Kuala Lumpur, Phuket to Penang, Phuket Kuala Lumpur, Phuket to KL.

Phuket to Kuala Lumpur travel

 

is a scenic drive, passing Phang Nga Bay,  Krabi, Trang, Hat Yai, Langkawi, Penang and Ipoh. Road travel Phuket Kuala Lumpur is through Krabi and Trang via Hat Yai and the border crossing is at Sadao or Padang Besar. Phuket Kuala Lumpur is about 13 hours on usually excellent roads via Phang Nga, Krabi, Trang to the border it takes about 8 hours. After the border it takes about 5 hours travel Kuala Lumpur on a good motorway, actually the KL motorway starts after a couple of kilometers before the exit to Langkawi. On the road are Butterworth with a turn to Penang via Penang Bridge or Penang Ferry. After the drive passes Ipoh and leads to Kuala Lumpur which is arrived from the north. The excessive time is mostly on the Thai side because they stop every couple of km to take passengers, on the Thai side it functions like a local bus they don't know how to handle long haul buses its just the greed for every Baht.

The Thailand bus Kuala Lumpur follows the same road but there is a change from a Thailand bus to a Malaysian bus at Hat Yai. There is one direct bus connection Bangkok to Padang Besar at the border, but there also the bus must be changed. The alternative is a flight Phuket Kuala Lumpur via Phuket Airport. A train Kuala Lumpur is also available from Bangkok to Hat Yai and further to Malaysia via Butterworth there is no train via Phuket and also no train to Penang. The train and the highway from Bangkok runs along the eastern side of southern Thailand, by train Kuala Lumpur is a plenty of hours away.

 

The fastest way to do the trip is take a Air Asia, Firefly or Malaysian Airlines flight out of Phuket airport, they have flights twice a day and its just about 1 hour flight time. But be careful when you want to buy a ticket they always will tell you about double the price as announced, that's the way they do it, don't ask them why, they will always lie.

Its a little bit more than Euro 100,- for a one way ticket. The alternative would be to take a bus from Phuket to Hat Yai, change the bus at Hat Yai, no problem and only minimal wait and go to Kuala Lumpur. From Phuket to Hat Yai its about Baht 400,- there are different busses, fast and slow. From Hat Yai to Kuala Lumpur its about Baht 800,- . A Thailand bus and a Malaysian bus used on this long haul travel are excellent vehicles with service inside the bus, toilet and frequent stop. They also help you to get through custom and immigration at Sadao check point at the Thai - Malaysian Border.

 

There is also a train for Bangkok Kuala Lumpur if you are out for adventure, check at Bangkok Railway Station or at Hat Yai train station. A typical travel route could be to go from Phuket to Hat Yai, after have a bus to Langkawi, stay some days, go to Penang either by ferry or bus ,stay there a few days and continuo to Kuala Lumpur. On the way to Kuala Lumpur is one of the best Malaysian National Park, Taman Negara, its great stuff, almost a must when you travel in Malaysia. There is another flight from Phuket airport, its from Firefly, a commuter airline owned by Malaysian Airlines, for firefly have a look here.

What also could be done is to go to Satun, that is on the southern west coast of Thailand and proceed to Bak Para all by bus. Bak Para is the gateway to the Tarutao Archipelago with Ko Lipe. When you are at the small port at Bak Para just ask around you will easily find a ferry to Langkawi, there are also some ferry from Ko Tarutao and Ko Lipe to Langkawi

Hat Yai Kuala Lumpur near Sadao
Hat Yai Kuala Lumpur near Sadao
Train Bangkok Kuala Lumpur at Hat Yai
Train Bangkok Kuala Lumpur at Hat Yai

Flights from Phuket  to Kuala Lumpur
Rent a Car in Phuket
Rent a Car in Phuket

but no regular, they go or they don't. There is no possibility to rent a car in Phuket and give the car back in Kuala Lumpur. What could be done on car travel is to rent a car. You could rent a car in Phuket using Pure Car Rent in Phuket Town drive with the car all the way down to the Malaysian border, cross into Malaysia and very important, make a full Malaysian car insurance, covering everything and proceed to Kuala Lumpur. The car insurance will cost about baht 1500,- for a few days. In Malaysia the Thai car insurance is not valid and if they catch you without insurance it costs Malaysian Ringit 300,- fine, you run into deep trouble when having an accident and no insurance. The insurance offices at the Thai - Malaysian border are only open from about 8 am to about 6 pm. Use a insurance office before the

border on the Thai side, there are small booth on the right side of the road. Don't do it on the Malaysian side, the people in the offices there are very lazy and unwilling to work at all. The people in both countries can get their driver license without any serious driving education, means a real helter skelter on the roads. If a accident happens on your drive in both countries they will always blame the foreigner to be responsible for the accident. It wont matter even if it absolute and 100% clear that you might

not be responsible. They will bend and twist and come up with some strange excuses to make you responsible. If you do this relatively easy and exciting trip also consider that the border crossing between Thailand and Malaysia at Sadao is closed from 11pm to 5 am and at Padang Besar at few kilometers northwest the border is closed from 9pm to 5am. At Sadao, that’s on the Thai side

Padang Besar
Padang Besar
Sadao
Sadao

of the border are some hotels, discos, bars and quite a very active and vibrant nightlife to serve the people who got stranded on their way from Phuket to Penang. The road from Phuket to Penang is a excellent 4 lane road except for the segment Phang Nga to Patthalung, that's behind Trang. But even the 2 lane road is in very good conditions. Just watch out for the small motorbikes, they are totally chaotic and careless just a flies, this is in both countries.

