Betong Distict - When did I know this city? Well, I know this city due to a movie called "OK... Betong", this movie has inspired to visit this city once in a life time. Finally, this trip can be arranged after a decade passed.

My personal preference is to take the 3rd class train to go to Betong because it really gives me the warm ambience. I can feel the local lifestyle which people are so friendly and generous. Importantly, I really enjoy seeing the beautiful view along the way, it is just like many scenes in the movies that are never duplicated. In my personal point of view, I think taking a train is better than a plane because I can enjoy spectacular view along the way . Meanwhile, I can see only cloud by taking a plane. At first , I tend to take a free train ticket but I could unfortunately get that because the ticket is run out. Hence, I buy the 2nd class ticket instead.

The train departs from Hua Lamphong railway station at 13.00 hrs. According to the schedule, the train is supposed to arrive Hat Yai at 06.00 hrs. but it is somehow delayed for 2 hours.

Finally, we reach Hat Yai, we need to take the transport to Betong. According to our searching from various reviews, there are 2 possible way to go Betong. The 1st option is to go to Yala province, the advantage of taking this option is that the price is much cheaper but longer hours of journey. The 2nd option is to go to Malaysia, the advantage of this option is that you are able to take the photos with The Southern sign, it is far from Betong for 7 kms but the price is more expensive than the 1st option

And I finally choose the 2nd option because I want to take the photos with The Southern sign.

Finally, we reach Betong at noon, this city is known as the southern city of Thailand. We continue our other task which is to find for the accommodation. We do not have any ideas about this but we are fortunately recommended by the driver about the reasonable price accommodation, it is Modern Thai Hotel, the price is not expensive about THB 700 per night but the quality is very good.

After getting the accommodation, it is time to wander around Betong city. Betong is quite small city where we are able to walk an discover without taking transportation. We start from Betong Mon Khon Rit Tunnel. It is the first tunnel in Thailand, we are able to walk through the end of the tunnel. You will see Betong's hen and rooster stand to welcome you.

Apart from chicken, there is also The Southern sign for taking photos.

After walking for a while, we decide to go back to the hotel to take some rest and take some photos of the nightlife.

Above photo is taken from the hotel, it is Betong's museum. On top of the building is used as the view point for Betong and lower zone is Betong Mong Khon Rit Tunnel

Above photo is clock tower of Betong, it is very beautiful. It will be even more beautiful if all electric wires are taken to underground.

Next is the tallest post box in the world, it is still used till now.

Good morning, our day has started at Betong market, we look for the delicious dish for our breakfast today. We have ordered the signature dish of Betong which is Steamed Rice with Chicken accompanied with soup.

The taste of this dish is so delicious and aromatic. But, that is not enough, we still want to try some other dishes and we have come up with Dim Sum.

Dim Sum is so nice, we really want to order all menus but space in our stomach is so limited. Hence, we can choose only menus which are suited with our preference the most.

We are so full now, it is time to continue discovering Betong.

We continue walking and see Buddhadhiwat Temple where has very big Buddha's statue. While, we are walking there is an elder come to ask me in English. He might thought that we are from Singapore. Once we tell him that we are Thai, he is a bit surprised because Thai tourists do not normally come to travel in Betong. Most of the tourists are from Malaysia, Singapore. He continues promoting Betong and suggesting us many attractions, we are a good listener and try to get useful information as much as possible. Many people might think that traveling the area of 3 provinces in the southern part of Thailand is dangerous but it is actually not like that. Local people still spend their daily lives as usual, so we can come to travel without any worries.

After paying respect to Buddha's statue, we then go to Jongfamoolaniti School, the building is designed as Chinese style. The building has just been colored, it is so beautiful.

Furthermore, there is a shrine which is opposite the school. We then visit this place for paying respect.

After visiting Thai temple, we continue walking to Chinese temple. We notice that there should be Chinese temple somewhere because we have seen Chinese's pagoda from our room. We finally find it.

We get off from the temple, we keep walking and stopping at Betong's museum. Let's discover.

We have seen the outstanding thing which are fermented frogs in the bottle, it is so big.

This place has gathered everything which are related to Betong's history, utensils, local lifestyle and food.

We come up to the 5th floor, we can see the panoramic view of Betong which is covered by the foggy curtain, it should deserve name of city in the valley. We can take a deep breath and enjoy stunning view for a while. We then get off from the museum heading to Sud Siam's garden and city stadium where is known as the highest stadium of Thailand.

We have walked for 4 hours, it is time to boost up more energy before saying good bye Betong. We have ordered local dish, it is Betong Steamed Chicken. Let's eat.

Betong Steamed Chicken is marinated in soya sauce, it tastes really good. We actually want to order another menu as well but we are so full. So, we promise that we will ordered many menus for the furture trip. After finishing the meal, we will go to send the postcard. We want to let the alphabet telling the story on behalf of us. Once, we reach the post office, we have also discovered that there is a beautiful Muslim mosque over here.

So, it is the time to say good bye to Betong but it will not be the last time for visiting Betong. We are waiting for the taxi to pick us up at the hotel. Benz car is used as the taxi in Betong because the road condition of Yala is quite zigzag. We have discussed with the hotel staffs about Sakai tribe, we ask them that if we want to see Sakai tribe, where should we go ? They said that Sakai tribe are now civilized, they have spent their everyday life like local people. But, there is still original Sakai tribe existing but they stay in the far forest Hala Bala. We must admit that we have heard this forest at the first time. Is this forest in Thailand? We have so many questions in our head right now but we better keep pending all of these question.

It is time to continue our journey, the destination of this trip might not be Betong but we are taking Taxi to Yala.

According to many reviews, they are indicated about Yala as the city where has the most beautiful city plan in Thailand. We will reach Yala city very soon. Please follow up our next review " Take the train... to Betong 1.2 the most memorable trip" See you soon.