Thorn Tree travel forum

1

The chances of you being involved in any terrorist activity in the south is very remote ...... you are more likely to be involved in a traffic accident during your time in thailand. would that put you off going ? There is nothing much for the average tourist around pattani etc, so i assume you would be going straight through ? If so, don't worry about it.
train or bus ? bus offers more alternatives, but rail does give you a view of rural countryside rather than the highway. Costs are pretty much the same.
'places you should n't miss" ... that depends on what you are interested in !

2

The best advice is from your embassy, having said that many tourists go south and have no problems. There have been a couple of foreigners caught up in the problems but not many. I have taken the train recently from Hat Yai to Penang, that route is deemed 'safe' by many (including the Thai Tourist Police who I asked - but they probably know bugger-all anyway!).

Your time frame is adequate.

Cycling information for Southeast Asia
Cycling Southeast Asia forum

3

Hey guys,

Can I suggest something?

Why not start your trip from Singapore? The reason is simply because by the time you reach Singapore at the end of 3 weeks, you probably need to slow down your spending. Plus, Singapore will cost you guys triple for your money in food and accommodation as compared to Malaysia and Thailand due its currency. Why not do Singapore> KL> Thailand? Even if your budget is draining out, you still be able to enjoy and afford nice places in Malaysia or Thailand. I did that once and I manage to save a lot and when I arrived in Thailand finally I would be able spend in Bangkok longer in a nice 4 star hotel in Bangkok for days. In Singapore, I just stayed in a budget hotel (2 nights only) but it was almost the same price of a 4 star hotel in Bangkok. Please visit www. asiarooms.com

Have you heard about a budget airline Air Asia flights from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur to Singapore (Malaysia). www.airasia.com
If you want still want to proceed with your initial plan to save time, energy and money then use Air Asia then to Malaysia then Singapore.
A train is rather time consuming. Bangkok by bus > Koh Samui/Phuket (Thailand) by Air Asia > KL (Malaysia) by bus > Melaka (Malaysia) .. finally by bus > Singapore!

3.5 weeks 3 countries. And you might what to add 'Taman Negara' National Park (Malaysia) or Cameron Highland (Malaysia) in between.

4

As far as I know, no-one has EVER been hurt, let alone killed, simply passing from Thailand to Malaysia via the western mainline on one of the direct trains.

Most of the problem is at the eatsern end of the frontier, not the western ened where the trains cross, and you're not hanging around, just passing through. People have been killed on the Picadilly Line in London in the past 3 years, so that makes this safer than the London Underground...

The Man in Seat Sixty-One "...Never travel without a good book and a corkscrew..."