Hat Yai-Padang Besar train resumes after 2 years

Connections to Malaysia available once more in border town after long Covid shutdown

People take photos with the Padang Besar station sign in Sadao district of Songkhla on Friday. Padang Besar has two stations, one located in Thailand and the other across the border in Malaysia. (Photo by Assawin Pakkawan)
People take photos with the Padang Besar station sign in Sadao district of Songkhla on Friday. Padang Besar has two stations, one located in Thailand and the other across the border in Malaysia. (Photo by Assawin Pakkawan)

Train services have resumed from Hat Yai to the border town of Padang Besar for onward travel into Malaysia after a Covid-linked closure that lasted more than two years.

The State Railway of Thailand said regular services for local trains from Hat Yai in Songkhla to tambon Padang Besar in Sadao district of the same province started on Friday.

The SRT provides two daily trains, one each in the morning and afternoon, on the route. It connects with trains in Malaysia to Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

The local train connecting the two destinations was suspended more than two years ago when the coronavirus bagged to ravage the two countries.