KL Sentral Malaysia - KTM ETS Gemas train (Gold seat Rm42 for seniors) departing KL Sentral at 09.44 arriving Padang Besar at 15.10 (Malaysian time but 14.10 in Thailand), just in time to catch a shuttle Thai train in Padang Besar departing 14.40 arriving Hatyai at 15.35
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| All smiles, prior to boarding KTM train from KL Sentral>Padang Besar |
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| Gate B for trains departing north |
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| KTM train departing KL Sentral at 09.44 to Padang Besar |
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| KTM ETS train at KL Sentral - ready for boarding |
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| Gold seat (Rm42 for seniors 60+) |
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| Toilet, neat & clean - enjoy your time here ! |
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| Train canteen serving combo meals |
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| Feeling hungry ? Combo set meal - Rm9 (US$2) |
Padang Besar > Hatyai - Thai shuttle train departing Padang Besar at 14.40 arriving Hatyai at 15.35 (70bht)
For our return journey, we took a KTM ETS train (Platinum seat Rm55 for seniors) departing Padang Besar at 12.55 arriving KL Sentral at 18.08, our waiting time at the Padang Besar train station took up to 3 hrs for boarding this connecting train to KL Sentral. But well worth the waiting as upon our arrival at KL Sentral, I could easily take a LRT train to Subang Jaya and the rest of my members a KTM train direct to Klang.
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| Padang Besar Joint Malaysia / Thai Train Station |
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| Padang Besar Thai Immigration Check Point |
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| KTM ETS Train from Padang Besar > KL Sentral (Rm55 Seniors) |
Home sweet home - after a 14 day of rock & roll train trip from Kuala Lumpur to Padang Besar, Hatyai, Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Nong Khai & multiple mini van & tuk tuk rides to & within Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang & return; a total of 5,050km - age is no barrier in traveling if you have good company, enjoying Thai / Lao food, comfortable hostel stays & last but not the least, bringing home fond memories .....
Taking a LRT train from KL Sentral to SS15, Subang Jaya station - my final destination ! Looking forward for a good rest this coming weekend !!!
After a 14 day trip and having visited Thailand 9-10 times, I believe I am addicted to travelling to Thailand. Maybe I should start cultivating a drinking habit in Tuk Tuk Cha - I spotted this restaurant in a shopping Mall in Klang Valley, so cheers to all and enjoy a cup of hot tuk tuk cha together with a side dish of banana crepes or mango sticky rice when you are in the Land of Smiles !
hi advise on the train back . plaining to tahe the 15.35 (thai time) to padang besar and take the 16.35(mytime) train is it enough time to catch it?
ReplyDeleteJonathan, I suggest you take the mid day train from Hatyai (around 12pm) if available or a Hatyai bus right up to Padang Besar Immigration Complex (travelling time is 1 hr) in order to catch the 16.35 KTM train to KL Sentral. Normally one has to wait 1-2 hrs at Padang Besar for the KTM train to arrive from KL .
ReplyDeleteJonathan, Malaysia is 1 hr ahead of Thailand so if you are taking a train in Thailand at 15.35 , this means in Malaysia the time is 16.35. Unlikely you have enough time to catch the 16.35 train given that it may take an hr for the Hatyai train to arrive at Padang Bersar
ReplyDeleteHi can i have your email or FACEBOOK , its better to converse in that platform
ReplyDeleteu can search me on facebook JONATHAN NG, got a picture with me drinking coffee with lim guan eng
ReplyDeleteJonathan , my email address is chengkeanmeng@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHi Mr KM
ReplyDeleteThx for your sharing of the useful info. Few of us plan to visit Hatyai via ETS this Dec sch hols.
I read that, you departed from KL Sentral at 09.44 arriving Padang Besar at 15.10 (Malaysian time but 14.10 in Thailand), just in time to catch a shuttle Thai train in Padang Besar departing 14.40 arriving Hatyai at 15.35
Questn : Does the transit time:30mins in Padang Besar enough for immigration check/purchasing shuttle train to Hatyai ?
Appreciate your swift reply. Thx in advance.
Cheers.
I just came back from Hatyai yesterday night. I took an ETS train from Sentral to Hatyai on Monday 21/8/2017 departing 09.44 arriving Padang Besar at around 15.15 on time (Malaysia time is 1hr ahead of Thai). Immediately after my arrival, I was directed straight to a Thai train ticket counter table to purchase our shuttle train ticket (70bht) departing 14.45. After the ticket purchase, you just queue up to have your Malaysia passport checked by the Malaysian Immigration counter, takes 10 mins depending on the crowd. After that a luggage screening and then queue up again to have your passport stamped at the Thai Immigration side. Please also show your Thai train tickets to the Immigration counter. Bring along a pen so that you can quickly fill up an arrival / departure form. Given that you have a That train ticket on hand, so you are assured of boarding the train parked along side of the Thai Immigration counter so all the passengers heading to Hatyai will be given time to board the Thai shuttle train which may depart 5-10 minutes late. So my second train trip from Padang Besar to Hatyai was smooth and without any hiccups. My concern is during school holidays, a bigger crowd at the Padang Besar may delay immigration clearance at both sides so you may miss the Thai shuttle train if they stick to a strict departure schedule. So the right thing to do is immediately after your arrival, buy the Thai train ticket first and then the queue ups - this will safe for you to catch the Thai shuttle train. Also buy your ETS KTM return train tickets from Sentral so that you have a secured seat upon your return from Hatyai visit back to KL.
ReplyDeleteHi Mr KM,
ReplyDeleteThx for your quick updates. Appreciate it :)
Yep, my concern is also during sch hols, there will be bigger crowd & i read that, the ETS can cater up to 1225 seats, if only 50% is full, that would be 613 passengers, but shuttle train from Padang Besar to Hatyai can only cater for 168 passengers :(
Thus, my plan B would be taking a minibus services as i read in http://www.train36.com/ktm-padang-besar.html, there is a minibus services from Padang Besar to Hat Yai bus station that leaves from the centre of town (about 10 to 15 minutes walk away from the border checkpoint exit). But i'm not sure 'the border checkpoint exit' refers to Msia's checkpoint or Thailand's checkpoint...can you shed some lights to me here ?
Thx again.
Cheers.
I believe during the peak season, the Thai authorities will put on more coaches to accommodate the increased tourist traffic and allowed sufficient time for passengers with train tickets to board. As for Plan B, if you miss the train, just queue up at the Malaysian Immigration checkpoint and after clearance walk up to the 1st floor and take the sky bridge ( most locals / Thais do ) and when you reach the end of the sky bridge, you will see the Thai Immigration checkpoint. From there your challenge starts to find a mini van or private taxi to take you to the Padang Besar town where there is a mini van station to take you to Hatyai town. Plan B is more bureaucratic & incur extra transport costs. Hope the foregoing helps.
ReplyDelete