A visit to Satun (Setul)

This time my trip was by car. It was during the monsoon season and it rained almost everyday. Hence, I have decided to make this trip via four wheels instead.

During my last hangout with Zally in early December, we decided to make a day trip to Satun, a place where both of us had never been before. I was quite fascinated by the idea as I remembered when I was a kid, my parents went there with my younger sister, leaving me at home. hehehe

They went there by boat from Kuala Perlis to Setul (or Setui as the locals called it). My parents brought back a Siamese cat when they came home. I was really delighted with it. I named the cat 'Comot'. That's the only thing I know about Setui. hehehe

Well, those were the days. How I love my childhood memories :)

A sample photo of a Siamese cat.

Here's a brief info about Satun. Satun is located at the South-West of Thailand, bordering Malaysian state of Perlis. The name Satun is a Thai version of its original Malay name, Setul (santol, or wild mangosteen tree).

Satun is a Muslim majority province where 67.8% are Muslims and 31.9% are Buddhists.

For more info about Satun, please click on this link: Satun Province

Tuesday, 23 December 2014

9.30am

I drove my car from Butterworth to Alor Star. I cruised below the speed limit along the North-South Highway as I had nothing to rush. I really enjoyed the scenery of paddy fields on both sides of the highway. Furthermore, the fuel consumption is low if I drive 110km/h and below. "We must be prudent and work harder." - I've heard this quote somewhere before but can't remember who said it. hehehe 

10.30am

Reached Alor Star and parked my car near Zally's office. Zally was waiting for me and I hopped into his car. We used the trunk road from Alor Star to Kuala Perlis as Zally had to make a stop there to buy ferry tickets to Langkawi. He planned to go to Langkawi with his wife on the next morning.

12.00pm

From Kuala Perlis we moved on to Wang Kelian through Kangar. It was drizzling occasionally. Along the way to Wang Kelian, there was an area where the water had risen a bit but the vehicles can still pass through.

Flooded a bit somewhere in Perlis but passable by vehicles.

1.00pm

Upon reaching Wang Kelian, we stamped our passports at the immigration counter. Normally, getting across the border between Malaysia and Thailand at Wang Kelian does not require passports if you intend to go for shopping there but limited up to 1km distance from both borders. However, if you intend to go beyond it, then normal immigration regulation is required.

After we had done with all the documentations, we took the opportunity to take some photos with the Thai Customs officer who handled our vehicle permit to enter Thailand. Why? Because it's The Land of Smiles. hehehe

With the Thai Customs officer in her office. Cute, isn't she? :)

Furthermore, there were not much crowd during weekdays. Wang Kelian will only be packed on Saturdays and Sundays only. You can read my previous post about Wang Kelian here: Ride to Wang Kelian

Zally with all the necessary documents at the Thai Immigration counter.

Taleban? hehehe

It was noon and we need to fill our tummies. We had a light meal there, I'm not sure what they called it, looks like a briyani rice with fried chicken. It was in a small quantity packed in a small styrofoam container. Yes, they were still using styrofoam container to pack food while in Malaysia we are in the midst of phasing out the usage of styrofoam food container. It is bad to our health and the environment.

Welcome to the Land of Smiles :)

2.15pm

After we took some photos of Wang Kelian, or Wang Prachan on Thai side, we moved on towards Satun.

This place is usually crowded on Saturdays and Sundays.

The road to Satun.

For those who wish to get married here.
The old wooden house looks kinda scary to me.

There was a military checkpoint just a few kilometers before we reached Satun. Our car boot was being searched as a standard procedure.

Driving in an unfamiliar territories is easy when we have a GPS. Nowadays many cars have an option with built-in navigation system. We are lucky living in this hi-tech age. hehehe

A nice anime art on a bus.

I've spotted a few Perodua Kancil with Thai registration plate here.

Main road in Satun.

With the navigation system, I set the course to Masjid Mambang, the Satun central mosque. The Mambang mosque was formerly known as Tengah or Hakibi Mosque, built during the reign of Tun Ku Muhammed Akem, the ruler of Satun. The original mosque was a single-storey with 13m x 15m in size. It was demolished in 1974 and rebuilt to its present state now. The cost of rebuilding the mosque was 11.98million Baht. The construction was completed and officiated by King Bhumibol Adulyadej on 20th September 1979.

The distance from Wang Kelian border to Satun town is 40km, about 45 minutes drive.

3.15pm

We performed our Zuhr prayer there and took some photos. Then we decided to go to the Satun museum as we were keen to know the history of Satun which was formerly under the Kingdom of Kedah Sultanate before the British drew the border line that separated Satun from Kedah in 1909.

Smoking is Haraam.

Prayer times in Satun.

The ablution place.

Some reading materials in the compound.

Toilet.

The Well.

The well used for ablution during the old times.

We asked a Muslim girl at at the restaurant opposite the mosque for the direction to the museum but she was not really well versed in Malay. Luckily she pointed towards a billboard map nearby. The distance should be nearby and we could go there by foot. We looked at the map but still couldn't figure out exactly on how to get there. Seems we were unable to locate the museum, we had no choice but seek the assistance from the vehicle navigation system. hehehe

The clock tower outside the mosque.

4.00pm

The museum was not far from the mosque but the location was not quite visible from the main road as there was no signage pointing towards the museum. Upon arrival, we only got to know that the museum was closed on every Monday and Tuesday. Adoi! I guess I have to come here again in the very near future, with my old and faithful Yamaha Lagenda 110 lah. hehehe

Satun National Museum.

