Padang Besar, Thailand

Padang Besa or Padang Besar is a border town on the Malaysia-Thailand border in the Sadao District, Songkhla Province, Thailand. Since 2004 the municipality has had town status and covers parts of the sub-district Padang Besa. In 2007 it had a population of 13,748.

History

The municipality was created as a sanitary district in 1967. Like all sanitary districts, it was upgraded to a sub-district municipality in 1999. Effective 8 November 2004 it was upgraded to town status.

Transport

There is a road and rail border crossing into Malaysia in Padang Besar. The road checkpoint is about 1 km outside town on the road to Sadao. The town on the Malaysian side is also known as Padang Besar. All rail passenger formalities, including for exiting Thailand, are carried out in the Malaysian Padang Besar railway station where there is an integrated customs, immigration, and quarantine checkpoint for both countries. There is also a local Thai train station with the same name Padang Besar railway station and passengers need to be careful not to confuse between the two stations.
The nearest airports are both located on the opposite sides of the Thailand-Malaysia border:

Hat Yai International Airport, which is located north of the town. The airport provides direct routes to Thailand's capital Bangkok.
Sultan Abdul Halim Airport which is located south of the town. The airport provides direct routes to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur.