Road Trip to Southern Thailand: Betong [Part 8] – The End of the Journey (FINALE)

Previously: Part 7

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Good morning Betong!

Early in the morning, I woke up and realized, this journey has come to an end. After taking our morning shower and packed our bags, we went for breakfast. Funny because although we were in Thailand, the breakfast offered in many restaurants in the town were Malaysian’s. Some of us had nasi lemak while I had roti canai.

Bangun-bangun pagi, aku sedar, perjalanan kami dah sampai ke penghujung. Lepas mandi pagi dan kemas-kemas beg, kami terus pergi sarapan. Pelik pula rasa, ada kat Thailand, tapi restoran-restoran kat sini banyak yang hidang sarapan Malaysia. Kami pun makanlah nasi lemak dan roti canai.

Betong Immigration checkpoint, Thailand

After checking out and returning the key to the receptionist, we proceeded to the border. The distance from the town to the border were not far but no highway to go to the border, that the only available road was a single lane road for each side, cutting through deep jungle with several small villages along the way.

Lepas daftar keluar dari hotel dan pulangkan kunci kat receptionist, kami terus ke pintu sempadan. Tak jauh mana pun dari pekan Betong nak ke sempadan, tapi tak ada highway, jadi lalu jalan biasa je, sehala-sehala. Sunyi dan tenang je sepanjang jalan, adalah satu dua kampung lepas tu hutan.

The deserted immigration checkpoint at Betong, Thailand

Park your car and get your passport stamped. Easy peasey lemon squeezy.

After a few while, I saw a big striking white building on top of a hill which I assumed is the immigration checkpoint, which turned out to be true. If at Sadao Immigration checkpoint, people and cars were queuing up to get their passport stamped (read here – in Bahasa), things were different in Betong. We did not have to bring our bags along. We just need to park our car at the parking lot provided and queue at the corridor of the building to stamp our passport.

Tak lama lepas kami teruskan perjalanan, aku nampak satu bangunan besar warna putih atas bukit. Aku rasa itulah bangunan imigresen (dan memang betul pun). Kalau kat Sadao, beratur orang dengan kereta nak cop passport (baca di sini) tapi kat sini, tak langsung okay. Beg pun tak payah bawa keluar. Parkir kereta lepas tu beratur je dekat koridor dia, bawa passport.

Thai’s border gate.

…and back to Malaysia.

Finally!

Then, everything came to an end. We proceeded to the Malaysian checkpoint at Pengkalan Hulu, Perak and we were back in Malaysia. My dad drove for another 20 km from the border to my mum’s hometown in Baling, Kedah and we attended my cousin’s wedding in time.

Akhirnya, perjalanan kami pun berakhir. Dari Betong, kami teruskan ke imigresen Malaysia di Pengkalan Hulu, Perak dan akhirnya kami kembali ke Malaysia. Ayah aku pandu lagi 20 km ke kampung mak aku di Baling, Kedah dan ngam-ngam timing kami sampai ke kenduri sepupu aku.

My cousin on the right. We made it!

It was an unforgettable road trip adventure. 3 days and 2 nights over Hat Yai – Pattani – Yala and Betong, we had covered the whole deep south provinces of Thailand saved for Narathiwat.

Memang satu perjalanan road trip yang tak dapat dilupakan. Perjalanan 3 hari 2 malam ke Hat Yai – Pattani – Yala dan Betong, kesemua wilayah di selatan Thailand kami dah jejak kecuali Narathiwat. 

This concludes my road trip to southern Thailand travelogue.

Dengan ini, maka tamatlah travelog road trip ke selatan Thailand.

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To be continued – Epilogue