Driving to SongKhla/Hat Yai/Phuket

[Kelpie]

Hi all,

 

Wanted to consult the guru here who have driven to Songkhla/Hat Yai. I would like to do solo and wonder whether I'm able to hit a Hat Yai hotel from Singapore within a day without getting myself too exhausted . If I start at 6am from Singapore, would I be able to reach there by 5pm running at a moderate speed of around 150km/h~160km/h .

 

How long does it take to drive from Songkhla/Hat Yai to Phuket?

 

Is petrol alot more expensive in Thailand than in Malaysia? I hope Ron 95 is at least common there.

 

What are the places of attraction that I should not miss in these mentioned cities ?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Regards,

[Butakim]

Hi all,

 

Wanted to consult the guru here who have driven to Songkhla/Hat Yai. I would like to do solo and wonder whether I'm able to hit a Hat Yai hotel from Singapore within a day without getting myself too exhausted . If I start at 6am from Singapore, would I be able to reach there by 5pm running at a moderate speed of around 150km/h~160km/h .

 

How long does it take to drive from Songkhla/Hat Yai to Phuket?

 

Is petrol alot more expensive in Thailand than in Malaysia? I hope Ron 95 is at least common there.

 

What are the places of attraction that I should not miss in these mentioned cities ?

 

Thank you very much.

 

Regards,

 

1. Not possible. It's better to rest at Ipoh or Penang and the move to HatYai the next day.

You need to buy additional car insurance for Thailand in the no-man land between Malaysia and Thai borders. Singapore's car insurance does not cover until Thailand. It will take some time to process. Staff there worked at a leisurely pace. The Malaysia/Thai border is also quite crowded. Remember to bring a copy of your vehicle log card. You need this to fill in the forms at the Thai customs. This will also take a few hours. Just be patient.

 

2. From Hat Yai to Phuket, it takes about a day of leisurely driving. Just smell the roses and taste the food along the way.

 

3. Petrol in Thailand is more expensive. Malaysia petrol is subsidized heavily. Thai drivers usually go across to Malaysia for petrol.

[Forte]

1. Not possible. It's better to rest at Ipoh or Penang and the move to HatYai the next day.

You need to buy additional car insurance for Thailand in the no-man land between Malaysia and Thai borders. Singapore's car insurance does not cover until Thailand. It will take some time to process. Staff there worked at a leisurely pace. The Malaysia/Thai border is also quite crowded. Remember to bring a copy of your vehicle log card. You need this to fill in the forms at the Thai customs. This will also take a few hours. Just be patient.

 

2. From Hat Yai to Phuket, it takes about a day of leisurely driving. Just smell the roses and taste the food along the way.

 

3. Petrol in Thailand is more expensive. Malaysia petrol is subsidized heavily. Thai drivers usually go across to Malaysia for petrol.

 

Not completely true.

 

1) Its possible to cross Thai border within a day. We did that before, left SGP 2200 hrs, crossed Thai border @ 0700 hrs, and had early lunch at Hat Yai. Its true that you will be exhausted without any co-driver. Think twice. Suggest you to rest in Penang for one night if you leave early from SGP.

 

2) There is one local insurance company that covers our ride within the whole peninsula of Thailand, although there are few companies that cover only 50 km (miles?) radius after Thai border. The company that covers the whole peninsula of Thailand stated clearly that if your car is not onto any island by ferry - it is covered. Eg. Phuket is covered, Ko Samui is not. Also, this insurance only covers 14 days in Thailand. Additional day need to discuss with your insurance company.

 

3) You need to purchase their insurance once cross border, this insurance is to cover their people and property, not you. In other words, you need to purchase insurance to cover yourself over here before departing(check with your insurance company).

 

The rest as mentioned by Butakim are true.

Edited November 6, 2009 by Forte

[Shawyz]

drove once to songkla/hatyai couple of years ago, with a co-driver, of cos. take turn driving. if driving alone, suggest to stay over a night somewhere in the mid point.