The Satun National Museum was formerly the Ku Den Mansion / Istana Tengku Kudin of Kedah.

Juliet: "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?"
Me: "Romeo must die! Muahahahahahahahaaa...!!!"
Actually, I don't know who left this rose and for whom.

4.15pm

After we took some photos outside the museum, we set our next destination to Tanyong Po (Tanjung Pauh, in Malay) as I read in some blogs that there were lots of seafood outlets there. Off we go!

The road to Tanyong Po was quite remote and surrounded by mangrove swamp. When there's mangrove swamp, that means the sea is nearby. There were some potholes along the road, perhaps were caused by the constant rain during the monsoon.

The distance from Satun town to Tanyong Po is 20km, about 40 minutes drive.

4.40pm

Once we reached there, we missed the junction to the beach and got ourselves at Pasir Panjang. The villagers there were mostly Muslims. We asked a shop owner at Pasir Panjang and she gave us the right direction to the beach. She speaks Malay fluently. The Muslims in Satun speaks Malay in Kedah accent. Unlike the Muslims in Songkhla where they speak Malay in Kelantanese accent as most of them originated from the Patani, Yala & Narathiwat province.

Pasir Panjang Mosque

The road heading to the beach.

It was raining.

4.50pm

At the beach of Tanyong Po, to my surprise, my mobile phone received Celcom signal. Although the signal was not strong but I was able to make a call to a friend, Fazli Babjee in Penang & send photos through WhatsApp, just to test the network. I searched for my location in Google Map and found that my mobile phone signal was hooked to a Celcom Base Transmission Station (BTS) in Langkawi. Cool! (Please note that I had manually deactivated the International Roaming).

This is how I got my mobile phone signal from Celcom transmission tower in Langkawi.

There were several seafood outlets along the beach. We just picked an outlet at random just to try it. Seems the two of us were not really seafood enthusiasts, we just ordered some simple dishes. A steamed siakap (barramundi) with lime and chili (siakap masak stim limau) and a plate of mixed vegetables.

I don't know what the sign said. Forgot to ask the staff there.

Hit this 'tabuh' for service. hehehe

While waiting for the food, we took some photos and posed at the beach... hey, we were tourists also what? hehehe

The steamed siakap was quite large and the two of us could hardly finished it. The fish was fresh and well steam-cooked. Awesome!

It was drizzling occasionally. The rain, the sea breeze, the cool atmosphere, the hot dishes and the hot drinks made me felt like I wanted to stay here much longer... Oh, I'll be back for sure.

Musholla (prayer room)

Here's the coordinates:

6.591733, 99.949225

or

6°35'30.2"N 99°56'57.2"E

6.00pm

After we have had our meal and enjoyed the cool sea breeze, it's time to head towards our next destination.

Mangrove swamp on both side of the road.

This type of power lines is a common sight in Thailand.

6.30pm

We stopped by at a gas station to freshen up a bit and bought some bottled water to quench our thirst before we moved on.

Current fuel prices in Thailand.
The prices varied from time to time based on the global oil market price.
Malaysia is adapting to the similar pricing system now.

Banana! (say it like the Minions)

Urinals located outside the toilet is a common thing in Thailand.
The true definition of  'public toilet'. hehehe

Many gas stations in Thailand have a partnership with Amazon Cafe (or other cafes)
and 7-Eleven (or other mini convenient stores).

The border crossing at Wang Kelian closed at 8pm and we did not want to rush things. So, we decided that we shall cross the border at Bukit Kayu Hitam as the border gates over there closed at 12 midnight. In order to get there we had to travel via Hatyai. 

The highway from Satun to Hatyai was in good condition, only it was quite dark and we had to be extra cautious driving in the rain.

The distance from Satun to Hatyai is 100km, about one and a half hours drive. Along the way, it rained heavily.

8.00pm

We reached Hatyai. Initially we intend to have our dinner at one of the street hawkers there but since it was raining, we cancelled the dinner plan but went for a light shopping instead. Zally bought some shirts while I was just window shopping for military items. I repeat, just window shopping only. hehehe

Christmas Decorations in Hatyai

Even though the majority of Thais are Buddhist,
they still have Christmas decorations at shopping malls and hotels.
I guess it's for the foreign tourist attraction.

9.00pm

After we've done with Hatyai, we drove back towards Danok.

The distance from Hatyai to the border is 60km, about 50 minutes drive.

10.00pm

We had our dinner in Danok. The place is called Muslim Kitchen. I'm not sure whether it belongs to the same owner of Muslim Kitchen in Betong or not. In Danok, the rain had stopped. Zally had a fried beehoon while I had the sticky rice with fried chicken.

One thing I like about the food in Thailand is that their rice is of a good quality. No matter how small the outlet or just a street hawker food, the rice and the sticky rice are from good quality Siamese rice. I'm not trying to undermine Malaysian rice but it's the truth.

Sticky rice + fried chicken + fried onion + Thai chili sauce. Yummy!

11.00pm

We crossed the border back to Bukit Kayu Hitam and drove to Alor Star, where I parked my car. It was time for us to go separate ways as Zally will have another adventure to Langkawi with his wife on the next morning, celebrating his wife's birthday over there. 

12.00am

From Alor Star, I drove my car back to Butterworth and reached home at 1.00am.

It was great to travel and discover the places that we have never been before, as the saying goes; "our lessons come from the journey, not the destination."

To sum things up, I can consider this trip as a recce trip for my next 'kapcai' ride to Satun or Setul/Setui. Till then, cheers!