So, it is established as common advise that crossing into Thailand on land borders from Laos is the safest bet for travelers with a history of frequently visiting (or COVID extensions). But getting to Laos by air from Europe is a bit cumbersome.
Thus, I am wondering what the latest reports on the southern land borders with Malaysia are - particularly Padang Besar. Flying into Kuala Lumpur and then taking the modern, electrified train to that border crossing sounds tempting.
Then again, there are some (albeit a bit dated) reports of people suggesting that border crossing is particularly rude on the Thai side.
It is also a bit confusing crossing there, as there are two ways to cross: 1) from the Malaysian train into a Thai train (that only runs two times a day) - in which case stamping out and stamping in happens both and conveniently so in the train station on the Malaysian side in between separate tracks. Or 2) from the Malaysian train onwards over land (in which case the convenient immigrations booths inside the train station cannot be used, but the actual land border booths have to be used - and while there is a pedestrian crossing from the train station over the tracks to the actual land borders, it has been shut down by the government, forcing people to take a local taxi, instead of just walking across).
Who can share some recent experiences of this border crossing?
Also, could anybody advise on how to get from that border directly to Hat Yai Airport instead of Hat Yai downtown?
Cheers.
