Projek jalan-jalan Hatyai / Songkhla ialah projek DIY bermula di Hentian Duta, KL, berakhir di Hatyai, Thailand. Dan balik semula ke KL (KL Sentral).
Pergi naik bas ekspres KL – Hatyai (via Bukit Kayu Hitam).
Balik naik tren Thai dari Hatyai ke Padang Besar. Then naik tren ETS ke KL.
Kami sewa tuktuk Hj Saari sepanjang 3H2M di Hatyai.ASEAN Night Bazar di Hatyai
NAIK BAS EKSPRES DARI HENTIAN DUTA, KL
Bas ekspres bergerak dari Hentian Duta KL jam 10:30 malam hari Jumaat malam Sabtu. Bas meluncur laju di atas Lebuhraya PLUS menuju utara. Hanya satu toilet break di RnR Simpang Pulai. Kata Ah Weng — pemandu bas yang peramah yang dibayar gaji RM 150 per trip — mesti sampai awal di Bukit Kayu Hitam sebelum 6 pagi sebab queue panjang di sempadan Malaysia – Thailand. Kami sampai sempadan jam 5 pagi. Betul apa yang dikata Ah Weng, bas-bas ekspres dan kereta-kereta persendirian plet nombor Malaysia sudah siap beratur panjang menunggu pintu imigresen dibuka mulai 6 pagi. Nasib baik arrival card a.k.a white card telah siap diisi oleh syarikat bas sebelum naik bas tadi di KL.
PROSES IMIGRESEN MALAYSIA (BUKIT KAYU HITAM)
Bas berhenti di imigresen Malaysia. (kompleks ICQS yang baru dan besar)
Semua penumpang turun membawa beg masing-masing.
Scan bag seperti mesin scanner di airport.
Cop passport. Pastikan ada stamping KELUAR di passport anda.
CERITA SETERUSNYA DAN LEBIH BANYAK GAMBAR2 DI LINK DI BAWAH.
Surau atau musholla (prayer room) sangat mudah ditemui di sekitar Hatyaitermasuklah di floating market ini.Hatyai is food-haven for healthy normal people.
Jawapannya mudah saja. Baca sampai habih.
Sebelum tu kita study sejarah sikit.
Wilayah-wilayah selatan (southern provinces) Thailand asalnya adalah sebahagian dari kerajaan Islam Kedah. Pada tahun 1909 penjajah British berpakat dengan kerajaan Siam meletakkan wilayah2 ini di bawah Siam dengan melukis semula peta sempadan Malaysia / Thailand seperti yang kita lihat sekarang. Penduduk wilayah2 ini 90% adalah Muslim pada asalnya. Kerajaan Siam kemudiannya membawa masuk ramai penduduk Thai berugama Buddha dari wilayah utara ke wilayah selatan untuk menseimbangkan taburan penduduk. Nama-nama asal wilayah2 selatan adalah nama Melayu seperti Narathiwat (Menara), Yala (Jala), Satun (Setol), Songkhla (Senggora), Pattani (Petani) dan banyak lagi.
Pengaruh Melayu dan Islam di kawasan ini boleh dilihat dengan jelas. Perempuan dewasa dan murid-murid sekolah memakai tudung menutup aurat adalah pemandangan biasa. Makanan halal sangat mudah didapati termasuklah di kawasan pelancong seperti floating market di mana hampir kesemuanya perempuan Islam bertudung menjual makanan dari dalam sampan. Sama juga dengan ASEAN night market. Surau dan masjid pun banyak. Syiar Islam dapat dilihat di bandar ini, bagi mereka yang ingin melihat.
Itulah antara sebab orang Malaysia suka pi Hatyai. Orang Hatyai adalah saudara-saudara seugama kita. Budaya, bahasa, pakaian dan makanan mereka sama atau hampir sama dg kita. Nak solat mudah. Surau / masjid banyak. Imigresen Thailand di pekan Danok pon ada surau. Kami berenti solat subuh di situ.
Nak makan pun cukup mudah. Makanan halal everywhere.
Sebab-sebab lain.
Visa free. Hanya perlu passport (Bukan macam Australia/Amerika kena pi interview di kedutaan bagai.)
In short, Hatyai adalah Muslim territory. Pergilah bermusafir ke sana tanya khabar hal ehwal saudara-saudara Islam kita di sana sambil membangun ekonomi mereka.
Setiap tempat tarikan pelancong dipenuh bas dan kereta bernombor plet Malaysia.
Terengganu.
Kelantan.
Kedah.
Perak.
Itulah sedikit cerita pasal Hatyai di wilayah Songkhla, Thailand yang sempat aku lawati satu weekend di bulan Februari 2023.
