Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia, it is one of city hub to connect cities within South East Asia. Phuket is the second most visited city in Thailand after Bangkok. Both KL and Phuket  are on the list of 20 Most Visited Cities in the World. So, I believe, going to Phuket from KL become a popular route among travellers around the world.

If you want to have the easiest way to visit Phuket from Kuala Lumpur (KL), so please just take a flight. It will cost you around USD 50 to 70. But if you want to have an adventurous journey, to get more experience and want to see a lot of things in the foreign land, so going from KL to Phuket by bus will be your best option. Don’t try to search an option to go from KL to Phuket by train, because this option is not available. Phuket is an island, and there is no connecting railways to the mainland of Thai. But if you really want to have the train journey experience, try to stop in Surat Thani City, it is the closest railway station to Phuket, and from there you can take a bus for around 3 hours journey.

The story begins 

I took this journey on May 2024 with my girlfriend as her birthday gift. We are from Indonesia. 

Phuket was our main destination, but to go directly from our city to Phuket was too expensive for us, since there is no direct flight to Phuket from our city, Yogyakarta. So, after doing a research, having transit in KL was the cheapest option. 

The plan was, to take a flight from our city, Yogyakarta to Kuala Lumpur, then continued the journey from KL to Phuket by bus. 

We arrived in KLIA 2 Airport in the afternoon then we took a shuttle bus from the airport to KL Central. KL Central is the main railway station in KL. It is the main hub to connect all kind of railway transport from LRT, MRT, commuter train, monorail, long distance train even an Express Airport Train. 

Our bus would depart at 10 PM, so we have enough time to have dinner or to look around the city before proceed to the bus terminal.

The Bus Route from KL to Phuket

To go to Phuket from KL, we need to split the journey into two bus trips. The first trip is from KL to Hatyai and the second trip is from Hatyai to Phuket. Hatyai is the border city of Thailand. It is the first city in Thailand after the border between Malaysia and Thailand. 

From KL to Hatyai, the journey will take around 8 to 9 hours, it depends on how busy is the immigration process. We started the journey at 10 PM, Malaysian Time, and arrive at the last stop in Hatyai at 07.00 AM (Thailand Time). So, in total, my journey took 8 hours. There is 1 hour different between Malaysia and Thailand Time. Malaysian Time is one hour forward.

From Hatyai to Phuket the journey take 8 hours. You will stop one time in a restaurant. And there is a voucher included in the bus ticket that could be redeemed as meal service. Of course, each company has different policy about the meal service, so you can make sure once you get the bus ticket.

Price and How to Book the Bus from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Hatyai then Hatyai to Phuket

For the first bus trip from KL to Hatyai, we can just buy the ticket on the bus terminal. The bus terminal called TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan). There are a lot of ticket counters that selling the bus ticket. The price is vary from USD 15 to USD 30. In my case, the ticket is around USD 18. The price is distinguished by the bus operator and the quality. 

However, if you worry that the ticket will be sold out once you arrive at the bus terminal, you can book the bus ticket via 12Go apps. It is a popular apps to travel within South East Asia.

For the second bus trip, from Hatyai to Phuket, you could also purchase the ticket on the bus terminal. I bought my ticket just after I arrived in the bus terminal at the ticket counter. The price is under USD 15. Check the location of the bus terminal in this link. Also if you worry that the bus ticket will be sold out, you can prepare the ticket in advance by purchasing it via 12Go Apps.

Story about the Journey from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Phuket

After spending time to walk around in KL then we took an LRT from Pasar Seni Station to go to TBS Bus Terminal. Please do not get confused, the name of the LRT Station that connected with the bus terminal is named Bandar Tasik Selatan (BTS). From BTS LRT Station, you just need to walk around 5 minutes to reach the TBS Bus Terminal.

Once you are inside the bus terminal, you need to check in first at the ticket counter. If you purchase the ticket online like I did, we need to change our booking confirmation from the apps into boarding pass. It is just the same system like in the airport.

After you get the boarding pass, you can enter the waiting room. In your boarding pass, it will be written the gate number, so make sure you do not miss which gate you are. In the waiting room, you can have dinner, buy snack or having a coffee. There are a lot of shops available. 

The Journey Start and The Immigration Process (Malaysia – Thailand Border)

At 10 PM, our bus arrived. So the terminal staf will call everyone to proceed to the gate. Make sure, you are not entering the wrong bus. In the same gate, it could be used for several destination, so in our gate, it is not only the buses going to Phuket. 

The bus is really comfortable. The seat configuration is 1 row in the left and 2 row in the right. It is really spacious. There is no toilet in the bus. 

The bus stopped once for break around 30 minutes. You can use this time to go to toilet or having late dinner if you feel hungry. In this moment, the bus staff will take the passport from you. And give it to you again soon after we reach the immigration in Malaysian side. This immigration is located in Bukit Kayu Hitam District. Here, your passport will be stamped out. And you also need to take your luggage to be checked during the immigration process.

After your passport is stamped out, you will go back to the bus again. Around 15 minutes you will arrive at Sadao Border Check Point. In this check point, your passport will be stamped in. It does not take too long until all passenger get the stamp. You can go to the toilet in this border while waiting all passenger completing the immigration process.

From Sadao Border, we will take 1,5 hour to reach the last stop. I do not know exactly the name of the bus stop, because the bus did not stop at the bus terminal, it stop in such a business district. We arrived around 07.00 AM.

At the Bus Stop, there are local people offering a transport to the bus terminal. We agreed with the price, it was 200 Baht, around USD 6. But we were thinking that we would go by a taxi or TukTuk, and really surprising that they took us to a motorcycle. So it was crazy trip with 3 people in a motorcycle with all the luggage. Anyway they do not speak English, we just had a short conversation, only they understand that we will go to the bus terminal. However, it was really nice experience for us.

Bus from Hatyai to Phuket

For the second bus trip, we did not book the bus ticket in advance, because we checked online and all buses were sold out. Surprisingly, we still could buy the ticket on the spot. We arrived at  the bus terminal around 07.30 AM, and the bus will depart at 09.00 AM. So, we are in a perfect time. The bus cost THB 400 per person. I paid with Thai Baht. I am not really sure if they could accept card. In case they do not accept card, we can easily withdraw from the local ATM, it is available inside the terminal complex. Here is the location of the bus terminal.

While waiting for the bus, we had a breakfast and had a coffee. There is a coffee shop in the bus terminal complex. One cup of americano was really perfect to wake me up after 8 hours bus trip.

Exactly at 09.00 AM the bus started the journey. The Malaysian Bus is way better than the Thai Bus. But it is also comfortable enough. The seat configuration is 2-2. So, that is why I said Malaysian Bus is better is because it has more space compared with the Thai Bus. 

The bus stop one time in a restaurant. We can take lunch in this restaurant. Our ticket is included with the meal voucher, so we do not need to pay for the meal. But the meal is really basic, if we want to have better meal, of course we need to pay a bit more.

Around 05.00 PM, the bus arrived at Phuket Bus Terminal 2. There is 2 bus terminal in Phuket, and we never know how the Phuket Bus Terminal 1 looks like. From the bus terminal, we took a taxi that cost 200 Baht to our hostel in Phuket Old Town Area. We stay at Hugger Hotel

So that is our story from Kuala Lumput (KL) to Phuket by bus, we hope this article will be useful for you guys. Have a good trip in South East Asia, and do not forget to visit our country as well, Indonesia! If you visit Java Island or Yogyakarta City, please check our tour package here : Yogyakarta Tour.

Thank you guys!!!

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