Visa run report: Kota Bharu.
The consulate:
Consulate is open Sunday-Thursday so plan accordingly. The walk isn't fully paved, but it isn't difficult or long. RM150 for the visa. Cheaper than Yangon but more expensive than Savanahket. I gave them all the paperwork, and they didn't hand me anything back like they did in Yangon, so be prepared. Virtually no line, and the consulate is probably the least formal thai consulate i've ever been to.
The most notable thing is that they asked me to pick my passport up in the morning and not the afternoon of the next day. "Before noon."
Getting in:
You can't really fly in, but if you're cool going over land, it's not too bad. (Edit: You can fly in, but you have to transfer at Kuala Lumpur. See Axel Aminoff's comment below. Thanks Axel!) At the border walk forward about 200 meters and wait for the bus at the road. RM5.10, you should try to have it in ringgit. 1.5 hours to Kota Bharu
(Check the weather before because it was flooded for me on the way in, and the bus only went so far as the Chinese-style mosque about 1-2km down the same road. I walked, but i probably wouldn't do it again. Taxis and motorcycle taxis are abundant, but they're not Thai prices.)
Getting out:
Bus 29 took me straight to the border, same RM5.10. No request for showing cash at the border, but the passport only has two thai visas in it. It seemed like they were doing most of the processing on paper, so it's possible you're less likely to get hassled here.
The City:
I highly recommend Kota Bharu as a place to kill a couple days. Really friendly people, language isn't a big issue, the food is cheap and fantastic. I didn't get my first choice for accommodation, but The Room@Zishi, though a little expensive compared to Thailand, had a lot of great pluses like a Zen aesthetic in the common room. Food at the Central Market for breakfast /lunch and dinner at the night market were both surprisingly great and cheap. The whole city is compact and walkable. And though its small and devout muslim, there is a certain energy about it that makes it a pleasure to hang out in for a bit.
If you like mosques, none of them are earthshaking, but the devotion of the people in this city make it a unique experience to sit in on one of the 5-times-daily prayers, though be respectful to the people who come up to say hi and try to cover up in the gender-appropriate way for Islam. I went to the State Mosque, which had really cool Islamic designs mixed with tremendously boring Western architecture and a few out-of-place stars that remind me of Chinese Communist stars.
Oh, and if you need an electrical socket adapter because you forgot yours (not saying i would make such a rookie mistake hehheh), I saw 2 or 3 branches of Mr. DIY, which sells every electrical adapter you can imagine for less than RM5. Also has a ton of other great odds and ends that are often surprisingly difficult to find at a reasonable price.
