My family and I just returned from driving our Thai registered car to Penang, Malaysia and I wanted to give an account of our experience. Before we went, I found info on the following website to be the most useful and pertinent to my trip: http://andthreetogo.com/travel-tips/thai-to-malaysia-by-car/. As I found some of the info here and elsewhere in the thaivisa.com forums to be either incorrect, incomplete, or in need of update, I thought I should give a detailed description below. 

 

Before our trip to the border: 

1. We had to have our Car registration (Blue Book) translated into English at the local Thai Department of Transportation. They asked for a copy of 2 pages from this book: the page with all the information about my car (1 photocopy, but 2 sides of the book--in my case, pp. 6-7) and the page which demonstrated that my taxes were paid to date (pp. 16-17). [I did NOT need the "car passport book" at the border.] I also submitted my passport. I was NOT asked to submit any proof of Thai residence submitted to our immigration office at the transportation office; but, I would take that with you, if you have it--just in case. The English Vehicle Registration Certificate  was stamped with a blue official seal and signed.

 

2. We had our windows re-tinted to meet the Malaysia requirements. There was a document in the small Malaysian Road Transportation office on the Malay side that confirmed the most recent Malaysian laws: 70% windshield; 50% driver and front passenger windows, and 30% everywhere else. Be aware that the percentages Thai film companies discuss with you are the opposite of those given for the Malaysian law (i.e. 70% windshield in Malaysia means that the window allows 70% of the light through; in Thailand, at least everywhere I went in Hat Yai, that would be 30%--the percentage of light blocked. I erred on the cautious side, as most windows already come with some tinting--this needs to be figured into the equation.

 

At the Sadao border:

3. Arriving via the AH2 Highway to the Thai-Malaysia border in Sadao, we were told by Thai officials to purchase our 3rd class Malaysia insurance at one of a few small booths on the right-hand side of the road on the Thai side just prior to going through customs. It was a glass booth on the sidewalk in the last row of stores before the border. There seemed to be a couple of tents on the right-hand side after all of the Malaysia customs booths on the Malay side where you can purchase your insurance also. You could buy a 1-month, 3-month, or 6 month insurance package. They determined the amount based upon the year of the car and the engine CC according to a small chart pasted on the window. It appears the older cars cost more. I paid 1300THB for a 2004 Ford SUV. You only save 200 THB by purchasing the 3-month plan.

 

4. We purchased our 2 Malaysian License plates (black stickers with white lettering) at the same place we bought our insurance--200 THB for 2 stickers. Altogether, this took about 10-15 minutes.

 

5. Following the advice of others in the forum, we parked our car to the right of the customs building and weaved through the line to be stamped out of the country. The immigration officer there said we did not need to do that; we merely needed to drive to the drive up custom booths in the rear of the building, driving around the left side of the main custom building to get there. The lines by that time in the afternoon were very long. Since we had already legally stamped out of the country, however, we merely drove on the far left of the long lines and drove right past everyone and all the Thai customs booths without a problem. This might be something you may consider, if you arrive at the border and the lines are very long. You can park, process your passports on foot in the main building on the right, and then drive right past everyone, eventually driving over the bridge to the Malaysian customs booths. Otherwise, I would just drive straight up to the one of these custom booths.

 

6. Choose the passenger vehicle lanes at the Malaysian drive up customs on the other side of the bridge.     

 

7. Process into Malaysia at the first of two booths. They will scan your fingerprint and give you your visa on arrival at this booth for a nominal fee (less than 4 MYR). I did not confirm there to be an ATM that you could withdraw Malaysian Ringgit from on the right after Malaysia customs. We exchanged about 3000 THB into Ringgit at a bank before we came over. [NOTE: typical Thai banks would not exchange my USD into ringgit; but, there were plenty of places to do that in Penang.]

