briancray
Well-known member
I haven't hitched through all of South East Asia so I am uncertain on many places, but I was going to go over some advice for hitching in the places I traveled over the last month.
Malaysia
So this is probably the easiest hitch hiking I have ever done in my life depending on your location. Since there are no laws against tramping down highways or principal highways I mainly just tramped down the road and eventually got picked up. I've never been here so everything my eyes see are a new experience. Tramping down highway E2 is far easier to get rides than 1 or other backroads due to more traffic and pull-offs.
If I needed to get somewhere quickly, since most of Malaysia either speaks some English or understands English it makes it much easier to get around than Thailand, I would have people drop me off at busy petrol stations on E2. E2 is a highway that goes through the whole country of Malaysia. I hitched most of it through the whole western side of Malaysia. Some days I hitched over 500 kilometers.
The best scenery though is on the back roads, where you can still hitch rides, but if you tramp it's a little harder since there aren't many pull-offs and shoulders are non-existent. I got many rides from stopping at local marts or restaurants talking with locals. Some of them understand hitch hiking, others don't, but are still willing to help you out. Dump truck drivers, semi's, etc. are great rides for long distance travel. Pretty much any vehicle on E2 is going long distance so if they aren't and you need to get somewhere fast simply decline rides. I never felt unsafe in Malaysia so I rarely turned down rides, but I did a few times depending on where they were going.
I didn't fly any signs in Malaysia at all. Throwing a thumb is good enough to get rides. Loitering and hanging outside of petrol stations or pretty much any business is fine. If anything, workers come up to you, and try to help you out.
Hardest areas to hitch from for me were near the real touristy areas: I had a really hard time getting out of Melaka due to all the tourists so I ended up walking 30 kilometers towards Muar. I also had a hard time hitching in and around Ao Nang so I just ended up walking. It is possible in these areas, just harder. You might need a sign.
Thailand
Thailand is very different from Malaysia. I don't think most Thai understand what hitch hiking is so for the most part throwing a thumb won't work. However, towards the cities near the border a thumb will do just fine. Hat Yai and cities south of it a thumb will work. Otherwise, you will need to use signs in Thai. You can either ask someone who speaks Thai/English to write one for you out on cardboard or buy a map from the local mall like Odean. They normally have sections in the grocery store where you can buy a map for like 100 baht and the cities are written in both Thai and English.
Note: Just because you have a sign with a city written on it does not mean people will know to drive you there. A lot of times I found that people will try to help me out no matter what the circumstance. Most of the time this meant giving me a ride, but even after using sign language and explaining "No Bus" they still would take me to the bus station, which is not what I wanted.
Pointing to them, then signaling driving and pointing to yourself and the sign worked for me a few times. However, sometimes even after doing this I would get taken to the bus station or the tourist police. It's part of the experience, but sometimes it's a pain in the ass if you just walked from that direction and have to retrace your steps.
Singapore
The laws here are ridiculous. You can't bring chewing gum into the country and you can't cross the street without using the crosswalk. I did it a few times, but it's really not worth it because I've heard the police will stop you and hassle you due to the signage on the roads showing not to do this. You also can't walk on the highways so it makes hitch hiking impossible. I didn't throw a thumb or fly a sign because I didn't want to get hassled by police, however, walking near the border I did hitch a ride out of Singapore...so I guess hitching is possible if you get lucky. I wouldn't really even recommend visiting this country, but that's just my opinion. I was here for a few days, it's expensive and too much like America. You can still find many places to sleep outside though.
Malaysia
So this is probably the easiest hitch hiking I have ever done in my life depending on your location. Since there are no laws against tramping down highways or principal highways I mainly just tramped down the road and eventually got picked up. I've never been here so everything my eyes see are a new experience. Tramping down highway E2 is far easier to get rides than 1 or other backroads due to more traffic and pull-offs.
If I needed to get somewhere quickly, since most of Malaysia either speaks some English or understands English it makes it much easier to get around than Thailand, I would have people drop me off at busy petrol stations on E2. E2 is a highway that goes through the whole country of Malaysia. I hitched most of it through the whole western side of Malaysia. Some days I hitched over 500 kilometers.
The best scenery though is on the back roads, where you can still hitch rides, but if you tramp it's a little harder since there aren't many pull-offs and shoulders are non-existent. I got many rides from stopping at local marts or restaurants talking with locals. Some of them understand hitch hiking, others don't, but are still willing to help you out. Dump truck drivers, semi's, etc. are great rides for long distance travel. Pretty much any vehicle on E2 is going long distance so if they aren't and you need to get somewhere fast simply decline rides. I never felt unsafe in Malaysia so I rarely turned down rides, but I did a few times depending on where they were going.
I didn't fly any signs in Malaysia at all. Throwing a thumb is good enough to get rides. Loitering and hanging outside of petrol stations or pretty much any business is fine. If anything, workers come up to you, and try to help you out.
Hardest areas to hitch from for me were near the real touristy areas: I had a really hard time getting out of Melaka due to all the tourists so I ended up walking 30 kilometers towards Muar. I also had a hard time hitching in and around Ao Nang so I just ended up walking. It is possible in these areas, just harder. You might need a sign.
Thailand
Thailand is very different from Malaysia. I don't think most Thai understand what hitch hiking is so for the most part throwing a thumb won't work. However, towards the cities near the border a thumb will do just fine. Hat Yai and cities south of it a thumb will work. Otherwise, you will need to use signs in Thai. You can either ask someone who speaks Thai/English to write one for you out on cardboard or buy a map from the local mall like Odean. They normally have sections in the grocery store where you can buy a map for like 100 baht and the cities are written in both Thai and English.
Note: Just because you have a sign with a city written on it does not mean people will know to drive you there. A lot of times I found that people will try to help me out no matter what the circumstance. Most of the time this meant giving me a ride, but even after using sign language and explaining "No Bus" they still would take me to the bus station, which is not what I wanted.
Pointing to them, then signaling driving and pointing to yourself and the sign worked for me a few times. However, sometimes even after doing this I would get taken to the bus station or the tourist police. It's part of the experience, but sometimes it's a pain in the ass if you just walked from that direction and have to retrace your steps.
Singapore
The laws here are ridiculous. You can't bring chewing gum into the country and you can't cross the street without using the crosswalk. I did it a few times, but it's really not worth it because I've heard the police will stop you and hassle you due to the signage on the roads showing not to do this. You also can't walk on the highways so it makes hitch hiking impossible. I didn't throw a thumb or fly a sign because I didn't want to get hassled by police, however, walking near the border I did hitch a ride out of Singapore...so I guess hitching is possible if you get lucky. I wouldn't really even recommend visiting this country, but that's just my opinion. I was here for a few days, it's expensive and too much like America. You can still find many places to sleep outside though.