 

On your Phuket to Penang trip you could first drive from Phuket to Phang Nga, on the motorway just before Phang Nga and right behind the Phunga Hotel is a right turn to Phang Nga Bay. At the end of the road is a jetty with plenty of long tail boats hanging around there. Just take one for about baht 800,- for maybe 3 or 4 hours and have a look around in the Phang Nga Bay  

Road Phuket to Penang
Road Phuket to Penang
James Bond Island
James Bond Island
Cave kayaking tour at Ao Luk
Cave kayaking tour at Ao Luk

area. You will see "James Bond Island", Ko Panyi with the Muslim fisherman village built on stilts and other great limestone formations in this part of the Andaman Sea.

The next stop on your travel from Phuket to Hat Yai is between Phang Nga and Krabi could be at Ao Luk.
The road passes through Ao Luk, have a look for the great

Ko Panyi
Ko Panyi

From Phuket to Malaysia Video

limestone caves, mangrove forest and maybe do a kayaking tour at Ao Luk. On your travel from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur just before Krabi the turn to Trang will come, keep on going straight and after a while the right turn to Ao Nang or Ao Phra Nang bay 

will come. At the end of the road is starts one of the most exiting beaches in the world, this is Railay Beach at Ao Nang. Take a long tail boat at the end of the road an have a small Krabi beach tour along Railay Beach, passing some limestone islands, around the cap to Railay beach east and have a look for some of the most spectacular rock climbing area on the world. The long tail boat is about Baht 300,-. If you want to stay on Railay beach Krabi on your travel from Phuket to Hat Yai, no problem, there are several small beach resorts on Railay beach.

 

A few minutes further south is Krabi fossil shell beach cemetery with a marvelous panorama over the beach and the islands one of the islands is Chicken Island, because the limestone formation there really looks like a gigantic chicken. A top Krabi sightseeing spot attracting several hundred visitors per day. The Krabi fossil shell slabs are about 80 million years old and have been layered with shell fossils over time. Today a flat platform of slabs from compacted fossils is along the shore. You can se the slabs in the middle of the picture on the very left. About 40 million years ago today's Ban Laem Pho Cape in Krabi was an large freshwater swamp with large amounts of snails. More about Krabi fossil shell beach is here.

-The next sector on our Thailand travel trip from Phuket to Hat Yai is Trang province and Trang Archipelago.

Trang has miles of fine sandy beaches along the coast and on the islands of the archipelago. There are plenty of Trang beach resort on the islands.
Waterfall between Pak Meng Beach and Trang City
Waterfall between Pak Meng Beach and Trang City

The best beach resort in Trang Thailand is at the southern part of Pak Meng Beach, its the Amari Trang Hotel, be aware that its very isolated, there is no village.

This Trang beach resort is very popular by Guys from Bangkok who go for a weekend with their girlfriends without being seen. On the Trang islands are all kind of other hotels and resorts. There are also quite cheap hotels and resorts on the islands in the Trang archipelago. More on Trang is here. Probably the most famous attraction at Trang Thailand is the Morakot  cave or emerald cave use link above for on

Morakot or Emerald Cave Trang
Morakot or Emerald Cave Trang

on this. On our trip from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur we have the choice should to have a look into Songkhla or just keep on driving to Hat Yai and Sadao on the Thai Malaysian border. There is moderate nightlife at Songkhla and some museums showing what  happen in the past. Now all the way down to Songkhla and Hat Yai there is not much to see, its just a flat piece of land with

Long tail boat at Railay Beach
Long tail boat at Railay Beach
Krabi fossil shell beach cemetery
Krabi fossil shell beach cemetery
Trang Islands
Trang Islands
Travel Trang to Patthalung
Travel Trang to Patthalung.
From Trang to Patthalung is a ride through a mountain range with breathtaking views and lush tropical jungle. Behind the mountain range is Patthalung and at the first intersection we meet the basic Thailand north south highway.

The big mosque between Hat Yai and Songkhla
The big mosque between Hat Yai and Songkhla
Hat Yai
Hat Yai
Hat Yai Train Station
Hat Yai Train Station

limestone formations popping out from the paddy fields plus endless rubber plantings. A train Kuala Lumpur starts at least once a day from the Hat Yai train station. Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur train connects via Padang Besar and all the way down to the south reaching finally Singapore. It's possible to use trains all the way through from Bangkok to Singapore but interchange is not coordinated and it's not possible to make reservations out of Bangkok beyond the border.

