Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat

By bus or minivan the journey from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat is scheduled to take 10 hours.

Bus Times from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat

There are currently 2 services a day with KST Travel from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat available to book online.

• Please note that departure times are in Malaysian time, and arrival times are in Thailand time.

Buy Tickets from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat

Use the Search Box below to buy your tickets from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The easiest and fastest way to travel from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat is to take a direct bus or minivan service. You could also travel by train, however, you would need to take 3 separate trains, changing trains at both Padang Besar and Hat Yai, in order to complete the journey by rail.

Penang Bus Stop

KST Travel services from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat depart from near George Town Komtar CIMB Bank, which is located on the ground floor of Prangin Mall.

Nakhon Si Thammarat Bus Stop

KST Travel services from Penang to Nakhon Si Thammarat terminate at Nakhon Si Thammarat – Surat Thani Minivan Station, which adjacent to Nakhon Si Thammarat Bus Station.

About Travel to Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat has over 100,000 permanent residents making it one of the few large cities in Southern Thailand. Unlike many of the other large cities in Southern Thailand, such as Hat Yai and Surat Thani which developed in the 20th Century, Nakhon Si Thammarat has over a 1,000 years of history and some places of interest to visit. Nonetheless, Nakhon Si Thammarat receives very few foreign visitors largely because of it’s location too far from the border to attract weekend visitors from Malaysia, and too far south from better known tourist destinations to attract international holiday makers in great numbers.

Staying Overnight in Nakhon Si Thammarat

Hotel booking websites list around 30 hotels and guesthouses in Nakhon Si Thammarat City. The city’s premier hotel is the Grand Fortune Hotel Nakhon Si Thammarat, where rooms cost from approximately 3,000 THB per night. At the other end of the scale you can also get a private room for 400 to 500 THB per night at hotels such as The Inka Hotel and Pura Nakhon Hotel.

One hotel that is popular, but difficult to book online, is the Thai Hotel Nakhon Si Thammarat, which is located close to the train station. The Thai Hotel Nakhon Si Thammarat has been in operation for a long time and is well known among more experienced travellers. Rooms cost 400 to 500 THB a night, and the food they offer is good value for money.

The selection of restaurants in Nakhon Si Thammarat is more extensive than the selection of hotels. As well as restaurants serving local cuisine, the city also has a number of restaurants serving ‘international cuisine’ such as Kinkanom Nakornsithammarat, Day & Night of Nakhon Si Thammarat, CasanovaNakhon, and Rock 99 Bar and Grill.

Travel to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan

Nakhon Si Thammarat City is an excellent place to stop over for a night during the overland journey from Malaysia to the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan.

Nakhon Si Thammarat City is located 140 km by road to the south of Surat Thani City, which is where most visitors to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan go before travelling to board a ferry in the Donsak District of Surat Thani Province. If you are travelling from Malaysia to Koh Samui to Koh Phangan it’s actually a shorter journey if you travel via Nakhon Si Thammarat. The distance by road from Nakhon Si Thammarat City the major ferry ports in Donsak is 116 km, compared to 65 km from Surat Thani City, so when you take account of the distance to travel to Surat Thani it’s a shorter journey from Nakhon Si Thammarat City.

Frequent minibus services direct to the ferry ports in Donsak (for services to Koh Samui to Koh Phangan) depart hourly from the minivan station near Nakhon Si Thammarat Bus Station around 05:00 every day.

Visitor Attractions in Nakhon Si Thammarat

A small section of the old city wall has been restored for visitors, along with a few other historical sites in the city centre, however, by far the most important and popular visitor attraction in the city is Wat Phra Mahathat.

Wat Phra Mahathat, in its current form, dates back to the 13th Century. A Buddhist temple, however, is believed to have existed on the same site since the late 3rd Century.

As well as being very old, there are several other significant features of Wat Phra Mahathat. The most striking of which is the 78 metre tall white chedi tower surrounded by 173 smaller white chedi towers. In addition to this the temple has lots of reminders of its long and important history, such as the very old statues believed to be of Queen Hemajala and Prince Donda Kumara who according to legend came to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the 3rd Century with a tooth retrieved from the funeral pyre of the Lord Buddha. Wat Phra Mahathat is also important in the history of Thailand as one of the main places where Theravada Buddhism spread out across Thailand and became the main religion.