TRAVEL INFO
To visit Songkhla, the fastest way is to fly to Hat Yai International Airport (hatyaiairportthai.com). Choices of airlines include Nok Air, Thai AirAsia, Thai Airways, Thai Smile, Thai Lion Air and Tiger Air.
Songkhla Municipality offers a free tourism tram ride to take visitors around its long beach and old quarters of the city. Called Singora Tram Tour, the service is available daily from 9am to 3pm. The tram station is at Phathammarong Museum, the birthplace of the 16th prime minister Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, on Chana Road. The tram leaves its station every hour. The service is also available for rent for a tour group. The rental fee is 1,400 baht per trip. Call the municipality for more details at 074-311-015.
From Hat Yai to Penang, ride a public van provided by KST Travel on Niphat Uthit Road. The operator has a network of six van operators. Vans depart Hat Yai daily at 9.30am, 12.30pm and 3.30pm, and the return trip from Penang starts at 5am, 8am, noon and 4pm.
The van also takes passengers to their hotel in Penang and will pick them up for the return trip to Hat Yai. A one-way ticket is 400 baht and the travel time is four hours excluding the immigration process at Sadao immigration office. Advance bookings are required via its website at www.ksttravelthailand.com, or call 081-690-7253 and 074-354-551.
For a train ride, the State Railway of Thailand (www.railway.co.th or call 1690) offers a service to Butterworth where visitors can take a ferry ride to George Town in Penang, Malaysia. The train leaves Hat Yai station daily at 7am and makes a stop at Padang Besar for the Thailand-Malaysia immigration checkpoint services. The return trip from Butterworth is at 1.15pm. The travel time is about six hours. A one-way ticket fare starts from 552 baht. An alternative would be to take the Express Langkawi railway service of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, or Malayan Railways (www.ktmb.com.my), from Hat Yai. Malaysia is one hour ahead of Thailand.
The Sadao immigration office (tel 074-536-336) is open daily between 5am and 11pm while the Padang Besar immigration office (tel 074-521-020) is available from 5am to 9pm daily.
Travelling around Penang is convenient via a free “CAT Hop On Hop Off” bus. An alternative is to ride a double-decker tour bus (www.myhoponhopoff.com) which is available between 9am to 8pm. If you want to try travelling like a local, go to Komtar Bus Terminal at Komtar Tower, Penang’s tallest building. The terminal has a map and buses to take you to many places on the island including Penang Hill.
Credit cards are widely accepted in hotels in Penang, but not yet in restaurants and souvenir shops.
For more information about Penang, visit the Penang State Tourism website at www.visitpenang.gov.my.
For more information about Songkhla, visit the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s website at www.tourismthailand.org or call its local office at 074-243-747.