Ipoh to Hatyai Bus, KTM Train, Flight, Car
How to Go
To get from Ipoh to Hatyai in Thailand you have a choice of transport.
Which way you go depends on your budget and the time you want to spend travelling.
The distance from Ipoh to Hat Yai by road is approximately 330 km.
Bus to Hatyai from Aman Jaya Bus Terminal Ipoh
A cheap way to get from Ipoh to Hatyai is to take a bus / coach from Aman Jaya Bus Terminal.
Kesatuan Express operates a couple of buses a day to Hat Yai and it takes around 5 and a half to 6 hours to get to Hat Yai.
The current bus fare to Hat Yai from Ipoh is around 55 RM.
These coaches cross the border at the very busy Danok / Sadao border crossing so you may experience delays at times passing through border control which will add to the journey time.
To get to Aman Jaya Bus Terminal from central Ipoh (10 km away), the cheapest option (other than a taxi) is to take a local bus from the Medan Kidd Bus Station located on the edge of Ipoh Old Town (just south of the railway station).
An alternative and cheaper and much more interesting way to get from Ipoh to Hat Yai by bus would be to take a much more frequent bus from Aman Jaya Ipoh to Kangar.
From Kangar, you can then take a local MYBas Perlis bus to the border at Padang Besar >
From Padang Besar you can then take a train, minivan or local bus into Hat Yai >
Travelling this way will take longer, but you should be able to do the whole trip for less than 45 RM.
By Bus and KTM Komuter Train via Butterworth
You could also take a bus from Aman Jaya to Butterworth (Penang Sentral) then take a cheap KTM Komuter train to the border at Padang Besar, then continue on to Hat Yai by bus, train or minivan.
Travelling this way will cost less than 40 RM.
Ipoh to Hatyai by ETS Train
The KTM ETS train does not go all the way to Hat Yai Junction Railway Station so you will first have to take an ETS from Ipoh to the border station of Padang Besar.
To see the latest ETS train timetable visit the following link:
If you do want to travel by ETS train, you should always book your tickets in advance >
Once at Padang Besar, you can then take:
A Shuttle Train from Padang Besar to Hat Yai >
Leave the train station and cross over the main road border into Thailand and then take a local bus or minivan to Hat Yai Bus Terminal >
The cost of travelling by train to Hat Yai is about the same as taking a bus (if you use the cheaper ETS Gold trains and book your tickets 30 days ahead using KTM's new Flexi Fares) but the journey is much more interesting and more pleasant than being stuck in a bus on the highway for many hours.
The duration of the journey depends on your connection time at Padang Besar.
The train from Ipoh to Padang Besar is much quicker than travelling by bus (around 3 hours).
The last leg of the journey to Hat Yai takes around an hour.
A cheaper, but more time consuming way to travel by train would be to take:
An ETS train from Ipoh to Taiping >
A cheap KTM Komuter Utara train from Taiping to Padang Besar via Bukit Mertajam >
Flights to Hat Yai Airport (HDY) from Ipoh
There are no direct flights between Ipoh and Hatyai.
The nearest airports with flights to HDY are either from Kuala Lumpur or Penang.
Driving to Hatyai from Ipoh
If you have a car and want to drive to Hatyai, the driving time is around 4 hours (using the Highway all the way to Bukit Kayu Hitam / Danok).
You will also have to add on the time it takes crossing the border (make sure you have all the correct paperwork to take your car into Thailand).
If you do not want to take your car into Thailand you can park at the Duty Free Zone and continue your journey by minivan once you are inside Thailand.
Related pages: