Anyone drove from SG to Bangkok before? Any advice?

[Leowak]

Another qns

 

Well I know they don't have real interstate highways as we would know it in Thailand, but do they have rest stops along the way like what we see in Malaysia? Maybe some cheap hotels/motels for over night stays?

 

Im asking this because I may not wish to deviate too far from the main road to Bangkok for the entire journey just to eat and rest. Using GPS is one thing, but its not foolproof. Google Maps made me go around in circles for my last trip from Bangkok to Ayuttaya .. It was big wide open spaces but still like that... sigh... Therefore I would like to stay on course as much as possible just to be safe and sure.

 

 

Hi Cheefarn,

 

There is no big R&Rs/RSAs along Thailand's highways like what we see in Malaysia. However, you might notice some coffee shops along the way. There might also be F&B facilities in some petrol stations. I've attached some photos to show you a few which I've stopped at.

 

And you are right! My exact sentiments - do it before we're too old to. My back aches these days just driving to Cameron Highlands! And do it while your car is still in a good shape. Perhaps, the more we drive up north, the healthier the car would be!

 

I drive into Bolehland often as well. Have also taken many back roads across the peninsula and in the east coast. Although potholes are common in Malaysia's small roads, those I've encountered in Thailand were craters in comparison. Perhaps it was a unique occasion due to the massive flood in 2011, and the roads I took were badly flooded weeks before. To be fair, not all roads in Thailand were that bad. The worst I've encountered was the stretch from Nakhon Sawan to Tak.

 

With another car in front of you, both travelling at high speeds with a few metres apart, the amount of reaction time you would have upon seeing a crater would be less than a second. And some were not just deep but huge, hence with no chance of avoiding. Those aggressive turbo diesel trucks in Thailand could just bash through the surface of the moon. So if you were to follow behind them at high speeds, be prepared for potential surprises that could left you with no time to react. So, don't follow too closely with the car in front if you can, but the pressure from the fast and furious Thai drivers behind you is real :)

[Cheefarn]

Thanks bro really appreciate your effort.

 

Hmmm most roads in Bangkok are surprisingly pothole free although lane markings are often faded. Even the highway from Bangkok to ayattuya was surprisingly smooth despite the messy surroundings along part of the stretch.

 

I guess they paid more attention to the capital ba

[AndyTan_156353]

I drove from changrai to Jb once and lost count on how many times from Sgp to hat yai. So I can say I drove thru the north to the south of 2 countries.

Just that the trip from sgp to hatyai was with my fd1. The changrai to Jb trip was with a thai reg Isuzu

Dmax. It took me about 3 days to reach Jb from changrai and in between stopped over in Bangkok for a nights rest. It's really not advisable to travel till bkk with your sgp car. If you intend to spend all this money on petrol, toll, insurance and the wear and tear damages on your car I suggest it's cheaper you travel till thai then rent a car. I was like you wanna drive ur own car there and all but dun forget that's not your country. Eyes will be on you when u travel around. Park at somewhere not safe , I bet you will cry when you return to pick up your car and find it gone. And trust me it's really not that safe in thai then u think. Your car lost is small thing , safety is more impt . Well I got a feeling you will still drive there after many cautions from the guys here, I would too, so just do what you want but just bear the consequences. Some on the road advice would be, always rest If your eyes are tired especially traveling at night and dun keep staring at those reflective road dividers, if you get too tired you will tend to wanna drive towards it. Dun know why, but maybe it's diff for every individual. In Thai if wanna take a short rest while driving, try not to anyhow just park at the side of the road or driv into those smaller petrol station and park to take short nap. I ever parked at the small petrol station to have a rest with my wife and both of us had an encounter with those spritual things. Wah..I'm having goosebumps just thinking about it again. Most imptly, Find big petrol stations where there are more ppl to take rests. Btw you speak Thai? If you dun, just pray you dun encounter any police there. But I doubt so as there are many road blocks at night. Police there are just quite similar to Malaysian police but maybe smarter. Ok these are a only a fraction of the problems or things to take note of. Haha . You can update us on your trip if you really go ahead with it... And have a safe trip...

