North Peninsular Day 3 - Changlun, Batu Kayu Hitam, Khao Nam Khang Historical Tunnel, Hatyai Kim Yong Market, Lee Garden Plaza Shopping Mall

Crossing the Border to Thailand

Today I am going to travel to Thailand by car.
Just what are the documents that you need to prepare to cross the Thailand border with your own car?

If the vehicle is under you name, you need to prepare these documents before hand:
1. Passport
2. Malaysian Driving License / International Driving License
3. Original Grant / Vehicle Ownership Certificate (VOC)
4. Road Tax (Sticker on Windscreen - no need to take down)
5. Compulsory Motor Insurance (CMI)
6. Information of Conveyance Form 2 copies (TM2)
7. Arrival/Departure Card aka White card (TM6)

If you are carrying passenger with your car, you need to add another form:
8. Passenger List Form 2 copies (TM3)

If the vehicle is not under your name, you need to prepare:
9. Authorization letter from the vehicle's owner
10. Copy of owner's passport / IC

1-4, 9 and 10 should be no problem for you to prepare.

For 5. CMI, it is a temporary auto insurance you need to subscribe to before driving your car into Thailand. You can get this easily up from roadside shops along the road from Changlun to Bukit Kayu Hitam. I myself got it from the insurance agent beside Changlun Petronas.

For 6 and 8, these are forms you can obtain and fill up upon arriving at the immigration station. But I would strongly suggest you to download and prepare it before your journey. For 7. White Card, you need to use their official printed card. You can do this either by getting off your car and request for it at immigration check point or you can ask any agent to help you fill out with a small fee (usually around 2-3 ringgit only). I would recommend you to get it done from a small kiosk in front of Changlun Petronas Mesra shop.

So that's it. That is all the documents you need to prepare to enter Thailand with your vehicle.

Wait, not yet.
So before crossing Malaysia-Thailand border, I would advise you to fill your fuel tank as the gas price in Thailand is not cheap. Again, Changlun Petronas would be my first choice due to its convenience.

Now, let's talk about crossing the border. It can be broken down into three parts.

First, exiting Malaysia through Bukit Kayu Hitam Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) Complex. Just drive slowly through Malaysia's immigration checkpoint following road signs and get your passport stamped. There is no need to exit the car.

Next, entering Thailand through Sadao immigration checkpoint. If you have prepared all the documents I listed above, you don't have to exit the car. Just hand over TM 2, TM 3, TM 6 and passport to the officer. If you have not, you need to park your car and have your cards filled out first. Again, I would suggest you to pay a measly price to get the documents prepared smoothly before the journey. Also, you need to pay RM5 to the officer while have your documents checked. Don't ask why.

Third step, you need to "import" your car through Customs temporary into Thailand. This is when you need to hand over your vehicle grant, passport, (if the car is not yours) authorization letter and owner's passport. After checking your documents, the custom officer will give you Simplified Customs Declaration Form where you are required to sign on. You are also required to hand this form back when you exit Thailand.

So along the journey, make sure you keep all your documents well.
Below are documents you need to return back to Thailand Immigration and Custom when you exit:
1. TM 2 one copy
2. TM 3 one copy
3. TM 6
4. Simplified Customs Declaration Form

So, it's quite easy to cross Thailand border with your own car isn't it?


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Departing from Alor Setar, I  stopped at Changlun Petronas for refueling and getting my TM 2 and TM 6 filled out by agent in front of Mesra shop Changlun Petronas. I intended to buy my CMI from the agent as I was told they offer affordable CMI but unfortunately they were having technical difficulty during my last visit.

Just when I was worried where to get my CMI, I saw one shop beside Changlun Petronas selling CMI for just around RM 25. Later I found out there are tons of insurance agency along the road leading to Bukit Kayu Hitam CIQS Complex selling CMI.

I was quite nervous when crossing the border but fortunately it turns out just fine. Thai Immigration officer handling my documents spoke good Malay - I am guessing he's a Malay.

