The writer and his family enjoyed some tea time snacks and drinks at this cafe in Tham Luang, Kanchanaburi, which overlooked a beautiful padi field. -- Photos: IQMAL FAJRI DANIAL
In September, my family and I went on a 14-day self-drive trip to Thailand. We covered a total distance of 4,360km, driving from Kuala Lumpur to many towns and cities in our neighbouring country.
We had decided to do the trip in September as it was considered a low tourism season in both Malaysia and Thailand, and there would not be much traffic or even crowds at some of the more popular attractions. Although the month of September is usually a wet season, we figured we would rather drive in the rain than sit through traffic jams!
Except for the driving routes, we didn’t really have many scheduled stops or “must-do” items planned, as we wanted to have a more free and easy holiday. We went to a number of places including Satun, Pak Bara, Krabi, Phuket, Khao Lak, Ranong, Chumpon, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Hua Hin, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Hat Yai, Pattani and Narathiwat.
Driving was limited to a maximum of six hours each day, though on average we did about three to four hours. Our car “behaved” well despite having to use the Thai Gasohol 95 (which is 90% benzene and 10% ethanol) for fuel. The price of petrol there is three times higher but the excellent road conditions and toll-free highways somewhat compensated for the additional cost.
The writer (left) with his wife and son at a hotel in Pak Bara.
With my wife Aida, and son, Thaqif, in tow, we started our journey at 7am in KL, heading to Napoh in Kedah to collect our insurance and sort out our immigration and customs documents. After all of that was done, we proceeded to Wang Kelian and the border, where we arrived at noon.
We stayed the night at Pak Bara, and then drove the next day to Krabi, where we walked along Ao Nang beach and checked out a 75-million-year-old fossil site.
We got to Phuket on the third day. It was raining most of the time and the Andaman Sea was rough but we enjoyed the cool air and scenery.
On the fourth day, we arrived at Khao Lak in Phang Nga, and visited the Tsunami Museum. The next day we were at Ranong, where we searched for the Ngao waterfall at Namtok Ngao National Park. We also stopped at the Grass/Bald Hill and the Kra Isthmus landmark, which is the Thailand-Myanmar border.
We feasted on some “sup kaki lembu” at Takuapa in Phang Nga, as well as fresh oysters by the road side in Amphoe La-un in Ranong. Their red pomelo was awesome too.
On the sixth day, we got on the Phat Kasem road from Chumphon and drove past Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Samut Songkhram and Samut Sakhon before hitting Bangkok.
The Bhumibol Bridge in Bangkok.
We stayed in the big city for two days to give our car a break; we mostly used the public transport, and walked a lot too. We visited the Grand Palace, the beautiful Rama IX and Bhumibol bridges, and booked a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River.
Of course, we also checked out the glitzy shopping malls, as well as the many markets that Bangkok is famous for.
Once we had our fill of the city, we got in our car again and drove to Kanchanaburi to check out the River Khwae Bridge, which is famous for the historical Thailand–Burma railway.
River Khwae Bridge in Kanchanaburi, which is famous for the Thailand-Burma Railway.
Kanchanaburi is beautiful with lots of padi fields and rolling hills, and the Mae Klong canals. We stopped at the picturesque Meena Café in Tham Luang before we heading towards the resort city of Hua Hin for a night’s rest.
On the 10th day, we went to Surat Thani and stopped to by the roadside to buy some fresh dates. We visited the ruins of Srivijaya kingdom in Chaiya, too.
The next day we were in Nakhon Si Thammarat and made a stop at the Hug Village in Donsak for a view of Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan. We decided to drive on the Sichon-Khanom beach road as the views of the sea were gorgeous.
On our way to Songkhla, we passed through Chimla, which is famous for its wind turbines, and the Tunsilanunda Bridge across the Songkhla Lake. We then visited the Songkhla mosque, Samila beach and enjoyed the local fare, and stayed the night at Hat Yai.
Day 13 brought us to the Muslim majority province of Pattani where we went to the historical Kerisik mosque and the modern Pattani mosque, as well as the archaeological site of Yarang City.
At the Tsunami Museum in Khao Lak.
In Narathiwat, we went to the hospital to visit our domestic helper of 17 years. She had been ill and we wanted to see how she was doing. Her family invited us to their house for a delicious home-cooked lunch, and we returned the favour with dinner at one of the many halal restaurants in town.
On our last day in Thailand, we visited the Muzium Al-Quran Melayu Raya in Yingho, and the 300-year-old Teluk Manok mosque in Bacho. We bode farewell to our helper’s family after lunch, and made our way to the Tak Bai Immigration Complex to get on the ferry.
We got to Pengkalan Kubor in Kelantan on the ferry without much hassle. After spending the night in Kuala Krai, we drove back to KL the next day.
It was certainly a memorable journey for my family and I, and we look forward to our next holiday together.
The views expressed are entirely the reader’s own.
