Ride to Hatyai

This is actually a spontaneous ride. Mike, who had messaged me a few weeks earlier about his interest to join me if I intend to ride across the border again. I told Mike that I am riding a Yamaha 135LC cubchai and he is riding a Yamaha YZF-R25. Can he cope with my "slowness" as I shall cruise at a constant speed of 100km/h only for long distance ride? He said he's okay with it. If he's okay, I'm okay. hehehe

Seems that on Monday 24th April 2017 has been declared as a public holiday in conjunction with the Coronation of the Yang Di Pertuan Agong, I have decided to organise a short ride to Hatyai on 23rd April to 24th April 2017. I told Mike about it and he said ok. 

21st April 2017 Friday

Mike and I had a short discussion on that matter during dinner at Bangkok Station, Bandar Perda. I told him what are the procedures and the documents required to cross the border. I also stressed the importance to be on extra alert while riding in Thailand as we do not want any mishap to occur over there. After all, safety is our main concern. Mike told me that his friend, Megat from KL will join us.

23rd April 2017 Sunday

9:00am

Our rendezvous point was at Shell Station Sungai Dua, at the North-South Expressway. Both Mike & Megat were there when I arrived.

Our ride consists of;

1. Me on Yamaha 135LC

2. Mike on Yamaha YZF-R25

3. Megat on Yamaha YZF-R25

My bike is the smallest. hehehe

Once everyone is ready, off we go!

9:40am

We stopped at Caltex Gurun R&R for me to refuel. My 135LC tank capacity is only 4.2liters. We immediately continued our ride through the North-South Expressway. We rode at a constant speed of 100 - 110km/h. I told them if they wish to go faster than I am, please do so & wait for me at Changloon. But both of them decided to follow my speed. hehehe

10;45am

We reached Changloon and stopped at one of the outlets to purchase Thai motor insurance. It is a third-party insurance for Malaysian vehicles in Thailand. The cost is RM14 & valid for 9 days.

Megat's first time ride his bike outside KL
...and outside Malaysia too.

Changloon has lot of outlets that sell Thai vehicle insurance. You can purchase it at any outlets there. Even Caltex & Shell station at Gurun R&R also sell Thai vehicle insurance. We chose Changloon due to some extra convenience there.

Before crossing the border, we filled our tanks at BHP station, Bukit Kayu Hitam. This is the last gas station in the northern part of Kedah. 

11:00am

Then it's time to enter the Malaysian CIQ complex at Bukit Kayu Hitam and the Thai CIQ complex at Dannok. The whole process to stamp our passports and obtained our vehicle permit to enter Thailand took more than an hour.

I got to know that this is Megat's first ride outside KL with his new bike... and outside Malaysia too. Steady.

12:30pm (M'sia time) / 11:30am (Thai time)

The time difference between M'sia & Thailand is by 1 hour.

We went to a  nearby phone outlet cum money changer to change the currency and to get Thai prepaid sim cards. It is a lot cheaper to use Thai prepaid data plan & use our social media to communicate than using International Roaming. We used DTAC sim cards. The data plan is 19Baht for 24 hours.

After that we ride on to Hatyai. The road over there is almost the same as Malaysia. However, we need to be extra cautious as we do not wish for any mishaps. Better safe than sorry. We rode at a constant speed of 90 - 100km/h.

12:45pm Thai time.

I shall use Thai local time from here.

We reached Hatyai and we went to the Kai Tod Decha restaurant for lunch. The place is famous for its Thai chicken rice. They also have other Thai dishes on the menu. This place is quite crowded with Malaysian tourists.

2:00pm

We reached our hotel. It's called The Bedroom. The room rate is 450THB/night. Nice & cosy with friendly staff.

My plan was to go to the Khlong Hae floating market early but unfortunately it was raining quite heavily. But lucky for us it didn't rain before we reached the hotel.

5:00pm

The rain had stopped. We rode to the Khlong Hae floating market. There were lots of Malaysian and local tourists. We're also tourists what? hehehe

We had some light tit-bits and drinks as I told Mike & Megat that we shall have a real dinner at another place afterwards.

6:00pm

As a normal practise in Thailand, at 6:00pm the Thai National Anthem will be played through the loudspeaker and everyone stopped whatever they're doing and stood up for the anthem.

6:45pm

Then we rode to another place for dinner. The place is called Chalee D'Hatyai restaurant. I asked Mike & Megat, what would you like to eat? I mean real authentic Thai dishes. Both of them said they wanted to try the dishes that were not available at many tomyam outlets in Malaysia. Ok, the waitress recommended the fish kaeng som, we added squid mixed with salted eggs, kailan with oyster sauce & other dishes. Wallawey... the kaeng som was superb!

