The easiest way to go to Penang from Phuket is to fly with airlines serving this route. But for travellers with a tight budget, the overland option would be your best bet (unless there’s an airfare promo).
If you don’t want to bother yourself from researching this info, you could just book from a travel agency. We asked around the town and got quoted for THB1000 for this route. We found it a bit expensive, so we opted to just DIY this trip.
Phuket Town to Hat Yai
From Phuket Town Bus Station, we booked a bus to Hat Yai which cost THB267/person. This is a 2nd class bus which was nevertheless still very comfortable. You could only buy this ticket on the day of the trip. We learned that you cannot buy the ticket in advance for this class of bus. The trip from Phuket to Hat Yai took us eight hours (8PM-4AM).
Hat Yai Bus Station
Once in Hat Yai bus station, we waited for three hours before we were able to buy the ticket from Hat Yai to Padang Besar (border). You could buy from the travel agencies surrounding the station a package that could take you directly to Penang. We were quoted THB350 which we found expensive considering that the cost of van to the border is only THB50. So we opted to take the latter.
Hat Yai to Padang Besar — Border Crossing
The trip from Hat Yai to Padang Besar was around 2 – 3 hours. Once in the Thai border, we walked towards the Thai Immigration and got our exit stamp. We then walked towards the Malaysian Immigration for about 15-20 minutes and asked for the entry stamp.
The immigration officers seemed shocked to see us, maybe because we were just walking. We didn’t see any tourists during that day and it also seemed that they’re not used to any tourists on that border. Most people crossing that border during that time were local Malaysians and Thais and they were either on their cars or their vans.
They were very kind to us and asked us how long we want to stay in Malaysia. I just said 20-30 days. I was expecting that he would just give me a 15 day entry just like in Thailand (for overland crossing) but he gave me 30 days.
I then asked how to go to Penang from that border and he said that there’s a bus outside the border that goes to Kangar Station and from Kangar we could take another bus to Butterworth or Georgetown.
Padang Besar to Kangar
As soon as we exited the border we then asked around for the bus or train. The locals said there’s no schedule for the train so we could just wait for the bus to Kangar.
We walked around and asked different people and they all said the same thing so we just waited around the area where they said the bus would stop and pick up passengers.
We stayed there waiting for the bus and I noticed that there seemed to be no public utility vehicles passing that route. Most of the vehicles were just trucks and private cars. I didn’t see even one taxi on our first 45 minutes sitting there.
We were waiting for almost an hour when a local guy approached us. He and his mother have been sitting near us and seemed to be waiting for the bus as well. He was talking to us in their language which unfortunately I could not understand. I just said Penang and this guy started walking around and asking other people.
We figured that he was helping us get to where we wanted to be.
After a few minutes he went back and talked to us. Based on his body language we thought that he was also saying that there’s no train nor bus that day going to Kangar.
Luckily, an old rickety taxi passed by and this guy hailed it and talked to the driver. He started bargaining and I noticed that the driver was saying “no” to whatever he’s requesting. After a few minutes the driver agreed and this guy said “7 Ringgits” for each.
Not bad for a 30Km ride to Kangar. We boarded the taxi and after almost an hour we finally arrived in the bus station and paid our share to the driver. The guy and his mother stayed on the cab and drove off after we bid goodbye and said our thanks.
We then realized that they went out of their way just to take us to the bus station which we would be forever grateful.
Kangar to Penang
From Kangar we paid RM13.70 for the bus that took us to Butterworth. From Butterworth, we paid RM1.20 for the ferry that took us to Georgetown. And from Georgetown Jetty Station we paid RM1.40 for the bus that took us to Lebuh Chulia.
• Total Cost of the DIY Overland Crossing: THB550
• Total Worth of the Entire Experience: Priceless
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