 

we start driving at 2am, and reach there 1pm. its ard 890km from the malaysia custom. i think the thailand side need your car's logcard for the insurance or wadever purpose. petrol in malaysia will definitely be cheaper, and i dun dare to top up in thailand though. although they do have petrol kiosk, but i also seen those petrol in 1.5l coke bottle too... lol

 

have fun... me wan to plan for another thailand trip too. pls do post any updates on the trip, and places of interest when u come back from your trip.

 

thanks

[Dicktamby]

crossing from padang besar is much faster..less crowd and traffic.

i cleared in 15mins.

[Kelpie]

Not completely true.

 

1) Its possible to cross Thai border within a day. We did that before, left SGP 2200 hrs, crossed Thai border @ 0700 hrs, and had early lunch at Hat Yai. Its true that you will be exhausted without any co-driver. Think twice. Suggest you to rest in Penang for one night if you leave early from SGP.

 

2) There is one local insurance company that covers our ride within the whole peninsula of Thailand, although there are few companies that cover only 50 km (miles?) radius after Thai border. The company that covers the whole peninsula of Thailand stated clearly that if your car is not onto any island by ferry - it is covered. Eg. Phuket is covered, Ko Samui is not. Also, this insurance only covers 14 days in Thailand. Additional day need to discuss with your insurance company.

 

3) You need to purchase their insurance once cross border, this insurance is to cover their people and property, not you. In other words, you need to purchase insurance to cover yourself over here before departing(check with your insurance company).

 

The rest as mentioned by Butakim are true.

 

Thank you for the advice. I'm of the thought that if Hat Yai is not far away from Penang, I can just do it non-stop. I did non-stop to Penang before and it is ok for me.

 

May I know which local (Singapore) company is doing the whole of Thailand insurance coverage? Doubt I will spend many days in Thailand. I'm wondering whether I should just skip Hat Yai and go straight to Phuket if it means better food, more places of interest and better hotel.

 

If I bought the above-mentioned local insurance, do I still need to buy the insurance for the local people and property?

 

Thank you.

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

drove once to songkla/hatyai couple of years ago, with a co-driver, of cos. take turn driving. if driving alone, suggest to stay over a night somewhere in the mid point.

 

we start driving at 2am, and reach there 1pm. its ard 890km from the malaysia custom. i think the thailand side need your car's logcard for the insurance or wadever purpose. petrol in malaysia will definitely be cheaper, and i dun dare to top up in thailand though. although they do have petrol kiosk, but i also seen those petrol in 1.5l coke bottle too... lol

 

have fun... me wan to plan for another thailand trip too. pls do post any updates on the trip, and places of interest when u come back from your trip.

 

thanks

 

In that case, your car's fuel economy must be superb right? Where did you drive to in Thailand without the need to refuel?

 

By the way, my GPS doesn't cover Thailand. Is the street directory clear and accurate in Thailand from a driver point of view?

 

If I ever get there, I will give you guys a FR.

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

1. Not possible. It's better to rest at Ipoh or Penang and the move to HatYai the next day.

You need to buy additional car insurance for Thailand in the no-man land between Malaysia and Thai borders. Singapore's car insurance does not cover until Thailand. It will take some time to process. Staff there worked at a leisurely pace. The Malaysia/Thai border is also quite crowded. Remember to bring a copy of your vehicle log card. You need this to fill in the forms at the Thai customs. This will also take a few hours. Just be patient.

 

2. From Hat Yai to Phuket, it takes about a day of leisurely driving. Just smell the roses and taste the food along the way.

 

3. Petrol in Thailand is more expensive. Malaysia petrol is subsidized heavily. Thai drivers usually go across to Malaysia for petrol.

 

Thanks! The insurance part, I'm aware of it. So the time wastage is at the Thai customs? I'm wondering what would be the best time to cross the Thai border. If i have to wait for hours, better to find a lodging somewhere.

 

Would the petrol cost be similar to Singapore? Just to get an idea.

 

Regards,

 

 

[Kelpie]

crossing from padang besar is much faster..less crowd and traffic.

i cleared in 15mins.

 

You mean there is more than one custom beside padang besar at Perlis?

 

Regards,

 

 

[Poortraveller]

i went to samui and make a stop in hatyai .... frm sgp to hatyai i took 13hrs non stop, 1 driver abt 130~160km/h

 

if you wan, can check on my post when i went to Hatyai few yrs back ... nothing much to do if u go with your family ... u noe wat i mean? :p anyway, food and stuff is cheap there as compare with MY, in hatyai, you can still see lots of malaysian going there shopping ... something like singaporean going jb ...