 

8. Immediately following that booth we purchased a "touch-n-go" pass to use on the toll road to Penang at the subsequent booth in the same lane. That cost a little under 11 MYR [The card is good for up to 10 years, unless your do not use it for 12 months.] We put 10 MYR on the card, but that did not prove to be enough to get us all the way to Penang without paying cash at a toll booth, after setting off the alarms and holding up a great deal of traffic! I will put 20 MYR next time. There are numerous places to top it up throughout the country (see the FAQs on the touch-n-go website). The Malay guy in the booth selling the touch-n-go card could not speak any English or Thai and, thus, could not explain any of this to us. 

 

9. We were waved through a third custom lane immediately around the bend wherein, apparently, they sometimes stop vehicles and search them. 

 

10. About 100 meters on your right past all these booths you will see a small Malaysian Road Transportation Office. There was really nowhere to park. [I merely parked to the left near some Jersey barriers opposite the office, as there did not seem to be any way to drive over there without getting into the line coming back into Thailand!] I Submitted a copy of my blue book, the English translation of it, my proof of Malaysian Insurance, and the two black Malaysian license plate stickers. The laid back officer in civi clothing entered the info in the computer and issued me a round document to place on my front dashboard/windshield. A picture of the document was already posted in these forums [http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/641970-driving-to-malaysia-via-padang-besar-border/]--the fourth post by sas_cars. They did not use the handheld machine to measure the window tinting, but did go and look at it (it was obviously light enough) and took a picture of our license plate. 

 

11. I placed the black stickers on the front and rear bumpers of the car and drove to Penang. That was it. We were not stopped 5 km down the road by any officials wanting to see our documentation; though, we saw a big red sign very early on that said something about foreigners; I sped past it too quickly to read it. 

 

Returning to Thailand:

12. Returning to Thailand was a piece of cake. Make sure you queue towards the left behind the cars and not the trucks with containers. We went through one car check point where all they did was take a picture of our car license plate and direct us through. 

 

13. Check out of Malaysia through the drive up custom booth. 

 

14. At the Thai customs we stayed to the left in order to check out through one of the drive up custom booths. Though we could hardly believe it, the immigration official told us to go ahead and drive all the way through to the Thai side and park anywhere on the street on the left (near where we bought our Malaysian car insurance). I would only do this, if I was instructed to, however. We simply did not have to do anything or show any documentation whatsoever to anyone coming back home. I asked an official about this and he said nothing needed to be done for Thai cars to re-enter the country.

 

15. We got our arrival cards and checked out on foot like everyone else at the customs booth, then drove home. Would definitely do it again, as we immensely enjoyed our time in Penang. 

 

Edited February 13, 20179 yr by Isaanman

A few other tid bits should be added about our trip to Penang.

 

1. In the same place you purchase your car insurance on the Thai side before the border you can purchase a SIM card to use in Malaysia. We found that only the Digi Prepaid allows you to use your GPS immediately after entering the country. The others required a 3-hour wait; but we would already be in Penang by then. 500 THB got us a one month SIM with 7 GB of data (that can be topped up). Otherwise, you will have to use international roaming on your Thai card.

 

2. We found the immediate use of our GPS essential to driving around Malaysia, as there are hardly any road signs in English!  We could barely read anything during our stay in the country.

 

3. After the initial 10-15 minutes of driving in Malaysia, we did not see any place to turn off the highway for a quick meal (like in Thailand) for a very long ways. There was finally a service island well into the trip that had food shops and a (self-service!) Shell gas station that took credit cards (at least MC and Visa). 

 

4. If you are not exactly sure how much you have left on your "touch-n-go" toll card, you should always use the tolls on the far left where you can pay in cash, if necessary. 

 

5. The roads in Malaysia are awesome--as good as those in the USA, and better in some places! The speed limit was 110 km on the limited access part of the highway and seemed to be 80 km per/hr everywhere else unless marked otherwise. 

 

6. You have to pay for your parking in parking lots at big malls, etc at payment machines in or near the entrances and exit stairwells of various floors of the car park. You cannot expect to drive out and pay the toll at the gate like you can do at most places in Thailand. You insert your card and pay the nominal fee (1 - 3 MYR) at the machine. Then you have 20 minutes to drive out and submit your ticket at the gate.

