Penang is a Malaysian island on the budget slow travel circuit that we’ve visited several times for month-long stays. As more tourists and travelers visit, and as its local population booms, a problem has worsened. We’ve always seen this problem on our past visits, but this time it’s a huge bummer. Fellow travelers like us should be aware.
Penang’s popularity spawned the one huge bummer
Lonely Planet recently named Penang one of the best places to visit in Southeast Asia. The 400-square mile island broke tourism records in 2024. Early tallies show 8.4 million tourists came to the island. These are recreational and medial tourists, business travelers, and cruise ship passengers. Some hotels in the UNESCO Historic Site George Town were 100% booked. George Town is a former British fort and port city, and the largest city on the island.
Why do people seek out Penang? I like how spouse Theo put it in a recent post:
(Penang) is an interesting mish-mash of old, new, rich, poor, city, jungle, beaches, mountains, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Western, Chinese, Indian, Malay, refined, casual, tourist, and native. The street food is fantastic. The weather always steamy. The condo towers multiplying. The traffic often gridlocked.
And that’s the huge bummer: gridlock in paradise. It’s so bad that Penang was “crowned ‘traffic nightmare’ champion of 2024”.
Malaysia is a high-level developing nation; its economy ranks 36th in the world. Powerhouse Penang is a huge financial engine for the country. Aside from tourism, it wants to become a ‘Silicon Valley’ and has many industries and factories.
Meanwhile, the local population has exploded from 775,000 in 1970 to at least 1.8 million today. And: everyone wants a car – even though parking is often impossible once you get out of the gridlock.
Gas costs roughly $2 a gallon, thanks to government subsidies, so drivers don’t realize the actual cost. However, the current Malaysian administration has already cut diesel subsidies, and it says gasoline is next. Perhaps when gas prices go up, car buying will drop.
There are countless scooters all over the island, but cars with air conditioning are preferred because it’s always hot and monsoon season features wicked downpours. Also, scooters aren’t that safe in all of this traffic. Spouse Theo and his Mom, Diane, saw a scooter crash while riding the bus. They say the man was writhing on the road. Ugh.
The bus system might be the worst in the world. I’m not joking. For an island this size, and this popular with tourists, you’d think it would be covered with robust bus routes and plenty of buses. There is a free public bus that loops around George Town – but the rest of the island is woefully short of public transportation.
Between too-few routes, too-few buses, and nightmarish gridlock, it has taken me up to two hours to go only 12.6 kilometers on two buses (I had to transfer to a second bus to get to my destination).
That same trip in a ride share car on a direct road is a little better: 35 minutes for 6.7 kilometers.
I’ve had buses blow past me at peak times because they’re too full. If you are lucky enough to get on the bus and stand in the aisle – forget a seat – chances are you’ll be stuck in traffic jams with the bus jerking forward and everyone lurching along. The buses here ‘lurch’ – I think the gas peddles or brakes or both are too sensitive. I’ve seen old ladies fall down. Again, I’m not joking.
To alleviate the congestion, Penang plans to build a light rail by 2031. Until then, the jams are just getting started. Tourism officials predict a bigger tourism boom this year because Chinese and Indian travelers are now getting visa-free entry for up to 30 days.
Penang is a hot spot now, with horrendous traffic and painfully slow public transit. If this doesn’t bother you, then you’ll probably love the island.
As for me: I can’t escape the feeling that Penang is becoming the ‘Venice of Southeast Asia’. In fact, it’s considering extra tourism taxes, just like Venice and Kyoto – another over-touristed we visited in the summer of 2024.
Maybe it’s because we’ve been here several times, or maybe I’m just tired of gridlock and exhaust, or maybe I’m tired of ‘over-touristed’ sites, but Penang has its magic for me. I’m not eager to return anytime soon. We still have so much of the world to see as our clocks tick down, including new places in Malaysia, which I’m super excited for!
Life is Now!
Thanks for reading, “The one huge bummer about Penang.”
About Ellen
Ellen and spouse Tedly started a budget slow travel lifestyle in 2015. She was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer while traveling in Europe in 2018 through an annual mammogram. She had a double mastectomy in Croatia, recovered from surgery, and kept traveling.
As a recovered alcoholic, Ellen seeks out spiritual growth opportunities in a variety of ways during her travel life, including service work, volunteering, and the occasional silent meditation retreat.
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