 

i leave sgp ard 1am and reach there ard 2pm ... took a nap in the hotel and went out @ night ... hatyai is more happening @ night ...

 

regarding petrol .... its cheaper in MY then thai, so better topup on the last petrol station in my, if not wrong, last petrol station is BPN or something like tat ... there is a pix i took on the pricing and type of petrol here, do note that different petrol station in thai offer different pricing ...

 

regarding insurance, think some local insurance will cover certain part of thailand ... this u hv to check with ur insurance company.

 

when crossing thailand, some bro already mention, bring ur logcard, you need to do import of vehicle ... also, u need to purchase insurance there, there are counters @ the thai custom selling insurance ... if u wan, can check here

 

 

[Forte]

Thank you for the advice. I'm of the thought that if Hat Yai is not far away from Penang, I can just do it non-stop. I did non-stop to Penang before and it is ok for me.

 

May I know which local (Singapore) company is doing the whole of Thailand insurance coverage? Doubt I will spend many days in Thailand. I'm wondering whether I should just skip Hat Yai and go straight to Phuket if it means better food, more places of interest and better hotel.

 

If I bought the above-mentioned local insurance, do I still need to buy the insurance for the local people and property?

 

Thank you.

 

Regards,

 

You have PM.

 

Local insurance you bought here is to cover yourself, not them. Buying insurance there is to cover their people and property, its affordable. Your risk.

[Dwoon]

Actually, the food in Samui is much more expensive than mainland thailand. (But there can find fireworks shop whereas phuket doesn't have any :angry: )

 

I'm with AXA insurance. It covers south Thailand (mainland only and not islands like Samui. Phuket is covered, but not as far up as Hua Hin)

 

Border crossing coming back at around 1pm or so was horrendous. The Thai & malaysia side were jammed (border to border) and it took me like 3 hours to get across. But going past Thai customs in the early hours at 6:30am on the way there was alright. Took me half year to stamp passport and do the car registeration.

 

Petrol when I was there wa about 35 bahts / litre for 1 litre of 95 gasohol. Very hard to find 95 Ron benzene and non on Samui at all. So I lugged along 20 litres of toluene for mixing. Smell was leaking out of the containers and I suppose we all were pretty intoxicated on the drive up.

 

 

i went to samui and make a stop in hatyai .... frm sgp to hatyai i took 13hrs non stop, 1 driver abt 130~160km/h

 

if you wan, can check on my post when i went to Hatyai few yrs back ... nothing much to do if u go with your family ... u noe wat i mean? :p anyway, food and stuff is cheap there as compare with MY, in hatyai, you can still see lots of malaysian going there shopping ... something like singaporean going jb ...

 

i leave sgp ard 1am and reach there ard 2pm ... took a nap in the hotel and went out @ night ... hatyai is more happening @ night ...

 

regarding petrol .... its cheaper in MY then thai, so better topup on the last petrol station in my, if not wrong, last petrol station is BPN or something like tat ... there is a pix i took on the pricing and type of petrol here, do note that different petrol station in thai offer different pricing ...

 

regarding insurance, think some local insurance will cover certain part of thailand ... this u hv to check with ur insurance company.

 

when crossing thailand, some bro already mention, bring ur logcard, you need to do import of vehicle ... also, u need to purchase insurance there, there are counters @ the thai custom selling insurance ... if u wan, can check here

 

[Butakim]

Not completely true.

 

1) Its possible to cross Thai border within a day. We did that before, left SGP 2200 hrs, crossed Thai border @ 0700 hrs, and had early lunch at Hat Yai. Its true that you will be exhausted without any co-driver. Think twice. Suggest you to rest in Penang for one night if you leave early from SGP.

 

2) There is one local insurance company that covers our ride within the whole peninsula of Thailand, although there are few companies that cover only 50 km (miles?) radius after Thai border. The company that covers the whole peninsula of Thailand stated clearly that if your car is not onto any island by ferry - it is covered. Eg. Phuket is covered, Ko Samui is not. Also, this insurance only covers 14 days in Thailand. Additional day need to discuss with your insurance company.

