Driving Adventure - Penang to Phuket - Rotary Club of Tanjung Bungah

If you are planning for a holiday trip, why not consider driving to Phuket it's affordable, fun, adventurous & exciting. Just forget about airlines booking, just pre-book your accomodation with any of the hotels or resorts in Phuket, have your vehicle serviced and that's all off you need and off you go & drive all the way from Penang to Phuket !!! For seating comfort of the passengers & with more leg room space, ideally 4 adults would be just nice and of course with plenty of car boot space for all the shopping spree which would definitely filled to the brim on the returned trip.

I am sharing the trip experience and the milestones which would be helpful if you intend to drive.

Journey by road- Driving from Penang to Phuket, Thailand

Penang >> Bukit Kayu Hitam(BKH) >> Sadao >>Patthalung >>Trang >> Krabi >> Phang Nga >> Phuket

As you drive along, follow the above sign board showing the direction to the above destination and these are quite easily seen ( green colour for standard highway signage )

Example: From Sadao after Immigration & Customs clearance, drive along until you could see Patthalung direction sign board, then follow Patthalung direction all the way until you could see Trang direction sign board, then again follow Trang direction all the way until the next………

Mileage : Penang to Phuket = about 650 kms
Sadao to Phuket = about 500 kms

Penang to Bukit Kayu Hitam about 130kms about 1 ½ hrs (fill petrol before arriving BKH – 2 petrol station at Napoh : Shell & Petronas as petrol is much higher in Thailand & also change currency into Thai Bhat can be done here. Petrol in Thailand is about MYR3.90 per liter)

Bukit Kayu Hitam, Malaysia Immigration clearance – exit Malaysia ( drive through counter about 10 to 20 minutes)
Sadao, Thailand Immigration & Customs clearance – entry into Thailand (about 20 minutes to 1 hr & depending on the passenger & traffic situation)

MILESTONE

Sadao to Patthalung about 52kms about 45minutes (can have breakfast here-Koay Teow soup)
Patthalung to Trang about 200kms about 2hrs (stopover Trang for Lunch, alot of Hokkien people here and famous for roast pork)
Trang to Krabi about 114kms about 1 ½ hrs
Krabi to Phang Nga about 95kms about 1hr(coffee break at Phang Nga-Amazon Cafe..nice coffee and not to be missed)
Phang Nga to Phuket ( crossing through Sarasin Bridge, you would not realise you have cross this bridge until someone told you) about 50kms about 1 hr
Sarasin Bridge to Phuket Town/Patong area etc about 30kms about 20 minutes

Road condition :
Penang to Bukit Kayi Hitam : Malaysia Highway – superb & excellent
Sadao to Trang : 2 lane highway - excellent
Trang to Phuket : 1 to 2 lane highway – easy, careful & overtaking required

Overall comment : Relaxing, quite easy & enjoying motoring all the way with some overtaking skills required at provincial areas. If it rains then have to be extra careful driving at provincial areas & nearby district areas

Ideally, the journey from Penang should be as early as possible (depart at 0700hrs) so that you could be in Phuket before 1700hrs ( Thailand local time as the total journey is about 650kms and driving time is about 8 to 9hrs) to search for the hotel, shower, rest & have a nice dinner.

Note : Thailand time is + 7hrs GMT thus is 1 hr behind Malaysia Time. All time shown in Malaysia Time and need to adjust accordingly upon arriving Sadao , Thailand

Stop over in Phang Nga for a drink at "Amazon Cafe", their coffee is one of the best we have ever drank...yummie

Vehicle Requirements :

Vehicle to be in tip top condition ( to have vehicle serviced before the journey)
Purchase additional vehicle insurance coverage ( from your current car insurer’s) for 1st party coverage for vehicle to be in the Kingdom of Thailand as our present insurance coverage is up to Malaysia & Singapore only. It’s an additional of about MYR190.00 for a 9 days coverage period and please confirm on the number of days required & at different charges.
Original vehicle registration document ( from JPJ ) please remember to get it from your Bank one day earlier (if your vehicle is still under loan servicing)
Purchase Thailand insurance coverage and this can be obtained at any insurance agent counter in Bukit Kayu Hitam ( BKH) . It’s about MYR16.00 for a 7 days coverage and will be given a certificate to be displayed in the front windscreen

Vehicle & Passenger clearance at Bukit Kayu Hitam (BKH), Malaysia

After Immigration clearance at BKH for passengers ( passengers need not get off from the vehicle as passport clearance can be done through the driver by handling all passport to Immigration officer stationed at drive through counter) , drive vehicle to Malaysian exit check point and show to the officer stationed there the original vehicle registration certificate (from JPJ). It’s simple from Malaysia side and just drive into Sadao after that.
Vehicle & Passenger clearance at Sadao, Thailand

After Immigration clearance ( must prepare & pay MYR1.00 or BHT10.00 for overtime service for each passenger) at Sadao for passengers ( all vehicle passengers need to get off from the vehicle and present passport & embarkation card personally to Immigration office as instant photograph will be taken – the vehicle will be parked at an assigned location), go to Customs check station for declaration of import of vehicle into Thailand by submitting a copy of vehicle registration certificate ( from JPJ) and passport of vehicle owner.

Thailand Customs will data entry such details into their systems and will be given a declaration permit to hand over for manual registration & process and getting owner’s signature on the Customs form.

Then take the vehicle out and this can then be then be brought into Thailand and upon arriving the control station, a copy of the import declaration will be given to driver by Customs officer there and THIS MUST BE KEPT PROPERLY as upon exit from Thailand back to Malaysia, this import declaration need to be registered before the vehicle is allowed to go out from the Kingdom of Thailand. Without this import declaration shown, the vehicle will be forfeited and not allowed to leave Thailand. This is quite fast & without much hassle and depending on the traffic situation. You and your vehicle is now into Thailand and can drive anywhere that you would like to visit.
We put up in this small boutique hotel "Baipho Lifestyle Hotel" and it's very near to Patong Beach & Bangla Road ( the happening place in Patong) and it's just 5 minutes walk to Phuket latest international shopping complex "Jungceylon"

Everything is definitely good in Phuket, the food, plentiful of shopping ( Jungceylon, Robinson, Tesco Lotus, Carrefour, Big C Supercenter, Central Departmental Store etc etc) , sightseeing and of course don't forget the many international SPA resort which is as big as our hotel size and you will definitely pamper yourself with the many menus for your SPA pleasure. Enjoys

RETURNED JOURNEY - Home Sweet Home after 5 days & 4 nights in Phuket

Journey by road - Driving from Phuket, Thailand to Penang

Phuket >> Phang Nga >> Krabi >>Trang >>Patthalung >> Pattani >> Sadao >> Bukit Kayu Hitam >>Penang

Depart Phuket cross over Sarasin Bridge and follow Phang Nga route until Krabi signage and follow all the way to Trang signage.

From Trang, drive until Phatthalung signage and later will come to Pattani signage ( avoid Hat Yai & Songkla signage direction) drive on which will later shows Sadao & Border signage. Clear Immigration at Sadao and drive car to Customs for car clearance & surrender the import documents here .At BKH clear Malaysia immigration & Customs then Home Sweet Home.