[Cheefarn]

I drove from changrai to Jb once and lost count on how many times from Sgp to hat yai. So I can say I drove thru the north to the south of 2 countries.

Just that the trip from sgp to hatyai was with my fd1. The changrai to Jb trip was with a thai reg Isuzu

Dmax. It took me about 3 days to reach Jb from changrai and in between stopped over in Bangkok for a nights rest. It's really not advisable to travel till bkk with your sgp car. If you intend to spend all this money on petrol, toll, insurance and the wear and tear damages on your car I suggest it's cheaper you travel till thai then rent a car. I was like you wanna drive ur own car there and all but dun forget that's not your country. Eyes will be on you when u travel around. Park at somewhere not safe , I bet you will cry when you return to pick up your car and find it gone. And trust me it's really not that safe in thai then u think. Your car lost is small thing , safety is more impt . Well I got a feeling you will still drive there after many cautions from the guys here, I would too, so just do what you want but just bear the consequences. Some on the road advice would be, always rest If your eyes are tired especially traveling at night and dun keep staring at those reflective road dividers, if you get too tired you will tend to wanna drive towards it. Dun know why, but maybe it's diff for every individual. In Thai if wanna take a short rest while driving, try not to anyhow just park at the side of the road or driv into those smaller petrol station and park to take short nap. I ever parked at the small petrol station to have a rest with my wife and both of us had an encounter with those spritual things. Wah..I'm having goosebumps just thinking about it again. Most imptly, Find big petrol stations where there are more ppl to take rests. Btw you speak Thai? If you dun, just pray you dun encounter any police there. But I doubt so as there are many road blocks at night. Police there are just quite similar to Malaysian police but maybe smarter. Ok these are a only a fraction of the problems or things to take note of. Haha . You can update us on your trip if you really go ahead with it... And have a safe trip...

Whoa bro, simi spiritual things? I want to meet a real ghost for once yo LOL.

 

I do agree with you that throughout the journey you will be the center of attraction, for better or worse...

 

I am still considering, but my g... ermm close fren doesn't want me to do so as well. She is she don't want me to take any risk en route just to visit her. She looks forward to see every time, and she will be worried sick if I do such illogical things. She wants to see our future, not our end...

 

Ok la looks like I'll have to make do with driving her Ford Fiesta whenever I visit her. Just try to ignore the Hello Kitty steering wheel covers, shift knob, seat belts and headrest covers LOL

[Adrianli]

I wana plan for a drive to BKK in the near future, have your trip materialised?

 

Thinking of stopovers,

 

From SG to BKK, Penang -> Surat Thani -> BKK.

 

From BKK to SG, Hua Hin -> Hatyai-> KL -> SG.

 

Doable?

[kdash]

I wana plan for a drive to BKK in the near future, have your trip materialised?

 

Thinking of stopovers,

 

From SG to BKK, Penang -> Surat Thani -> BKK.

 

From BKK to SG, Hua Hin -> Hatyai-> KL -> SG.

 

Doable?

waa have a good trip!

[Adrianli]

waa have a good trip!

Not yet. Was talking to wife and she asked why dont i drive to BKK. So i tot, why not. So need to do a little planning. Hope to do a 2 week trip, slow and steady, no rush.

[TameDriver]

I wana plan for a drive to BKK in the near future, have your trip materialised?

 

Thinking of stopovers,

 

From SG to BKK, Penang -> Surat Thani -> BKK.

 

From BKK to SG, Hua Hin -> Hatyai-> KL -> SG.

 

Doable?

 

Doable. But try not to arrive Bkk during evening rush hour. Or spend a nite in Cha'am & enter BKK after 10am.

[Mcf777]

I wana plan for a drive to BKK in the near future, have your trip materialised?

