Driving To Krabi Help Needed

[springer64]

My wife and i are planning to drive from udon to krabi in late sep/early oct, any tips e.g. how long should it take,how many kilometers, any advice most welcome.

[johnsurin]

My wife and i are planning to drive from udon to krabi in late sep/early oct, any tips e.g. how long should it take,how many kilometers, any advice most welcome.

Try googling, googlemaps. I have never driven that far down, but, as you head down through bangkok just follow the signs for Doa Khanong, that'll take you over the bridge and heading down to the south. However I would guestimate a good 19+ hours, but I'm sure some of our esteemed members can give you more details.

Have a nice drive.

John.....

Edited May 5, 2008 by johnsurin

[Cuban]

To start with open a new window/tab and look at this link. ( This is the home page. ) The map suggests that the total distance is about 1,350 Km assuming you are doing highway speeds for most of the trip I guess that about 22 hours straight would be about right. This is based on the assumption that your average speed would be 60 kph during the drive, I have done Phuket to Khon Kaen in about 19 hours - but I was extremely wasted at the end and needed to stop a few times during the last 100km to take cat naps. I doubt I would attempt to do that in one hit again.

Depending on your plans and your personal situation, consider breaking the trip down into easier sections and think about where you could make an overnight stop. Getting round Bangkok might cause the biggest delay in your journey so if possible it would be wise to time your departure so that you are driving round Bangkok outside of the busy periods. If you were to leave home on a Saturday mid-morning you could reach Saraburi after about an 6-8 hour drive - including a stop for lunch, that would put you in a good position to get round Bangkok early on Sunday morning. Unless you have a particular reason to go through Bangkok using the bypass Higway 9 is best, then 35 then join Hwy 4.

One factor that can screw up the best plans is the weather. Once you are South of Bangkok there is only one major road running North/South, Highway 4, and this can be badly affected by heavy rain. We had a four hour wait on one occasion when a bridge was washed out - after a while police came through the traffic picking out vehicles to go on a detour - so glad I have 4x4 - they selected the pickups (no prerunners) with 4x4 to go through a village on the coastal side of the road - it was a nice adventure at the time, across sand and through a river crossing for about 45 minutes till we were around the obstruction and back on the highway.

The drive can be boring for some, if you have kids to keep amused addressing that issue might be wise. A good supply of music (audio books) can help keep you with it. My OH always brings a blanket and pillow to sleep while I drive, personally I drink a lot of water as needing to stop every so often keeps you alert. Also I don't fill the tank at every stop, just half full gives another reason to stop and take a break - otherwise there is a tendency to stay in the car all day and just drive. Wetwipes and a towel are useful to clean hands after all the road side fruit and sweetcorn etc that you end up buying.

Thinking back to the details of our drive down, the delays because of flooding messed up the timing to get to our hotel in Phuket - so we stayed at a different location that night - the lesson is to be flexible in your plans and allow them to change with the situation, don't be dogmatic about when you will reach a particular location.

Some in-car computers can be given a distance and then feedback an estimated arrival time. If yours does not have this, zero your odometer and see how far you travel in one hour. You will quickly see how your overall average speed drops from the 120 kph that you probably maintain during the long runs on open roads.

When we've done these sorts of road trips we generally stay in the cheap short time hotels dotted around the country for a few hours sleep and a shower enroute to somewhere nicer. If you need a particular hotel it can be wise to print off a few maps of towns on your route with possible target hotels marked, finding a particular place after dark is not always easy and many town's streets are empty after 10pm.

If your car is not used to covering long distances a pre trip service is wise. Carrying a first aid kit is useful if you do not already have one. Check tyres and the spare.

No need for GPS IMHO - a couple of good maps is enough.

HTH - please ask any questions to fill in bits I've missed.

[feffejonsson]

Hi.

I drove almost that stretch last year.

You can drive Udon-Saraburi in one day. The road is quite good the whole way. In Saraburi I would recommend the Kyo-Un hotel. It´s about 900 baht per night. It´s on 273/5 Paholyotin Road. Leave really early in the morning to avoid any traffic while passing through Bangkok. Next place we stopped was i Hua Hin where we stayed in Fulay Guesthouse. Very nice place with friendly staff. Nice to stop and have a swim and a good nights sleep. www.fulay-huahin.com/

The next stop we made was in Chumphon. A nice small town. We stayed at Jamson hotel in the city center. From Chumphon you can continue directly to Krabi in one day. From Chumphon you can chhose either road 41 via Surat Thani or road 4 via Ranong. I don´t know the state of the roads now but I know that not long ago the were doing big renovations on road 4.

Enjoy the trip, take it slow and remember to rest a lot. It´s quite tireing to drive through Thailand.

Feffe

[springer64]

My wife and i are planning to drive from udon to krabi in late sep/early oct, any tips e.g. how long should it take,how many kilometers, any advice most welcome.

Try googling, googlemaps. I have never driven that far down, but, as you head down through bangkok just follow the signs for Doa Khanong, that'll take you over the bridge and heading down to the south. However I would guestimate a good 19+ hours, but I'm sure some of our esteemed members can give you more details.

Have a nice drive.

John.....

thanks a lot for the reply,i know this needs a lot of planning,but i have time as its oct i'll be driving cheers

[springer64]

To start with open a new window/tab and look at this link. ( This is the home page. ) The map suggests that the total distance is about 1,350 Km assuming you are doing highway speeds for most of the trip I guess that about 22 hours straight would be about right. This is based on the assumption that your average speed would be 60 kph during the drive, I have done Phuket to Khon Kaen in about 19 hours - but I was extremely wasted at the end and needed to stop a few times during the last 100km to take cat naps. I doubt I would attempt to do that in one hit again.

