BARA BARA BUDGET SATUN HOTEL IN PAKBARA

After an elaborate discussion past the midnight hour on the phone with Mr. Ridwan Wahid, the driver of the road trip, we finally decided to stay at Bara Bara Budget Satun Hotel in Pakbara on the 21st November 2024.

Muslim friendly hotel room

I don't understand why the hotel classified itself as a budget accommodation, as everything was great.

The room was spacious and clean, and was well taken care of.

The swimming pool was awaiting as you opened your room door.

There was a coffee maker machine near the swimming pool and you could get free-flow of your coffee and other drinks as well. The hotel actually served some food for breakfast for the guests [first come first served] as well as other snacks at the same spot.

We even had breakfast at an open area near the swimming pool the next day [READ HERE].

The [young] Malay ladies at the reception counter could not speak Malay though but they could converse in English.

The parking area was like a one-minute walk from the hotel, near the 7-Eleven store.

All in all, it was a pleasant stay at the hotel. One thing to improve was to at least have an iron to be used by the guests. Mr. Ridwan's wife could not iron her hijab/head scarves to be worn the next day.

Another point worth mentioning is that the hotel was near the pier to Koh Lipe Island. We met five young women from Malaysia who put up a night there before taking a boat to the island across.

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GETTING INTO THE SECOND 7-ELEVEN STORE IN PAKBARA

   22ND NOVEMBER 2024    ~ Before leaving Pakbara for Satun, there was this bigger 7-Eleven store than the one that was near the hotel where we were staying. We stopped for a short to see if there was anything that we could buy.

I successfully bought nothing this time - I just had the strong will of not buying anything unless it was essential.

7-Eleven hopping activity was actually one of the items in the itinerary list of the road trip in Southern Thailand. There will be more coming.

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STOPPING BY AT PAKBARA VIEWPOINT FOR THE COMPULSORY PHOTO SESSION

    22nd NOVEMBER 2024    ~ First of all, if you are wondering where Pakbara is located in Thailand, then you can refer to the map above. Find the red dot up north.

The most prominent landmark in Pakbara would be its waterfront area where you can find the huge PAKBARA VIEWPOINT a giant concrete fish. A must-stop for photo taking session,this should be a living proof that you have been-there-done-that kind of thing.

It was a bright and sunny morning so it was possible to stop and strike some poses there. We were the only tourists at that time but there was some construction in progress at that very time which distracted the photography session in a way.

There was only one stall that started operating at that time, selling cookies. Guess shopping happened everywhere.

From the research done, people come to this spot in the evening to observe sunset. And if you come on weekends, there would be many stalls, like a night market, selling food {and may be other things too}. We will then have to make a return trip to Pakbara for that.

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BREAKFAST HUNTING AT LA NGU MARKET ONE FRIDAY MORNING

22ND NOVEMBER 2024 ~ We started our second day in Thailand early. At about 7:00 a.m. we were moving out from the hotel, heading to La Ngu, a small town near Pakbara. The main objective: hunting for street food for breakfast.

The place was about to get busy when we arrived. It was the regular wet market, with stalls on the left and right side of the roads, selling mostly vegetables and fruits. The items on sale looked really fresh, too bad we could buy them. [My friends bought some fruits though]

As there was Muslim community in this area, halal food was in abundance. There was so much choice and the prices were reasonable and I would say cheaper than what we have at home.

We even stopped at other stalls by the roadside to see if there would anything interesting to buy. And we still ended up buying something.

If you are lucky, you would get to meet locals at the food stalls who could speak Malay language or at least some basic and essential phrases. Business transaction was always possible even with the language barrier.

We had got enough food to savour for breakfast to bring to our hotel.

[MY HATYAI/SATUN TRIP MAIN PAGE]