Hat Yai Travel Forum

Hi! I'm a noob here.

Planning to spend my Xmas in Hat Yai, and have booked 4 nights @ Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel (any comments?).

Have been pondering on the mode of travel. Since there’s no direct flight to Hat Yai from Kuala Lumpur, I guess I will have to make it there by land. These are my options: -

• Train
• Bus
• Self-drive

I’ve been told the train trip will take longer and it’s tiring. Traveling by bus is faster. Alternatively I could also drive all the way to Hat Yai, or drive to Penang and take the shuttle from Butterworth to Hat Yai.

Since I’ll be traveling with my family (wife & son), which mode of land travel would be best, and most comfortable?

Thanks in advance.

I strongly advise that you read the masses of information available about the insurgency in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwas and parts of Songhla, that has been going on for many years. Hat Yai is not immune, and has had several bombings, the most recent being a large hotel, and the market.

I have actually been reading up quite a fair bit on Hat Yai, esp. blogs and forums where people who actually live in Hat Yai give their 2 cents. I have also been in touch with close relatives in Penang who make monthly trips to Hat Yai.

Risk wise, its as safe (or as risky, depending on whether your glass is half empty or half full) as say, Bali?

Anyway, I appreciate your advice and concern.

Let me attempt to answer your queries part by part.
1) Transport from KL to Hatyai- You can't find a more suitable "travel from" center than KL. There're multiple VERY VERY comfortable buses from KL central bus station. Just go to Pudu Raya (everybody knows where it is) and seek out counters with Hatyai. Ask for VIP buses. VIP buses have 3 seats in a row seats. Loosely translated to Business class buses. They usually take off at night like 10-11pm, with one stop at 1.5 hours in a town north of KL (stop for drinks/refreshments/food/toilets) then they proceed without stop to the Thai border. Reach roughly around 6am Malaysian time, anoher stop at M'sian side of the Thai border where they collect your passports and fill in immigration forms, then proceed to take the 40 min or so drive right into downtown Hat Yai. Re: self drive-Try not to, our road signs are not too good, unless you're familliar, you may end up as frustrated as some Amazing Race participants when they get a sh#tty cab driver. Train should be fine as they have medium to high grade sleepers, but take a much longer time. Therefore I think a VIP bus is most comfy.

2) Lee Gardens Plaza-is certainly one of the better but still relatively affordable hotel. It's Centrally located, (almost PUN intended-since it's right opposite the Central Sukontha-best hotel cum dept. store) and Central is really the heart of Hat Yai. From there, everywhere is almost walkable. Having said that, I stayed in Lee Gardens when they firstly open, so things were spick and span. I can forsee one complain you may have,they don't really discern smoking and non smoking rooms, so there're always an air of stale cigarette smoke smell through out most hotels in Thailand (lest the international chains like Sheraton, Shang and branded hotels)

3) Terrorist information-If you read the CIA fact website, even Malaysia is classified as a relatively high risk area. True that in the past few years, there had been 2 incidents where bombs had been detonated. 1 incident involved 3 different locations, happening sequentially one after another, all within 20 mins, in Hat Yai. The other incident happened like 1 plus year back, with one bomb detonated. There are certainly NO WAY any one can stop these from happening as Hat Yai is a very widespread city, with thousands of people everywhere, all the time. But you'd more likely be robbed, have handbags snathed, conned by paying too much, or something like that, than to be involved in a terrorist attack.

So, enjoy yourself in Hat Yat. Caveat though, I haven't been there since early 2000's, so my advise can be way off. But really, Hat Yai is that simple.

Oh yeah, bargain like HELL, no way you should pay the price they ask... they'd mark up REAL HIGH (except food items), use common sense, most stuff are fake, no matter how nice they feel, there's a limit to the price you're willing to pay for a fake.

hi haroldean...

there are 2 other ways that you can explore...

one is to fly to alor setar by airasia and then take and land transport (taxi)to hatyai... these are readily available at the alor setar airport...

another option is to drive to changloon and leave your car there and then take a taxi to hatyai... there are shops in changloon where you can park your car safely at a small charge... with their connections, they will also arrange taxi transport for you to downtown hatyai...

~chia

hi u can see my hat yai page,,,,

lee garden plaza, nice location and within heart of hatyai,,,

for family,,i suggest u just drive to changloon and park ur cark there,,many agent in changloon and bukit kayu hitam can organise ur trasport to hatyai,,,

train also ok but the journey maybe take 14 hour but direct to hatyai,,,

for ur info,,current situation in hatyai very ok,,,i go there twice a month,,so situation there very ok,,,bye

Hi Noob, My opinion is train is slow and not much view until you reach the very northern part of Malaysia. Bus is fine but cannot beat the space of the train and no toilets or they are locked. The places that they stop for super always a disapointment lousy food and no variety.
If you choose to drive, might as well do it all the way. Clearing the customs at Malaysia/Thai shouldn't be a problem. Remember to bring your vehicle documents, the custom accept photo copy. Though Singapore insurance that I used cover part of Thailand (check your radius) you must buy Thai insurance. There is a small booth just after the custom that sell the insurance. I think it was 500bth for 2 weeks some 8 years ago. After that hit for Sadao - Hat Yai, driving is easy traffic moderate just follow signs in english.
Lee Gardem up market hotel never stay there before looks good from the outside. Taken their buffet once up at revolving restaurant at the top the food is below expectation. Enjoy your trip.