During the Chinese New Year (CNY) break, my family and I took an unplanned three-day trip to Hatyai. Initially, we had planned to go glamping in Putrajaya, but after seeing the rental cost, I suggested to my wife that we could use that budget for a trip outside of Kuala Lumpur instead.
Without hesitation, she said yes, and we quickly packed our bags. I also asked my kids to pack their own clothes while I opened the booking.com app on my smartphone to secure a hotel room.
Since it was CNY, finding accommodation was quite challenging. Fortunately, I managed to book a room in the Lee Garden area. However, I only realized when we were already on our way to the Malaysia-Thailand border, that it was actually a hostel instead of hotel, something I had overlooked during the booking process.
We departed from Kuala Lumpur at 8 AM and arrived at the border around 3 PM. We could have arrived earlier, but we made a few stops at multiple RnR as my kids needed bathroom breaks. I was expecting a super long queues at the border due to the CNY holiday, however, I was surprised to find the immigration checkpoint was relatively empty.
I am able to cross into Thailand within 15 minutes. By the way, this was also my first time driving my own car into Thailand, making the holiday experience even more memorable.
Once we cleared immigration, we stopped in Danok for a late lunch, as we had only eaten some bread during the journey. After enjoying a proper meal, I told my kids to make a final restroom stop before we continued our journey to Hatyai. From Danok, it is another 50 km away.
We arrived in Hatyai around 6 PM, but I faced another challenge, which is finding an overnight parking. The hostel I had booked didn’t provide parking for guests. I temporarily parked at a nearby shopping mall.
However, overnight parking wasn’t allowed there, so after checking in and putting our bags in the room, I went out alone to find a suitable parking spot. I asked the wife and kids to rest in the room, because we will go out again tonight for dinner.
Before leaving the shopping mall, I asked a parking attendant for recommendations, and he suggested an open parking area in front of Laem Thong Hotel. Using Waze, I found the location, which was only about 200 meters from our hostel. The best part? The parking was free on a first-come, first-served basis.
Driving my own car made it much easier to get around Hatyai. I manage to visit places that I missed during the last visit. The following are the photographs that I took during our unplanned trip.
