Drive from CM to S'pore. Any probs?

[chingmai331]

Am a USA farang with an old car and Thai drivers license. Can i drive from Chiang Mai to S'pore without problems of border crossings and things like that. Insurance in Malaysia, S'pore? Visas, etc.

[NeverSure]

Take a lot of loose money. They have toll roads down there everywhere. Seriously, you may hit a dozen of them in Malaysia's currency.

I don't know about visas, your car etc. for that much travel as I've only flown in and rented cars.

Edited July 2, 2015 by NeverSure

[phuketrichard]

i have driven as far as the Singapore border as it was just to much hassle to drive into Singapore as u need buy/rent that machine that allows you to drive in town

lots of toil roads on both coast in Malaysia. Make sure you have Malaysian money as banks are few an far between.except in cities

You need a document from the vehicle dept for your car which is a translation of your cars blue book

u can ONLY have a maximum tint of 40% to get thru the border ( Sadao is a pain in the ass and has a machine to check the tint %)

You need english translation stickers of your cars license plate you can buy them at the border in Sadao ( after immigration/customs) or Satun ( before immigration) 100 baht each an u need front and back

Need insurance I pay 800 baht for 1 month for a honda civic buy same place as u get the stickers and also get the round tax disk required to drive in Malaysia

driving is easy but signs are <deleted>

gas is 10 baht/lt cheaper

Americans get 90 days for both countries visa exempt stamp

[roamer]

i have driven as far as the Singapore border as it was just to much hassle to drive into Singapore as u need buy/rent that machine that allows you to drive in town

lots of toil roads on both coast in Malaysia. Make sure you have Malaysian money as banks are few an far between.except in cities

You need a document from the vehicle dept for your car which is a translation of your cars blue book

u can ONLY have a maximum tint of 40% to get thru the border ( Sadao is a pain in the ass and has a machine to check the tint %)

You need english translation stickers of your cars license plate you can buy them at the border in Sadao ( after immigration/customs) or Satun ( before immigration) 100 baht each an u need front and back

Need insurance I pay 800 baht for 1 month for a honda civic buy same place as u get the stickers and also get the round tax disk required to drive in Malaysia

driving is easy but signs are <deleted>

gas is 10 baht/lt cheaper

Americans get 90 days for both countries visa exempt stamp

great info, think the OP should stop off in Phuket and buy you a beer

[SGX]

i have driven as far as the Singapore border as it was just to much hassle to drive into Singapore as u need buy/rent that machine that allows you to drive in town

lots of toil roads on both coast in Malaysia. Make sure you have Malaysian money as banks are few an far between.except in cities

You need a document from the vehicle dept for your car which is a translation of your cars blue book

u can ONLY have a maximum tint of 40% to get thru the border ( Sadao is a pain in the ass and has a machine to check the tint %)

You need english translation stickers of your cars license plate you can buy them at the border in Sadao ( after immigration/customs) or Satun ( before immigration) 100 baht each an u need front and back

Need insurance I pay 800 baht for 1 month for a honda civic buy same place as u get the stickers and also get the round tax disk required to drive in Malaysia

driving is easy but signs are <deleted>

gas is 10 baht/lt cheaper

Americans get 90 days for both countries visa exempt stamp

Be mindful of Peak hour in Malaysian leg , as it can tripple your hours spent on road going to sing. Traffic Jam galore.. but you decribed well..

[ratchaburi]

i have driven as far as the Singapore border as it was just to much hassle to drive into Singapore as u need buy/rent that machine that allows you to drive in town

lots of toil roads on both coast in Malaysia. Make sure you have Malaysian money as banks are few an far between.except in cities

You need a document from the vehicle dept for your car which is a translation of your cars blue book

u can ONLY have a maximum tint of 40% to get thru the border ( Sadao is a pain in the ass and has a machine to check the tint %)

You need english translation stickers of your cars license plate you can buy them at the border in Sadao ( after immigration/customs) or Satun ( before immigration) 100 baht each an u need front and back

Need insurance I pay 800 baht for 1 month for a honda civic buy same place as u get the stickers and also get the round tax disk required to drive in Malaysia

driving is easy but signs are <deleted>

gas is 10 baht/lt cheaper

Americans get 90 days for both countries visa exempt stamp

All good advice from Ritchard

Atfer you go through Malaysia immigration 200 metre's on the right side of the road, there is the Malaysian transport depatment & on the right side of them is a girl selling insurance.