 

Songkhla is for sure a city to do a stop and a look around. they have some good and not expensive hotel such as the Pavilion Hotel Songkhla,

Fishing Village at Songkhla
Fishing Village at Songkhla
View over Songkhla
View over Songkhla


that's around Baht 1000,- per night. Songkhla has a interesting old city and is the main fishing harbor.

Hat Yai stands for shopping, fun and nightclub city mainly frequented by Malaysian guys. Its sex business and entertainment. At Hat Yai are the long haul buses for Kuala Lumpur and Penang, the bus terminal for Kuala Lumpur and Penang is a little bit off down town, take a motor bike taxi or normal taxi to go there. Every long haul Thailand bus is quite comfortable and has some service and a functioning toilet on board. Most seats are even better as business class seats in the airplane. From here you also can travel to Langkawi by road and    

Hat Yai Shopping
Hat Yai Shopping
Hat Yai Nightclub
Hat Yai Nightclub
Thailand Bus at Phuket
Thailand Bus at Phuket
Thailand Bus Stop
Thailand Bus Stop

bus. If you are with a car on your travel from Thailand to Malaysia, coming from Trang, just keep on driving the motorway towards Pattani, the road signs are very 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 routing is, this part of the road from Phuket to Malaysia runs from one town into the next. Actually this part after leaving the highway is the worst part of the whole travel from Phuket to Malaysia. 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 what they are doing.

- Arriving at Sadao border,

the Sadao border crossing is closed from 11pm to 5 am, if you get stranded enjoy the great nightlife at this remote Thai village, its unbelievable what energy sexy business can unfold bringing hundreds of good paid job to the Thai people, especially to Thai bar girls who come from all over southern Thailand to make money in the Thailand nightlife business.

There are plenty of Sadao discos, nightclubs, bars and pubs, everything is dedicated to all kind of nightlife fun mainly for the guys. Passing the border is no problem, at the Thai side as usual its confusing, no straight line through with long cues, just as Bangkok Airport. At the Malaysian side its very well planned and organized, you go through in 2 minutes. The Malaysians charge money for going through, be aware that they sometimes ask the foreigner a much higher price as they are allowed, especially when you pay in Baht, the Thai don't charge anything. If you are with a car on your travel from Phuket to Penang keep in mind what was written further above concerning insurance. The next stop could be the island of Langkawi, actually a nice place. For a couple of kilometers on the road to Kuala Lumpur, behind the border 

Sadao
Sadao
Sadao Bar
Sadao Bar
Sadao Nightlife
Sadao Nightlife
Sadao Tuk Tuk
Sadao Tuk Tuk
Sadao Road
Sadao Road
Sadao Disco
Sadao Disco
Sadao Nightclub
Sadao Nightclub

there is a four lane road merging into a toll highway after a while. 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. Anyway enjoy your drive towards Kuala Lumpur 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. But in any case buy the insurance for the car if you are with the car, there are frequent controls in the border area to check if the foreigner has a local insurance. A couple of km behind the border is a road sign to Langkawi. Langkawi is almost a must to have a look for on your road travel to Kuala Lumpur. At the end of the road, when you take this turn you can find a ferry to Langkawi also used for the car. If you want to do a side trip to Langkawi on your travel from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur you need to drive to the pier a couple of kilometers behind the border, leave the car at the car park and take the ferry. The Langkawi ferry is only for passengers, the only way to do a trip to Langkawi with the car is to drive to Penang first and take the Penang ferry to Langkawi there.

Its a puzzle why they wont offer a car ferry service from the border area since there probably would be be enough car traffic, this is better organized in Thailand where even small islands such a Ko Lanta have full passenger and car ferry service, they just use smaller ships. Anyway its a great Malaysian vacation destination only the

Langkawi
Langkawi
Langkawi Beach
Langkawi Beach

weather is not always the best, if you go drive there check the weather first.


Its about 3 hours drive from the Thai - 
The other Penang Bridge
The other Penang Bridge

Malaysian border to Butterworth, the gateway to Penang.

Try to avoid coming into Penang in the morning between 7 am and around 9 am since the

ride over the Penang Bridge is a traffic nightmare at that time. It is also very difficult to find the way
Penang Bridge
Penang Bridge
Penang Ferry
Penang Ferry


to the Penang ferry, means better use the road over the Penang bridge for inbound. When leaving Penang its better to use the ferry since there is no problem to find the way to Kuala Lumpur from that side.
Here is the Penang Bridge Video   Here is Penang at night   More on Penang is here.

 

 

 

 

                               
Phuket to Kuala Lumpur


Phuket to Kuala Lumpur, Phuket travel, Krabi Phuket, Phuket Asia, Phuket to Penang,
Phuket, Thailand, Kuala airport.