justaphase Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Anyone ever done Bangkok to K.L. by train.? I hate flying and arriving after lunch in Penang is pointless as it says the train arrives in K.L. early on the am next day. Ideal for the visa thing. The train times don't seen to "connect" at Hat Yai though. Do i really have to wait there 8 hours? Any advice much appreciated... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 The train times don't seen to "connect" at Hat Yai though. Do i really have to wait there 8 hours? No effort is made by the State Railway of Thailand to provide a timely connection with the Malaysian-run Langkawi Ekspres in Hat Yai, going in either direction. I don't believe you'll be able to make a booking for the Malaysian train at most Thai railway ststions, but you can make an e-ticket booking for this train direct with the KTMB on their website. It's a long journey by train from Bangkok: if you departed on a Monday afternoon from BKK on the southbound International Express, you would not arrive Kuala Lumpur until Wednesday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sriracha john Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 So that's a 42 hour train ride to Kuala Lumpur versus a 90 minute flight to Penang? uhmm... gee... that's a tough call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaphase Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 I cant fly. Period. Penang wont give me an easy Imm o. KL by train seems my only option. Believe me i dont wanna do it. I get bored on the skytrain..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I cant fly. Period. OK, I'll bite. How did you originally make it from Stratford-upon-avon to Thailand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryLH Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Years ago I took the train from BKK to Butterworth (Penang) and connected there to KL. Got off the train at the border, went through immigration, got back on and continued the trip. If you do the trip by train, make sure you get a cabin. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaphase Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 I cant fly. Period. OK, I'll bite. How did you originally make it from Stratford-upon-avon to Thailand? Lots of valium and booze. That's why i haven't been home to visit. In 6 years! I suffer from repetitive thought syndrome (honestly, it's not funny). I just can't face it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 Years ago I took the train from BKK to Butterworth (Penang) and connected there to KL. You can do the rail journey that way too, International Express from Bangkok to Butterworth, Langkawi Ekspres from Butterworth to KL, but you are connecting to the same Malaysian train with the same eight hour connection time, albeit in Butterworth rather than in Hat Yai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I cant fly. Period. OK, I'll bite. How did you originally make it from Stratford-upon-avon to Thailand? Lots of valium and booze. That's why i haven't been home to visit. In 6 years! I suffer from repetitive thought syndrome (honestly, it's not funny). I just can't face it. For what it's worth, the Malaysian trains are slow, even slower than the Thai trains. You could shave off a fair amount of time from the journey if you were to take a bus between say, Hat Yai and Kuala Lumpur. I'm just guessing that would be about an eight hour run by bus. If the timing was right and you could catch a departing bus in the morning after you arrived Hat Yai on the International Express, you would be arriving Kuala Lumpur at about the same time in the afternoon that you would have been departing Hat Yai on the Langkawi Ekspres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaphase Posted April 23, 2007 Author Share Posted April 23, 2007 Nice one ovenman, good idea... Bus from Hat Yai to KL. I just "googled" it and apparantly there's even a few private companies that can whisk me there. I dont mind spending few hours in Hat Yai, just not 8! I can sleep now..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sriracha john Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 (edited) Years ago I took the train from BKK to Butterworth (Penang) and connected there to KL. You can do the rail journey that way too, International Express from Bangkok to Butterworth, Langkawi Ekspres from Butterworth to KL, but you are connecting to the same Malaysian train with the same eight hour connection time, albeit in Butterworth rather than in Hat Yai. Sorry, but that's like saying the Akron Greyhound station is preferable to the Toledo Greyhound station..... girlx would call either of them "seedy" Edited April 23, 2007 by sriracha john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nignoy Posted April 23, 2007 Share Posted April 23, 2007 I cant fly. Period. OK, I'll bite. How did you originally make it from Stratford-upon-avon to Thailand? Lots of valium and booze. That's why i haven't been home to visit. In 6 years! I suffer from repetitive thought syndrome (honestly, it's not funny). I just can't face it. For what it's worth, the Malaysian trains are slow, even slower than the Thai trains. You could shave off a fair amount of time from the journey if you were to take a bus between say, Hat Yai and Kuala Lumpur. I'm just guessing that would be about an eight hour run by bus. If the timing was right and you could catch a departing bus in the morning after you arrived Hat Yai on the International Express, you would be arriving Kuala Lumpur at about the same time in the afternoon that you would have been departing Hat Yai on the Langkawi Ekspres. We travelled from Bkk to KL last year, supposedly by train, there was a big holdup in Hat Yai, A pirate taxi driver drove us from Hat yai to Butterworth for 50dollars australian where we got the train for KL by the way, first class on malay trains is superb, great movies!! very clean and free cold drinks Nignoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khun Bob Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 (edited) The motorways in malaysia are the quickest way to travel on the ground - you can do penang to KL in three hours or less in a decent car or coach. I would imagine that from hat yai to penang would be around 3 hours + too on the road. No idea what the cost of the tickets will be but I do know that in Penang near the Komtar centre, at the bottom of the new prangin mall there are alot of coach companies offices. If you got a number for them they may have services from hat yai to KL and give you a proper price over the phone rather than a tout price in hat yai. Alternatively, if you got off the train at Padang Besar, you could get the local malaysian bus to Kangar and from the Kangar coach statio go to KL - bit longer but then you dont have any cross border opportunities for price padding. Thai train to Padang Besar is cheapest way to get there, but if you want to go anywhere in malaysia on the thai inetrnational express you pay SRT for the priviledge of haviong 1 ticket - best to buy to Padang besar, then get a ticket in Padang Besar for the malaysian leg of the journey - saves about 200 baht to Penang ! The new KL international airport is a pain as it is so far away from KL centre. The train or coach will take you straigh to the heart of KL. Edited April 24, 2007 by Khun Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 No idea what the cost of the tickets will be but I do know that in Penang near the Komtar centre, at the bottom of the new prangin mall there are alot of coach companies offices. If you got a number for them they may have services from hat yai to KL and give you a proper price over the phone rather than a tout price in hat yai. Another option: take the International Express all the way to Butterworth. Plenty of bus service from Butterworth to Kuala Lumpur. Much more so than there would be from Hat Yai. The Butterworth bus station is immediately adjacent to the train station. The bus station is spread across a big parking lot since they demolished the seedy old bus terminal a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waveydavey Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I cant fly. Period. Penang wont give me an easy Imm o.KL by train seems my only option. Believe me i dont wanna do it. I get bored on the skytrain..... Can't you go to Vientiane ? It would be a lot easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pampal Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Take a bus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaphase Posted April 24, 2007 Author Share Posted April 24, 2007 Laos is not an option.. too much passport space used(have 2 pages left) Malaysia is minimal. Free visa too. I dont think i'll get an imm o there. Vietianne and easy have never gone together for me. Ive been there 3 times and each time the wheels have come off..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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