NOTE: Found this unpublished post created in 2010. So I took liberty to publish it now. Info were correct at that time.
April 23-25, 2010:
Nobody thought about travelling to Bangkok, Thailand, during this period as red-shirts making headlines across the country. Nevertheless I took all calculated risks, ignoring various travel advisories and instead resorted to tripadvisor website to get the latest happening on the ground, thanks to dragonc and his team for latest updates on security assessment in BKK. Also to Cassandra from associatedcontent.com who provided info on finding ways to the public taxi counter from arrival hall at busy Suvarnabhumi airport, ignoring all taxi touts. I almost got conned by an old taxi driver who initially refused to use meter and instead offered a flat rate of 500 baht from the airport to our hotel at Khosan area. I insisted and threatened to get off and finally he agreed. It turned out to be a correct decision. The actual fare on the meter was about 230baht and after an airport surcharge of 50baht and toll charges of 25baht (first toll plaza) and 45baht (second toll plaza), the total fare was only 35obaht. So I saved 150baht. A small feat indeed and whats the big fuss, you may ask. At least I knew all the tips shared by fellow travelers online worked.
Since this is not a business trip — in fact I was en route RGN from KUL, after a short holiday in Malaysia — we stayed at less-star hotel New World City in Khosan area. At the rate of 1400baht per night (at bookings.com) including a breakfast for two, it is really a value for money, despite the breakfast is very basic. They had egg station in the open verandah overlooking the khlong, where you can order omelette of your choice. The room is big and clean. This is a moslem hotel which means all food served at Sara Restaurant are halal — probably the only halal restaurant in town.
The hotel goes well with the moslem travelers — salah schedule and prayers mat are available upon request. An arrow indicating the qiblah direction is fixed at the the ceiling in my room. The staff at the front desk are friendly, one of them is a pretty moslem woman donned with head scarve, greeting me in typical greeting of assalamualaikum which means peace be upon you. I was informed there is a mosque nearby — Jakapong mosque — which I did not manage to find it.
For security reasons and with two active kids tagging along, the main objective of this trip is no longer shopping. Forget MBK, Siam Square, Prathunam or other places along Sukhumvit. We headed straight to Safari Park some one-hour drive to the north, on the early morning of the second day. It was a huge park where you can drive with your own car inside to see animals of the wild roaming in the confined spaces. Tigers and lions are separated from not- so-wild ones by automatic gates, so high, even higher than the chained-link fencing surronding the tennis court in my apartment in Yangon. Feeding time for tigers was interesting. An open truck with a big cage and a female park attendant inside, served as a feeding station. A herd of Bengala tigers surrounded the cage immediately, hungry, some from sides and some from the top. The chick in the cage passed cut chickens in pieces to each through the cage openings to the hungry beasts outside. Two jeeps stood by near the feeding station, just in case something untoward happened. Moving on, we saw giraffe from a distance. Actually you can feed the giraffe from a terrace inside the marine park, not from your vehicle. You are not allowed to get off anytime in the safari park or feed the animals.
Entrance fee for both the safari park and the marine park is 800 baht. The woman over the ticket counter also handed over a booklet containing park info, a schedule of the animal show, a map and a pack of snack. Additional fee of 30 baht per pax if you use a coach provided by the park to tour the park, of which we did that.
From Chumphon, our next destination is Krabi, the resort city at the east cost. We drove to Surat Thani via highway 41, and turn right on highway 44 to Krabi.
Selepas bergerak keluar dari Chumphon pada pagi hari Isnin 21hb September 2015, konvoi kembara korban Kemboja meneruskan perjalanan ke utara menyusuri lebuhraya 41 ke Kota Bangkok.
Kami mencari masjid ini selepas dikesan oleh Encik Gamin melalui sistem GPS.
Masjid alAnsar namanya, mungkin tidak ramai muhajjirin di kawasan ini. Masjid ini terletak di pinggir jalan raya 41 sebelah kiri selepas pekan Thap Sake. 100 meter ke hadapan sebelah kiri, terdapat sebuah kedai makan halal. Apalagi, selepas solat Dhuha dan tahiyyatul masjid dan bergambar, kami singgah di warung ini untuk sarapan dan lunch sekali. Brunch kata orang kampung saya. Kerana Hari masih awal dan kena masak nasi goreng, itik salai, dan daging bakar untuk 23 orang, makcik dan anak perempuannya agak terkejut. Sehinggakan air panas disuruh kami bancuh sendiri. Rasa itik salai dan daging bakar dan sos pencicah memang out of this world. A separate posting on this later, Insyaallah. Remind me. Betul memang sedap. Sedap giler kata anak saya Adam.
