Langkawi's airport is called the Padang Matsirat airport, located about 20km from Kuah town. Daily direct flights from Kuala Lumpur are available via Malaysia Airlines (Tel: 603-78463000 or 1 300 88 3000). Optionally Air Asia (Tel: 1 300 88 9933) also has regular flights to Langkawi.
By Rail
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) connects Kuala Lumpur to Alor Setar and Arau towns in Kedah. From these towns, you can catch a taxi or a bus easily to Kuala Kedah or Kuala Perlis respectively and catch a ferry to Langkawi. Please contact KTMB at 603-22747435.
Ferries are also available from Penang (Tel: 604-2631943)
By Road From the North South Expressway (NSE), head north to Kedah and take the Alor Setar Selatan exit (Interchange 177) onto the highway headed to Teluk Kechai and on to Kuala Kedah where you can catch a ferry to Langkawi island. Alternatively, you can also catch ferries from Kuala Perlis further north, accessible via the Jitra Selatan exit (Interchange 181) via Kodiang and Kangar on trunk road K3. This route is longer, at 48km from the NSE exit. Padang Matsirat is located near the east coast of Langkawi, about 18km from Kuah town.
Padang Matsirat
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A place you can find in the history book. Padang Matsirat or the 'field of burnt rice' is the place where villagers torched the paddy fields to prevent Siamese invaders from getting the rice grains."
Padang Matsirat is also known as the Padang Beras Bakar (field of burnt rice) an area of historical significance. History has it that in 1821, villagers in this area deliberately torched the paddy fields here to prevent Siamese
invaders from getting the rice grains for their own use. The invasion of the Siamese army is said to tie to the curse that Mahsuri (see entry for Makam Mahsuri) placed on Langkawi before she died. Although not much is there to be seen today, locals around this area maintain that to this day, every now and then, heavy rain sometimes brings traces of black grains of burnt rice to the surface.
For more information, please contact the the Langkawi Tourist Information Centre at 604-9667789.
"Padang Matsirat memanglah tak ada apa kesan yg tinggal - cuma kita boleh lihat tempat ini sebagai sejarah sahaja. Di-samping itu perlu di-beritahu pada pelancung2 luar yg tempat ini juga di-dapati kedai2 menjual barang2 seperti pakaian2 Kueh2 serta ubat2 tradisenal di-sepanjang tempat ini." by makcikjamilah