 

7. You have to pay .20 MYR for a plastic bag at most supermarkets and stores. Otherwise, they will just put "sold" stickers on every item you buy and you will have to be very creative to get everything back to your car! Better to take some with you to the store.

 

8. Many foreign imported foods are a good bit less expensive in Malaysia than in Thailand (no huge import fees!) We stocked up on numerous things. 

 

9. For all the talk about Malaysia being more expensive, we found that some Western restaurants (like McDonalds and Subway) were definitely cheaper than the same in Thailand. We even bought Frostys at Wendys in Georgetown!

 

Much more could be said. These are just a few odds and ends that might be of some benefit to you. 

 

Edited February 13, 20179 yr by Isaanman

for eating spots, unless you want bigger towns such as Alor Setar or Sungei Patani,

I have always preferred the little places,

searching for local cafes,

for example Gurun. There's a good Interchange for Gurun, which takes you about 5km off the expressway. (under the shadows of Kedah Peaks hill nearby, tho' it's got another Malay name for the peaks these days.

 

5km down the road from the Sadao Border:  that CheckPoint is Army-run;

 where you can expect a sub-machinegun (an F1 it was) to be poked thru your driver's window,

while they work out whether you have to give them something to let you pass. 

My last time thru there, the grunt was happy with a bottle of Mekhong...

 

Beware the SpeedGun Traps, especially between AS and SP.   The cameras are hidden somewhere in the hill cuttings, and you don't know you have been zapped, until about 10km further on, when you get flagged over. A week later we were back on the road, and called into the Police Station at SP, meeting an Inspector to discuss things  .  We managed to coffee-money the 600RM fine, down to 150. But it took my then malay GF to do the needed sweet talk with the Inspector to down to the reasonable figure (I was doing 140kmh mind you, so it was a fair cop)

 

 

Good report, but slightly over complicated - no need to visit the insurance booth in Thailand, you can do it all when you stop at the JPJ ( the Malay transport office ) there is a Zurich insurance tent there to buy your insurance and get your IDP from the office in one stop while the wife has something to eat at the little cafe there, also you need to negotiate the price of insurance, it's always an inflated price.

 

No need to provide a certificate of residence when you apply for a translation document. Just a copy of your passport and the book.

 

Im really surprised no one asked you to complete TM2/3 on return to Thailand, they have been quite hot on these at both at Sadao and Betong Borders for the past year. They should be completed on exit, as they are in Laos, but they seem confused on the Malay border.

 

With the cheap fuel and the lower import taxes it's not a bad little shopping trip is is it? 

 

-- not your post sir -- 

 

Huh? A bottle of whisky? I never heard of this before, usually they ask you where you come from and check your passport. I'm calling BS on that, anyone else?

Am I correct in assuming that if I return to Malaysia within the 1-month period of the insurance I bought a couple of weeks ago, still having the round document I received last trip in my window, that I can just drive through the border an on to Penang without having to stop anywhere other than the custom booths that all cars stop at? It would be nice to get "more bang for the buck" by traveling back there to renew my girls' visa (due on Feb. 27th) by driving all the way to Penang for a night's stay. Or, do I need to report to the Malaysian Land transportation office and just let them know I am doing it? Anyone ever done this before?

Yup, that disc is called an ICP, international circulatory(?) permit - it's valid for the duration of your insurance.

 

No neeed to stop at the JPJ, Jabatab Pengangkutan Jalan again or Malaysian land transportation or whatever you want to call it. Just stamp your passport and put your foot down.

 

I don't know about customs .. I have never had anything to do with customs before.

 

The main issue is having the ICP, so if you get stopped further down the road, they know you are insured and legal.

Edited February 15, 20179 yr by recom273

Thanks. I thought this was the case, as I saw a number of Thai licensed cars just head down the road without stopping anywhere. 

Does anyone have an idea what if i drive Thai car to Malaysia but car is registered to my Thai friend?

 

I was thinking about getting copy of his ID and some letter that he give me car to drive. What do you think?