9:45pm

After we have had our dinner, we rode to the ASEAN Night Bazaar. The place was crowded with Malaysian tourists and locals. We walked around, bought some things and carry on window shopping. The Ringgit Malaysia had dropped compared to Thai Baht but the goods sold here is reasonably priced. Not too expensive. No wonder lots of Malaysians are still going to Thailand for shopping. Just imagine if RM bounced back stronger as it was three years ago.

10:50pm

After we had made a full 'tour' of  the place, we decided to 'lepak' and have a drink somewhere. We rode to the Lee Garden area but the place was overcrowded with Malaysian tourists. This is a common scene, when there's a public holiday in Malaysia, Malaysians will flock Hatyai, especially the Lee Garden area. I decided to divert our destination. We went to the market area instead.

11:00pm

The market area is officially known as Hatyai Plaza Trade Centre but for Malaysians and tuk-tuk drivers, they prefer to call it 'Pasar'. If you tell the tuk-tuk driver or the motorcycle taxi rider you want to go to 'Pasar', they know where to take you.

There are lots of Muslim street food hawkers outside the pasar at night. The place is commonly visited by the locals. Not many Malaysian tourists know about this place and the best part is, the food here is cheaper than the ones at the food stalls outside Lee Garden area. To describe it briefly, the place looks somewhat like the stalls at Tamil Street beside Penang Chowrasta Market.

12:00am

After 'lepaking' and having our drinks, we called it a day and off we go back to our hotel. It was quite a tiring day after the long ride.

24th April 2017 Monday

7:30am

We went to have our breakfast at a place called Tontamrab Muslim Restaurant. There were lots of Malaysian tourists there also.

After we have had our breakfast, we went to the Santisuk Market and stroll around the area by foot. Seems it was still early, many outlets were not open yet but the street vendors selling tshirts, bags and souvenirs are available around the Lee Garden area.

After that we went back to the hotel to freshen up again before checking out.

10:30am

We checked-out from the hotel. We went to the Yamaha Square service centre located not far from our hotel.

Aerox 155 a.k.a. NVX 155

65,100THB = RM8,160 (direct conversion)
We''ll see how much Hong Leong Yamaha will price it. 

Yamaha Filano, the Vespa contender?

Exciter 150 (Y15ZR)

GT125 (Ego Avantiz)

There were not much Yamaha models displayed. The one that attracted me was the Aerox 155 scooter also known as NVX 155. It's the latest scooter from Yamaha. At that time, this model is not being officially launched in Malaysia yet.

11:00am

After we have done visiting the Yamaha Square, we rode further northeast, heading towards Songkhla. The distance from Hatyai to Songkhla is about 32km. Approximately the same distance from Butterworth to Sungai Petani. The ride took about half an hour. I had to refuel on the way to Songkhla.

11:35am

We reached Chalathat Beach, Songkhla. We are now officially reached the east coast on the northern part of Peninsula Malaysia.

Chalathat Beach

The local girls are friendly & sporting when we asked to
take photos with them even when
they can't speak Malay or English.

We took some photos, and of course, who wouldn't want to take photos with the icon of Samila Beach - the Mermaid statue.

We rode on to the Nag Serpent statue. Its tail, body & head were located at separate places.

1:00pm

After finished touring Samila beach, we rode back south to Dannok. Along the way, I noticed there was a Malaysian couple riding on a Kawasaki Z250SL joining us. I didn't get the chance to greet them as they went separate way upon reaching Dannok.

We rode at a constant speed of between 90 - 100km/h. Before reaching Sadao, I was quite worried as my fuel gauge needle had reached the red zone. Hopefully I can cross the border before my tank dries.

2:40pm

We had our late lunch here at Dannok. It's called the Muslim Kitchen, located on the opposite of MacDonald's.

After lunch, we changed back our currency to Ringgit Malaysia and off we go to the border.

3:30pm

The queue at the Thai CIQ was very long for vehicles. We are fortunate that the queue for motorcyclists is not too long.

The Malaysian CIQ part was easy for motorcyclists.

5:00pm (M'sia time)

My 135LC fuel gauge needle had gone 'deep' into the red zone. LOL. We filled our tanks at BHP station, Bukit Kayu Hitam and off we rode south.

On the way back, it rained quite heavily somewhere near Pendang.

7:00pm

I had to exit through Sungai Petani to refuel again at Caltex Taman Sejati. From there, we went separate ways as Megat will continue his ride back to KL.

8:00pm

Safely reached home.

That sums up our short ride to Hatyai. All the best and thank you so much, Mike & Megat. You guys are such fun & sporting ride buddies.

Till the next ride.

Adios amigos!