I was at the immigration around 10 a.m. and there were not much crowd, probably because it was weekday. Managed to get all procedures done in 30 minutes. Finally I can embark on my expedition in this mysterious foreign land.

My first stop: Khao Nam Khang Historical Tunnel. “Khao Nam Khang” is Thai language. "Khao" means mountain and "Nam Khang" means dew. This thick hilly forest used to be one of the activity area of Malaya Communist Party (MCP). MCP dug tunnels through the mountains and Khao Nam Khang Tunnel is one of it.

After MCP signed peace deal with Thailand and Malaysian government, some MCP members went back to Malaysia and some stayed back at Thailand. One of the MCP members come up with the idea of making Khao Nam Khang a tourist site.

On the way to Khao Nam Khang, saw this "Love God Tree". A tree is seen "hugging" another.

The Tunnel is located really deep inside the forest. I drove around 45 minutes from the main road to reach the site. Not much tourist were here. I only met 3 groups of visitors during my visit.

Welcome wall at the entrance. Written in Thai, English, Malay and Chinese.

Replicated tunnel entrance placed beside the entrance. Good spot for photo shooting.



They have a small museum exhibiting tools used by MCP during their activity. Unfortunately they are very very poorly maintained and are left rusting.

As you might had expected, there was no telecommunication signals in the deep forest - at least mine was not working. But fortunately they do have free WiFi around the ticket selling counter. I paid 150 baht for entrance fee, which I think was rather pricey.

Upon exiting the "museum" there's a temple on the left hand side dedicated to all the fallen or deceased comrade. Many of them - especially those killed during the war time - are without proper name. People only know them by their nickname. MCP were such a mysterious organization during that time.

There's a small garden to the right, but... it's kinda poorly maintained and dirty so I didn't take any photo.

Further down the road is the tunnel. The tunnel is said to be 6 stories high. There are multiple entrances into and out of the tunnel, from the bottom of the hill to the top of it, just like the what the Chinese idiom says 狡兔三窟. Communists dug and live in this tunnel during war time. Some small spaces are made for organization function like meeting room, communication room, kitchen, sleeping corner, etc. I can imagine the living condition was really harsh during that time. The air ventilation was good and temperature was quite comfortable though.

Hello! This statue emerged from the corner gave me goose bumps.

Cooking place. Traditional Chinese style.

Before left I dropped some money to the donation box. Overall this is a very badly managed private museum. I am not sure what will they do with those money nor do I have any way to track the museum's condition in the near future. Still, I felt tremendously sorry for the sorry state of the museum. I left thinking I will never visit this place again and hoping the best for its future.

Next, I headed to Hatyai finally. It's already around 3 p.m. when I reached Hatyai and I was extremely hungry. My hotel is by the river and very near to the downtown area. I parked my car at the hotel and walk to Kim Yong market hunting for food.

Something I noticed on the Thailand street is their messy Electricity wires. When you get near to it, some have "tss... tss... tss..." sound. It was something you won't see in Malaysia.

A Chinese temple I saw by the road. The building structure is Chinese but some of the drawings were local. It's a new scene for me.

Next I walked to Kim Yong Market. There are a lot of stuff sold here, including food and cheap clothes. I did not buy anything though. I don't like bargaining and I am unsure what are considered fair prices.

Anyway I had my first meal in Hatyai at Kim Yong Market. I bought a Somtam. It's very spicy.

I still feel hungry after eating Somtam. So I decided to have pork hamburger at Mc Donalds in Lee Garden Plaza Shopping Mall. Security inspection is required before entering the mall. I'm grateful we do not have to have this back in the country.

It costs 150 baht just for the hamburger. Rather expensive isn't it? It rained while I was enjoying my burger.

Opposite Lee Garden Plaza Shopping Mall is Central Shopping Mall. There's a Top Supermarket chain at the lower ground of Central Shopping Mall. I spent some two thousands baht there buying local foods and products. It's a very good place to shopping to avoid tourist traps.