It is very easy crossing the border at Sadao. if you have dark tinted drivers & the opposite window make sure it is 40% as if it is 50% you will have to remove the tint.

Good luck

[bascat]

I have driven about 5 times from Bangkok to Singapore wirh Thai registered pick up (my own and book on my name). Really no problem and a quite enjoyable drive. The comment above about congestion in Malaysia is nonsense. Yes, it will be busy around KL in rush hours but for the rest the north south highway is quiet and beautiful. Thailand could do with some roads like that. Do not drive in Malaysia during some of the major holidays like Hari Raya and Chinese New Year.

Entering Malaysia is easy:

-get temporary export paper for car at Thai side of border-need to show oriiginal vehicle book-takes 2 min

-before travelling get car 'passport' from land transport office where you live; this used to be a little booklet but now you only get a A4 form in english with vehicle details and the thai license number translated in English; btw the way the Thai letters are translated into english is still a mystery to me

once across the Mal border:

-get third party insurance at small shops at border crossing; RM 80 for a month; note, this is for third party coverage only; the vehicle is NOT covered and Thai insurance, even all risk, is not valid outside of Thailand; I do not know what vehicle insurance would cost, probably a lot; btw, the Malaysian 3rd party insurance policy is also valid for Singapore

-get license stickers made at the same shop where you buy insurance, RM 3 each; this is a must especially for Singapore for the ERP road pricing system

-get circulation permit from JPJ office at the border (JPJ is Malaysian land transport authority); no cost; dark tinted windows not allowed; i had to remove the tinting one time which is absolutle pain

-toll to drive all the way to Singapore and back on NS highway approx RM 280; get 'Touch and Go card at first toll office; makes passing the tolls much easier; even betetr with an electronic tag; unlike in Bangkok the electronic tolls work flawlessly in Malaysia

Entering Singapore:

-more of a pain but not difficult as long as you have all docs; takes about 30-45 minutes

-need to buy 'Autopass card' for the vehicle which is used to charge for tolls, ERP, extra days in Singapore; you can only stay 10 or 20 days (cant recall) per year foc in Singapore with a foreign car as long as you are not a Singaporean or resident; beyond the 10 or 20 days you need to pay something like SGD 30 per day upon leaving; make sure autopass card has enough balance when you exit ; cost of card SGD 10

-documents: passport plus copies, driving license, preferably somehtign more than Thai plus copies, vehicvle window license sticker plus copies (must not be expired), Malaysian JPJ certificate; Malaysian insurance certificate; Thai translated vehicle license (the car 'passport) plus copies; orignal Thai vehicle book plus copies; must be on your name (not sure if you can bring in somebody else's vehicle without the owner present)

-pay SGD 60 as entry fee; not sure is this for another insurance or a form of entry fee

That is it.

In all my travel to singapore over the last 20 years (about 100 visits, mostly by air) I have never seen a Thai vehicle there other then my own so it is definitely not common. Most people there think yuo are crazy to undertake soemthing like this but I find it a nice drive. Note that many Singaporeans even worry about a day trip into Malaysia thinking the country is full of muggers and hijackers. Overnight usually in Had yai which is half way.

Can definitely recommend it to those with a little sense of adventure.

[alant]

Anyone done it by bike?

Edited July 3, 2015 by alant

[phuketrichard]

-

before travelling get car 'passport' from land transport office where you live; this used to be a little booklet but now you only get a A4 form in english with vehicle details and the thai license number translated in English; btw the way the Thai letters are translated into english is still a mystery to me

it has always been a paper translation of the thai blue book to English

the car passport is still used for Laos and was never used for Malaysia ( at least not in the past 15 years i have driven thru there)

plates need be in english cause no one in Malaysia reads thai

even malay/Singapore plates are in English

[opalred]

i have done it by moterbike a few times found it better to put bike on train and take sleeper cm to bk bk to hat yai green book at border allowed 1month

once stayed away 2 months comming back fined1000b for overstay at borderno toll fees for bikes cheers