China Border Ride, Day 1 : KL - Surat Thani, Thailand

Ride Itinerary:

Day 1 : KL - Surat Thani

Day 2 : Surat Thani – River Kwai, Kanchanaburi
Day 3 : Kanchanaburi – Mae Sot
Day 4 : Mae Sot – Mae Hong Son
Day 5 : Mae Hong Son - Pai
Day 6 : Pai
Day 7 : Pai – Chiang Rai
Day 8 : Chiang Rai – Huay Xai, Laos
Day 9 : Huay Xai – China Border, Boten
Day 10 : Huay Xai – Chai Nat
Day 11 : Chai Nat – Hua Hin
Day 12 : Hua Hin – Hatyai
Day 13 : Hatyai – KL

Day 1 : KL – Surat Thani, Thailand

This is a post-ride report in December 2013..

Me and Otai planned to do 1864 Corners in Mae Hong Son and Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand. We planned to have a ride and easy for 14 days..

We named ourselves as The Two Armies as we are members of two different Motorcycle Clubs..

I left my condo from Damansara Perdana at 3.00 am. The plan was to meet Otai at Juru Shell Petrol Station, Pulau Pinang at 5.30 am..  As the I waited for Otai, the traffic in Penang was building up. Apparently, Otai arrived Juru Shell Petrol Station at 6.30 am and we arrived at Bukt Kayu Hitam at 8.30 am..

Fortunately, we travelled on Wednesday and Thailand Border Control was not crowded.. At 9.00 am, we’ve settled our documentations with Thai’s immigration and customs and continued our journey to Surat Thani on Route 4..

Along Route 41, we stopped at Amazon Cafe PTT in Patthalung for coffee. I always stop at this Amazon Cafe, which is located before intersection of Route 41 & Route 4..

We had brunch and refilled our bikes at PTT petrol station as we reached Thung Song, right after the intersection to Nakhon Si Thammarat. Since we had plenty of time without rushing to Surat Thani, we used Route 403 via Nakhon Si Thammarat and some coastal road on Route 401 towards Don Sak and Surat Thani.

We used the coastal road because we tried to avoid the bad road on Route 41 in especially from Wiang Sa to Tha Ruea, before  entering Route 44 Intersection in Surat Thani district. You’ll find many potholes and uneven road conditions which is very uncomfortable to ride with our Harley Davidson rear air suspension bikes.

 We finally reached Surat Thani at 1.00 noon.. First, we searched for Naraya Riverside Resort Hotel which is located near to Surat Thani Hospital. It is a newly built hotel and just being advertised in Agoda.com website..

The hotel is located in the small alley between housing area. From far, the hotel kinda look like a huge Modern-Thai bungalow house.. We could have mistakenly thought it was a private villa. As we entered the hotel, there were few guests had already checked in. We booked 2 deluxe rooms with pool view.. We got a cheap Flash Deal from Agoda.com website which cost us RM85.00 per room (excluding breakfast)..

Naraya Riverside Resort faces a quiet and peaceful river and its sunset view is beautiful! 

The swimming pool is located at the back of hotel and it is awesome.

We changed and went to Surat Thani town for sightseeing and had dinner at riverside.

For dinner, we've headed to Surat Thani Pier.. There are many street hawkers selling street food and the dining tables are set along the river.. Many tourists have dinner and drinks here before they get boarded onto ferries heading to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.. i was told the night ferry provides beds as it arrives on the 2 islands in the morning.. The pier is a totally recommended place to be in the late evening with mates..

Today, we have clocked almost 870 km from Kuala Lumpur to Surat Thani.. The journey was slightly further than my usual because we diverted to Route 403 via Nakhon Si Thammarat.

HooRahh!!