Ride to Betong, Thailand

JUNE 2012

Ronnie and I decided to ride across the border with our kapcais (moped). This was quite interesting for me as I have never been to Betong, Thailand before.

On a fine Saturday morning, we meet up at Petronas near JPJ Seberang Jaya. Ronnie with his Yamaha 135LC and I with my Yamaha Lagenda 110. We began our ride after filling up the tanks.

We rode via the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE) from Seberang Jaya to Kupang, Baling. After riding for about 60km, we stopped for refuelling at Caltex station at Kupang. 

Ready to rock n roll!

Seems it was still early, we decided to try a longer route via the Baling-Gerik Road just for fun and to see the places where I have never been before. As the old saying, "it's not the destination that matters, it's the journey".

Our plan was to ride through Baling - Gerik - Pengkalan Hulu. The road is wide and winding throughout the hills. It was a great fun riding on the long sweeping curves. Unfortunately, the fastest my kapcai can get during the climb was only 70km/h. The Baling-Gerik Road is more suitable for higher cc bikes to be enjoyed with. But that doesn't mean  you can't enjoy it with a kapcai. Just enjoy the ride at your own pace. The scenery along the way was beautiful with lots of kampung houses.

After riding for 50km through the Baling-Gerik Road, we stopped for refreshments at a mamak restaurant (I forgot its name) situated at the junction between Baling-Gerik Road and Baling-Kuala Kangsar Road. We moved on after having our teh tarik and roti canai there, heading towards Pengkalan Hulu through the Baling-Kuala Kangsar Road.

We reached Pengkalan Hulu after 40km ride. We stopped for refueling at Petronas Pengkalan Hulu. This is the last petrol station before we crossed the border. Petrol in Thailand is more expensive, therefore it is advisable to fill-up the tanks over here.

From the Petronas station, we use Betong Road heading towards the border. The distance from Petronas to border is about 6.5km.

Finally, we reached the Malaysia-Thai border at around noon. As it was Saturday, a lot of Malaysians were seen crossing the border. On the Malaysian Immigration side, the process was very smooth as our Malaysian passports use the embedded microchip and do not require them to be stamped. Furthermore, we don't need to dismount from our bikes. Just hand our passports to the Immigration officer through the window and everything was done within a minute. 

Meanwhile, at the Thai Immigration counter, the process to stamp our passports took a bit longer as the queue was quite long and we were required to fill-in the entry/exit form (the white card). After we got our passports stamped, we need to deal with the Thai Customs Dept for our motorcycles documentations. The whole process took about an hour at the Thai checkpoint.

After everything was settled, we continued our ride to Betong town. The distance from the Immigration Checkpoint to Betong town is about 7km with less than 10 minutes ride.

Upon reaching Betong town, we just ride around all the streets that we could enter, went into a tunnel, then came out on the other side and then round and round again until we find the Betong City Convention Hall where the largest mailbox in the world is situated. Beside the building there was an uptown style bazaar and we stopped by to have our lunch and some light shopping.

As Betong is located near the Malaysian border and a huge  number of Malaysian visitors came here for shopping and food, the Ringgit Malaysia currency is widely accepted here. That means you don't have to worry about seeking for the money changer. The simple exchange rate here is 10 Baht = RM1.

Betong City Convention Hall

 The colorful mobile toilets (what the...?)

This gate represents the 3 major ethnics in Betong - Thai, Malay and Chinese. 

 Halal food is easily available.

Apam Balik Thai style

Briyani Rice Thai style

 Cakes / desserts. They're too sweet for my taste.

Laksa Siam

Lunch 

 Bakery Chick

The funny thing was, we were at the largest mailbox but we forgot to take some photos of it. The mailbox is located at the back of the tower in this photo (not visible from this angle).

 They sell BB guns openly over here. Ronnie posing with a machete.

As Betong is not too far from the 'hot zone' where occasional bombings and insurgents attack were being reported in the neighbouring provinces, the presence of a number of security personnel here had brought a sense of security to us. Among the men in their digital camo uniforms, there were also a small number of Royal Thai Police EOD personnel in their jumpsuits (or some may call it flight suit). EOD means they're from the bomb squad (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). I didn't take any photo of them as I dare not to.

Not all Muslims here can speak Malay but almost in every Muslim outlet/shop/stall there will be at least one person who can speak Malay in a Kelantanese accent. I guess they're from Pattani, Yala & Narathiwat.

After we're done with that place, we went to other parts of Betong town looking for some t-shirts as souvenir.

An outlet that sells military gear and BB guns

When Ronnie was taking this photo, the salesgirl shouted, "No photo! No photo!"
I guess it's because they're selling imitation brand items.

Initially we intend to visit the Piyamit Tunnel, a tunnel system and underground base built by the Malayan Communist insurgents during the 2nd Malayan Emergency. It was getting late and we had to cancel the visit as it is located further north from Betong town.

We went back to the border and this time, the process at the Thai Immigration Checkpoint was quite fast and it took less than 15 minutes to cross the border.

Going back home, we took a shorter route i.e. Pengkalan Hulu - Baling - BKE - Seberang Jaya. We stopped at Shell station in Karangan, Padang Serai for refueling after 68km of riding from the border. 

Tired but happy faces.

It was drizzling a bit and we continued our ride 30km more until Seberang Jaya where we went separate ways to our homes.

It was a simple and enjoyable day trip ride with our kapcais. Yes, I am a simple guy who enjoys a simple life.

Cheerio!