 

Thinking of stopovers,

 

From SG to BKK, Penang -> Surat Thani -> BKK.

 

From BKK to SG, Hua Hin -> Hatyai-> KL -> SG.

 

Doable?

 

Im planning this November for a 10-15days if time permit.

No fix date. Can travel anytime if my children dont have any school activity

 

After the Phuket trip, single driver not easy.

Will arrange for a shorter 5-6hrs daily drive.

Reach Bangkok on the 4th day.

 

Below are the possible stops for the night

Penang

Alor setar

Hatyai 

Nakon Si Thammarat

Surat Thani

Chumpon

Prachuap Khiri Khan

Hua Hin

Bangkok

[Adrianli]

Im planning this November for a 10-15days if time permit.

No fix date. Can travel anytime if my children dont have any school activity

 

After the Phuket trip, single driver not easy.

Will arrange for a shorter 5-6hrs daily drive.

Reach Bangkok on the 4th day.

 

Below are the possible stops for the night

Penang

Alor setar

Hatyai

Nakon Si Thammarat

Surat Thani

Chumpon

Prachuap Khiri Khan

Hua Hin

Bangkok

Thatz too many stops already. I planning to drive about 400 to 500km per day or about 6 to 7 hours per day with about one break every 3 to 4 hours. And only drive in daylight hours.

Doable. But try not to arrive Bkk during evening rush hour. Or spend a nite in Cha'am & enter BKK after 10am.

I know from my experience driving between Hua Hin and BKK. But Pratunam area, every daylight hour also jam!

[13177]

Driving in BKK is a nightmare le. I rented a car in BKK to drive to pattaya before, only drive in BKK for a short while and the traffic was heavy sia but quite an experience la. Lol.

[Adrianli]

Unless you have some place you want to visit in Penang, I prefer to stop at Alor Setar instead of Penang, less traffic and less time spent driving into/out of Penang. From Alor Setar, it's very near to BKH so you will reach Surat Thani in good time.

My mention of Penang is the Butterworth side, not the island side. Stopped there last year on my way to Phuket. I like the place, Butterworth. The beach seafood restaurants and the business hotel, Sunway hotel. Also next to huge Sunway mall to top up necessities before entering Thailand.

[Adrianli]

Also i try to plan stopovers at different places for going up and coming back. So get to visit various towns.

[Beregond]

I wana plan for a drive to BKK in the near future, have your trip materialised?

 

Thinking of stopovers,

 

From SG to BKK, Penang -> Surat Thani -> BKK.

 

From BKK to SG, Hua Hin -> Hatyai-> KL -> SG.

 

Doable?

go do a car full servicing and check up first.

 

check spare tyres , jump start cable etc lol.

 

enjoy man

[Adrianli]

go do a car full servicing and check up first.

 

check spare tyres , jump start cable etc lol.

 

enjoy man

 

I planning to do it next year. @Mcf777 is doing it in Nov this year.

 

I got no more leave to do it this year. I will be on a 3,000km round MY trip next month for one week. And another two weeks in NYC in Oct, driving from NYC to Niagara Falls. So no more leave left for this year.

[13177]

I planning to do it next year. @Mcf777 is doing it in Nov this year.

 

I got no more leave to do it this year. I will be on a 3,000km round MY trip next month for one week. And another two weeks in NYC in Oct, driving from NYC to Niagara Falls. So no more leave left for this year.

Your road trip sound so exciting and fun.    

[Shibadog]

Not yet. Was talking to wife and she asked why dont i drive to BKK. So i tot, why not. So need to do a little planning. Hope to do a 2 week trip, slow and steady, no rush.

 

 

I don't like to drive in/around bkk.

 

I would stay outside BKK, perhaps kanchanaburi? unless there's something essential in BKK that requires my presence.

[Cool79]

like driving up very taxing, plus flying over maybe cheaper, i think i may fly over n buy car parts in bkk then bring back home. hehe