 

3) You need to purchase their insurance once cross border, this insurance is to cover their people and property, not you. In other words, you need to purchase insurance to cover yourself over here before departing(check with your insurance company).

 

The rest as mentioned by Butakim are true.

 

Didn't think of doing overnight driving. I'm a day person. Thanks for the correction.

[Shawyz]

haha... no lah, got refuel of cos, before entering thai border. was driving sunny at that time. only drove to hatyai. drive to hatyai is quite easy wif all the directions pointed out clearly. i too did not have a GPS at that time. jus ask around lo... some of them knows fair bit of bahasa melayu or even teochews...

 

once reach hatyai, i jus parked the car at the hotel all the way, and jus take the tuk tuk around the city area, which is quite cheap la.

 

 

[Kelpie]

i went to samui and make a stop in hatyai .... frm sgp to hatyai i took 13hrs non stop, 1 driver abt 130~160km/h

 

if you wan, can check on my post when i went to Hatyai few yrs back ... nothing much to do if u go with your family ... u noe wat i mean? :p anyway, food and stuff is cheap there as compare with MY, in hatyai, you can still see lots of malaysian going there shopping ... something like singaporean going jb ...

 

i leave sgp ard 1am and reach there ard 2pm ... took a nap in the hotel and went out @ night ... hatyai is more happening @ night ...

 

regarding petrol .... its cheaper in MY then thai, so better topup on the last petrol station in my, if not wrong, last petrol station is BPN or something like tat ... there is a pix i took on the pricing and type of petrol here, do note that different petrol station in thai offer different pricing ...

 

regarding insurance, think some local insurance will cover certain part of thailand ... this u hv to check with ur insurance company.

 

when crossing thailand, some bro already mention, bring ur logcard, you need to do import of vehicle ... also, u need to purchase insurance there, there are counters @ the thai custom selling insurance ... if u wan, can check here

 

Thank you for the pictures. A picture tells a thousand words.

 

Now the concern, so Hat Yai is really a "nothing to do" place? Should I skip it instead? How about SongKhla, a smaller place? Bascially, wanted to visit some places of interest, do some shopping and find authentic thai food to savour.

 

By the way, do they still practice the $1 thingy where you put it inside your passport?

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

Border crossing coming back at around 1pm or so was horrendous. The Thai & malaysia side were jammed (border to border) and it took me like 3 hours to get across. But going past Thai customs in the early hours at 6:30am on the way there was alright. Took me half year to stamp passport and do the car registeration.

 

Wow..half year to stamp passport ? So it seems better to pick a weekday to cross and avoiding lunch hours.

 

Petrol when I was there wa about 35 bahts / litre for 1 litre of 95 gasohol. Very hard to find 95 Ron benzene and non on Samui at all. So I lugged along 20 litres of toluene for mixing. Smell was leaking out of the containers and I suppose we all were pretty intoxicated on the drive up.

 

I suppose my car can still take 92. It looks like I need to bring along some octane booster along for this trip up.

 

Regards,

[Kelpie]

haha... no lah, got refuel of cos, before entering thai border. was driving sunny at that time. only drove to hatyai. drive to hatyai is quite easy wif all the directions pointed out clearly. i too did not have a GPS at that time. jus ask around lo... some of them knows fair bit of bahasa melayu or even teochews...

 

once reach hatyai, i jus parked the car at the hotel all the way, and jus take the tuk tuk around the city area, which is quite cheap la.

 

I think better to get a paid Thailand map for my GPS. Who knows sekali addicted liao and I stay in Thailand for weeks. I may need a Thai SIM card then, since my GTS needs SIM cards to operate.

 

How is traffic condition within Hat Yai and Songkhla, is it convenient and safe to drive around and go places on wheels within the cities?

 

Regards,

 

[Kb27]

The latest mfm map for garmin covers South Thailand.

It looks very comprehensive including all the small little soi in Hatyai.

 

I'm comparing it with Thailand Street map from Garmin (ESRI).

 

I just renewed insurance with RSA (Marsh). It covers up to Bangkok, but only 10 days in Thailand.