2 S'poreans, 27 & 28, spend 8 days travelling from S'pore to Krabi by hitchhiking with strangers

A trip from Singapore to Krabi, Thailand would typically involve a two-hour flight that costs a few hundred dollars.

For two Singaporean men, it would cost S$0, eight days and 14 car rides with total strangers after they decided to hitchhike their way to Krabi instead.

Flying's too easy

Yi Hui, 27, and Jake, 28, have documented their atypical Krabi holiday in a series of vlogs on Instagram.

Their first vlog was captioned: "Flying be too easy sometimes."

Armed with a cardboard sign scribbled with the words, "Malacca or KL", the video showed them running around a petrol station in Singapore, asking for a ride to Woodlands Checkpoint from strangers.

One driver suggested that they could just take the bus.

Just when they thought they might be better off flying, a Malaysian driver agreed to take them across the border.

Then, they were off.

Eight days and 14 rides later, Yi Hui and Jake would be in Krabi with bags and hearts full.

Spicing things up

Speaking to Mothership, Yi Hui, who is taking a gap year after completing his Master's, said that the idea for a Krabi holiday came first before the thought of hitchhiking.

Instead of just taking a flight, the 27-year-old wanted to "spice things up".

"When I saw that the drive from Singapore to Krabi was around 16 hours, I thought it was challenging enough to give it a shot," he shared.

For this adventure, he roped in his friend, who had recently quit his job and appeared to share the same penchant for off-the-beaten-path adventures.

With travel essentials, camera equipment and a DJ deck packed, they gave themselves seven days and only one rule — spend S$0 on transport.

"We had a hard cut-off of seven days for the hitchhiking segment because I wanted to spend some time in Krabi for a short vacation too," Yi Hui explained.

Pleasant surprises

Although many around him were doubtful, Yi Hui shared that he set off with optimism, and he was proven right.

The journey was filled with surprises, he said, the most surprising being how friendly people were.

"Most of the rejections were friendly as well, and it was crazy how some of them apologised when they couldn't accommodate picking us up," he explained.

Another surprising observation was the vibe in a car shared with strangers.

He contrasted it to being in a Grab, where conversations rarely extend past small talk.

"But the fact that these drivers [were] willing to pick us up for free, and also the fact that we had this ongoing hitchhiking challenge, it created an opportunity for us to know each other on a deeper level," he elaborated.

He added that they also stopped to share meals and coffee with those who gave them a lift.

In one of the duo's vlogs, a Malaysian driver, after sending the pair some distance, told them, "If you have any problems, call me."

Dangers

All that said, the pair were not rosy-eyed about the experience and were aware of the risks to both them and the drivers.

Some commenters on Instagram suggested that hitchhiking was dangerous as drivers might be engaged in illicit activities.

Yi Hui explained that the pair were careful in selecting the drivers and would ask them questions, such as about their jobs and their purpose of travel, to "scope them out" and make themselves feel more confident.

To put the drivers at ease as well, the pair would also explain to them what they were up to, so everyone's intentions would be clear to each other.

The pair also air-tagged their belongings and shared their live locations with loved ones as an extra layer of safety.

"Fortunately, all our drivers were actually just sweethearts," Yi Hui said.

Round two?

After meandering across highways and town roads in sedans, lorries and the back of pick-up trucks, the pair arrived on the sandy shores of Krabi.

Altogether, the journey took eight days, but that's because Yi Hui and Jake stopped along the way in towns and cities to smell the roses.

The estimated time on the road was around four-and-a-half days.

Reflecting on the endeavour, Yi Hui said, "Reaching Krabi itself was super surprising for me because it felt surreal that we had crossed two borders with S$0 [spent] on transport, and I actually got to be rewarded with a beach holiday in Krabi at the end of this massive road trip."

The friends are now back in Singapore, editing and sharing their vlogs on Instagram and TikTok.

With them are the contacts of friends and acquaintances they've made along the way, which Yi Hui said they took down so that they could potentially revisit or repay them, or even get in touch with for another journey up north.

Top image via Yi Hui and Jake