Crossing the Boarder: Malaysia to Thailand

I thought I’d just briefly cover how easy it is to cross from Malaysia in to Thailand via public transport. Before Kerry and I decided to catch the train from Butterworth up to Pedang Besar we read a few blogs and travel guides but nothing really provided us with enough reliable, precise info on the matter so, here you go, my take on leaving Malaysia and entering Thailand on foot!

 

The border itself is located a short walk from the Padang Besar train station and you can reach this stop from virtually every station in Malaysia. It starts right down in Singapore and heads north stopping in KL, Ipoh and Butterworth amongst others. We caught the train from Butterworth as we were staying over on Penang for the weekend. It’s very cheap,we paid less than £5 for our tickets, runs pretty frequently, view the timetable here and is actually a really pleasant way to travel.

Once we arrived at Padang Besar, we left the train and headed right towards the long walkway, we encountered numerous cab drivers offering to take us to the border, but declined as we were pretty set on doing this ourselves. It was about a three minute walk to the Malaysian border, once there we handed over our passports, had then stamped and left the country! Easy! From there it was a further 10 minute walk to Thailand! Once we reached border control we were given an entry card to fill out, it was very straight forward: name, passport number, DOB, address in Thailand ect, handed it back to the officer, he stapled a departure card in to our passports and as simple as that we were given our 30 day visa exemption and were happily welcomed in to Thailand.

The departure card and stamps in my passport

By this point it was about 35 degrees, Kerry and I were dying and we just really wanted a rest. On the Thai side of Padang Besar we found a petrol station selling cold drinks, so we collapsed for a while, enjoying the icy cold goodness of Sprite then continued on to the train station. From the border, Padang Besar Station is about a 20 minute walk, its down hill which is nice. I’ve just tried Google Maps but for some reason the Padang Besar Thailand doesn’t show up! So, we came out of the border crossing, turned left, crossed over the pedestrian walkway bridge then continued walking down past the preschool. On the left there were lots of shops and a police station. If you see these you know you are on the right track! Eventually you will see a railway crossing, once you reached that, turn left and the station is just there! We got the train to Hat Yai, it was a nice journey, the train was a third class, ancient looking thing, but the experience was wonderful. And travelling through the Thai country side was so soothing and tranquil. It took less than an hour to reach our destination and from there our Thai adventure really began. I hope this helps anyone who is planning on doing the same trip. If you have any questions, don’t be shy 🙂

These pics are both from Padang Besar from the walkway bridge

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