Depending on your plans and your personal situation, consider breaking the trip down into easier sections and think about where you could make an overnight stop. Getting round Bangkok might cause the biggest delay in your journey so if possible it would be wise to time your departure so that you are driving round Bangkok outside of the busy periods. If you were to leave home on a Saturday mid-morning you could reach Saraburi after about an 6-8 hour drive - including a stop for lunch, that would put you in a good position to get round Bangkok early on Sunday morning. Unless you have a particular reason to go through Bangkok using the bypass Higway 9 is best, then 35 then join Hwy 4.

One factor that can screw up the best plans is the weather. Once you are South of Bangkok there is only one major road running North/South, Highway 4, and this can be badly affected by heavy rain. We had a four hour wait on one occasion when a bridge was washed out - after a while police came through the traffic picking out vehicles to go on a detour - so glad I have 4x4 - they selected the pickups (no prerunners) with 4x4 to go through a village on the coastal side of the road - it was a nice adventure at the time, across sand and through a river crossing for about 45 minutes till we were around the obstruction and back on the highway.

The drive can be boring for some, if you have kids to keep amused addressing that issue might be wise. A good supply of music (audio books) can help keep you with it. My OH always brings a blanket and pillow to sleep while I drive, personally I drink a lot of water as needing to stop every so often keeps you alert. Also I don't fill the tank at every stop, just half full gives another reason to stop and take a break - otherwise there is a tendency to stay in the car all day and just drive. Wetwipes and a towel are useful to clean hands after all the road side fruit and sweetcorn etc that you end up buying.

Thinking back to the details of our drive down, the delays because of flooding messed up the timing to get to our hotel in Phuket - so we stayed at a different location that night - the lesson is to be flexible in your plans and allow them to change with the situation, don't be dogmatic about when you will reach a particular location.

Some in-car computers can be given a distance and then feedback an estimated arrival time. If yours does not have this, zero your odometer and see how far you travel in one hour. You will quickly see how your overall average speed drops from the 120 kph that you probably maintain during the long runs on open roads.

When we've done these sorts of road trips we generally stay in the cheap short time hotels dotted around the country for a few hours sleep and a shower enroute to somewhere nicer. If you need a particular hotel it can be wise to print off a few maps of towns on your route with possible target hotels marked, finding a particular place after dark is not always easy and many town's streets are empty after 10pm.

If your car is not used to covering long distances a pre trip service is wise. Carrying a first aid kit is useful if you do not already have one. Check tyres and the spare.

No need for GPS IMHO - a couple of good maps is enough.

HTH - please ask any questions to fill in bits I've missed.

[springer64]

thanks for your reply,i don't really need to go near bkk so is there any way of bypassing it without going well of track,thanks again for your time.

[springer64]

Hi.

I drove almost that stretch last year.

You can drive Udon-Saraburi in one day. The road is quite good the whole way. In Saraburi I would recommend the Kyo-Un hotel. It´s about 900 baht per night. It´s on 273/5 Paholyotin Road. Leave really early in the morning to avoid any traffic while passing through Bangkok. Next place we stopped was i Hua Hin where we stayed in Fulay Guesthouse. Very nice place with friendly staff. Nice to stop and have a swim and a good nights sleep. www.fulay-huahin.com/

The next stop we made was in Chumphon. A nice small town. We stayed at Jamson hotel in the city center. From Chumphon you can continue directly to Krabi in one day. From Chumphon you can chhose either road 41 via Surat Thani or road 4 via Ranong. I don´t know the state of the roads now but I know that not long ago the were doing big renovations on road 4.

Enjoy the trip, take it slow and remember to rest a lot. It´s quite tireing to drive through Thailand.

Feffe

thanks for your reply we were planning a night in hua hin any way,chumphon is another idea,i want to avoid bkk altogether because of the traffic is this possile without going to far out of the way,thanks again.

[Cuban]

Unless you have a particular reason to go through Bangkok using the bypass Highway 9 is best, then 35 then join Hwy 4.

Please take a closer look at the links to on-line maps - or better still take a look a real map printed on paper, you will see that both posts above suggest a route that avoids the city center.

This link shows the turn off from Hwy 1 to The western bypass - Hwy 9.

See this map. You would be coming down Hwy 1 just above Pathum Thani - follow the signs toward Nonthaburi on Hwy 9 (The Western BKK bypass), do not turn off but continue towards Samut Sakhon on Hwy 35, pass by Samut Songkhram to join Hwy 4 South bound.

[feffejonsson]

I don´t like to drive through Bangkok as well but I have been doing so for couple of years since it seems to be the easiest and fastest way going from the north to the south. If you arrive in Bangkok really early in the morning the traffic isn´t that bad. Just stay on the tollway! The first time I drove through Bangkok me and my wife stopped at the first tollboth near the old airport (Don Muang) to get a map of the Tollway road system. My wife also asked for directions there. Just drive towards Samut Songkram. When driving on the tollway don´t let the "speeders" stress you. Just stay in the middle lane (for easy exit to both right and left when you see the sign where to turn) and do as I do drive 60-70 km/h to be sure that you don´t miss any signs. It really isn´t that bad!