Check out my vlog for this trip here Have a look at the itinerary for this trip here
27 August 2022
Khao Sok National Park & Rajjaprabha Dam i visited Rajjaprabha Dam and Khao Sok (did not enter the national park since it requires at least 1 day to explore and my time is limited), just passing thru. the roads along the khao sok region are pretty bad, i guess they will make a new one soon. no mosque at all here, but i am used to pray at the side road/emergency stairway since i started living with the China CCP for several years. Nothing much to see in Takua Pa and it is raining the whole night.
Khao Sok National Park
Road leading to the entrance of the national park
Rajjaprabha Dam
30 August 2022 while heading back to krabi, i visited Phang Nga town and its museum. Entrance is free! and it is much more better than phuket mining museum! at the museum, i was greeted by a sweet lady called ms. สมัย . she is from Phang Nga and works at the museum and introduced me to the history of Phang Nga. i realized that Takua-pa is believed to be one of the pitstop along the ancient silk road where it is called Takola by ancient traders.
Phang Nga Museum
Thailand’s Rong Ngeng which has similarities with Malaysia’s Ronggeng (Phang Nga Museum)
Mangroves forest at บ้านบางพัฒน์ (8°21’53.9″N 98°34’50.9″E)
Mangroves forest at บ้านบางพัฒน์ (8°21’53.9″N 98°34’50.9″E)
29 July 2022 10am – reach Hat Yai 12pm – checked-in at The 1 Place Hotel ( https://goo.gl/maps/RYZ7oY48MFC6o6ZN7 ) , 400baht/night 2pm – reach Songhkla
30 July 2022 8am – ride from Hat Yai to Kota Bharu 2pm – reached Taluban. ate at halal boat noodle (ลันดาเกี๋ยวเตี๋ยวเรือในตำนาน)( https://goo.gl/maps/GD5K3dx9zcFwC2Ds5 ) 45baht/bowl 6pm – drive from Kota Bharu to KL
Trip Summary since the covid, chinese tourist find it hard to travel to thailand or any other country in the world. that makes it the best time to visit thailand because i find it too crowded when a lot of chinese travel here (buat semak je dtg).
it was my first time entering thailand via road at rantau panjang border checkpoint. the army guy at the checkpoint asked me “demo tahu demo nok gi mano dok nih?” later at the sungai kolok border checkpoint, one immigration fella asked me:-
immigration fella : demo nok pegi mano? me : gi hat yai bey immigration fella : ado mek ko kat sano? me : (whatever dude..)
currency exchange at sungai kolok (RM1=8baht) is way cheaper than in KL ( RM1=7.87baht)typical toilet bowl in thailand
after 1 day trip, me and my travel partner part ways, he headed straight to Hay Yai. at first, i had no idea what to do, where to go, the more i think, the more stressed i had. i headed to Yala, surprisingly, the more time i spent travel alone, the more excitement it gets, thats what kept me going during this trip. furthermore, this week is a public holoday in thailand which means it might be hard to find an accommodation which further stresses me. luckily, accommodation is easy to find.
roads in south thailand are very good
road condition in south thailand the roads from sungai kolok up to hat yai are surprisingly good! mostly it is 2 lanes and unlike malaysia roads, there are no tolls!
muslims in south thailand I noticed there are 2 types of thai muslims :- 1. thai muslims able to speak phasa yawi (similar to kelantan dialect) 2. thai muslims cannot speak phasa yawi (met some of them at Hat Yai)
i had a chat with a parking guard at the hotel at narathiwat. a malay of narathiwat origin. he was friendly after he knew i was from malaysia. he has a wife and a kid. even working as a parking guard can have a decent family here. you only able to dream if you are in KL. Allah Maha Adil…
a lot of islamic schools as i rode from Sungai Kolok to Pattani. a lot of women wearing muslim loose cloak, some even cover their face. this place feels more islamic than in malaysia.
typical army roadblock in south thailand
is it safe to travel to south thailand? some of my friends in KL, cousins and aunty in kelantan (seriously?!? u guys staying near the border this whole time dont even dare to go there?!? shame on you guys if our royal pattani forefather knew this!) were terrified when i told them i am going to south thailand. if i were a typical malaysian feint hearted guy, i would have chicken-out this trip. no doubt there lots of military roadblocks but those armies dont even look at me when they notice my malaysian plate number.
exchange currency in thailand you can get good rates for currency exchange at danok and sungai kolok (myr to thb) which is better than changing it at midvalley mall. but the rates seems to be unattractive in other parts of thailand such as krabi. i used western union which provides the best rates, even better than withdrawing money at atm. check my other post for my experience with western union.
PTT pump station – thailand version of RnR you dont wanna miss PTT if you visit thailand. i hardly see any RnR along the highway. PTT pump station is a one stop center for fuel, coffee, cafe, 7-11 and toilet. i am very particular when it comes to using toilet in which PTT did a good job maintaining their clean toilet. the coffee at their Amazon Cafe costs 35 – 55 baht! who needs starbucks when you already have PTT pump station.
its not that easy to find cheap (below 400 baht ) and good accommodation in narathiwat, yala and pattani you can literally get a decent accommodation in thailand as low as 400 baht (or even lover). airbnb and online hotel booking websites ha ve always been my source of quality and affordable accommodation. but it doesnt seem to work that way in narathiwat, yala and pattani. they can be found in google maps and the room price can be found in the reviews section ( some have but not all ) and in their facebook page. if you know thai, you can direcly call them to ask the price.
royal pattani bloodline my ancestor (Tok Dat) is among the pattani’s knight during the war with Siam during 1760s and fled to Malaya to a place now called Kelantan. in order to conceal his identity, it was said that Tok Dat let everyone know he came from Jawa. my aunt told me there was a time when my aunt followed my late grandmother to seek medical help, my late grandmother brought a yellow cloth ( a sign of royalty ), made me feel the royalty bloodline was still strong at that time. somehow i indirectly related to the people of south thailand.
video of the trip
Appreciation to the Government of Thailand and to the people of South Thailand i would like to thank the customs & immigration of thailand for their kind help to make this trip possible and also to the friendly people of south thailand for their hospitality. i really enjoyed the trip and looking forward to visit thailand again soon. i love you guys!
