Thailand, Travel - Thailand, Travel: Kota Bharu

Border-Hopping to Thailand

Hop – Skip – Cross Border… 

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From Malaysia to Thailand:

I have been residing in Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan, Malaysia for about 3 years now. My friend persuaded me to go border-hopping with her to Hat Yai, Thailand. I’m glad I paid heed to her advice. Border-hopping from Malaysia to Thailand has, by far, been the most exciting travel stint ever. Imaging crossing the border on foot. I did just that with my friend.

 

Getting set for the adventure…

Border-Hopping to Thailand:

Kota Bharu literally shares the border with Thailand, and this is how we made it possible: before you attempt to do the same, please make sure to comply with the visa requirements. Having an Indian passport, I had to pay for the visa and get it stamped at the Immigration Office at both places.

 

It’s always a fun trip with friends 🙂 Hoppity -hop- hop

This is the route we followed:

Kota Bharu city –(drive)–> Sungai Golok border –(Office)–> Thailand border Office

We drove to Sungai Golok border, which took us about 45 minutes. We then got our visas stamped and trod to Thailand border on foot. It took us barely ten minutes. The locals often head to Sungai Golok for its night market and exotic street food. We carried on to the Immigration Office at the border, got our visas checked and continued the journey.

 

Malaysia to your left, Thailand to your right 😉

The directions to follow:

Want to try it too? Let’s make it easy for you…

Step-1: Book a taxi from Kota Bharu city centre to Sungai Golok border. The cab ride will take 35-45 minutes.

Step-2: Get your visa in place. Carry your passport to the border and get it stamped at the office at Sungai Golok. Please check your visa requirements on the internet and give a call to the Thai Embassy in Kota Bharu in advance. The staff at the embassy is quite helpful and will guide you through the process or ask you to reach the office at the border directly. The procedure depends on your passport and is a tad different from country to country.

Step-3: Pick your luggage and walk away to Thailand. How long does this take? Literally 10 minutes. Get your visa stamped at the Thailand immigration office and hail a bike-taxi from the gate. The taxi will take you to the bus stop from where you can purchase your tickets to any Thai city of your choice. Mini buses, vans and buses are some of the common modes of transport hired by locals.

 

1.The lobby leading to the other side  2.The colourful bus station 3.Our first snack in the bus

Off to Hat Yai:

What did we do? Well, we bought tickets to try Hat Yai street food, to shop for good quality fabric and clothes, to explore the lanes and alleys on foot and go pub-hopping in the city laden with lights, hawkers and spas.. and what a good time that was. I could go back again just for the fried chicken *drooool*.

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26 thoughts on “Border-Hopping to Thailand”

  3. Oh my god, what a coincidence. I just came here from your comment on my post and then I see this. I swear I didn’t come here to promote my blog but I had a very similar experience and actually wrote about it to haha (Post is called 2nd Class Humans couple weeks back on my blog). Glad to know I’m not the only one who had to cross the border to Thailand by foot^^

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Wow, what an amazing experience! I had a friend who lived there for quite some time, and she LOVED it. Hopefully I’ll get to visit someday too!

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  24. What an incredible trip! I can’t wait to be able to visit both Malaysia and Thailand one day….they looks like such spectacular countries.

    Liked by 1 person

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