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We would like to drive from Malaysia to England. Is this possible? We are three Australian 18 years olds who will be on our provisional (P Plates) licence. We would prefer to travel through Laos, China, Mongolia etc. as Pakistan and Iran are too dangerous. Any tips?

D. Caplan
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    You might get better answers if you explained why you want to do this and provided some background/context. Eg who is ‘we’? What are your nationalities? How many people in your party hold relevant driving licences? When do you want to travel? – Traveller Sep 06 '18 at 06:58
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    You cannot drive from Calais to England. Are you OK with using ferries or trains? – Patricia Shanahan Sep 06 '18 at 08:05
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    You car should return to home country, or you have large expenses to certify the car to EU rules, or to dispose it. It is funny, and if you google, there are various travel report with car. But for sure it is much expensive and it take a lot time compared to other options (car on a freight ship) – Giacomo Catenazzi Sep 06 '18 at 08:13
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    Is the goal to drive (so you can pick the car), or to get a car from one location to the other (so you must do with that specific car)? Is the goal to do it as quickly as possibly (which won't be quick at all), or to enjoy a very long road trip? – jcaron Sep 06 '18 at 09:09
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    If that isn't for George Mallory's reason, does that even make sense? This is roughly a 15,000 km drive, and not little of it through hostile terrain. Hostile in every sense (road, climate, people with automatic guns). I'd say taking an airplane is a much, much cheaper and better alternative if you only consider what those 15,000 km will cost in fuel, tires, and repairs. Let alone your life. – Damon Sep 06 '18 at 11:28
  • This reminds me of the Long Way Round – 0xFEE1DEAD Sep 06 '18 at 12:52
  • The channel is not between Asia and Europe, people. – WGroleau Sep 06 '18 at 12:59
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    @WGroleau Simply driving from Asia to Europe, the question in the title, is relatively easy. For example, drive from the east side of Istanbul to the west side over a bridge. The body of the question asks about driving from Malaysia to England, which would require driving across the English Channel. – Patricia Shanahan Sep 06 '18 at 13:28
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    Depending on which part of Malaysia, the South China Sea is going to be at least as big an obstacle as the English Channel. – 1006a Sep 06 '18 at 14:54
  • @Damon Not so dangerous. They can theoretically drive through Bangkok (Thailand), Laos, China, Kasachstan, Russia and then Europe. This is not much longer and mostly passes safe territority. – Thorsten S. Sep 07 '18 at 14:21
  • Thanks for the edits but this is still far too broad. You're still asking about a huge trip with no indication at all about what aspects you want people to cover. This is the sort of thing that takes weeks or even months of planning. It would take hours and hours to write a guide of all the things you need to consider. – David Richerby Sep 08 '18 at 10:35

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Hanky Panky summarises it beautifully. In more detail, you're probably going to want to go Thailand-Myanmar-Bangladesh-India-Pakistan-Iran-Turkey-Europe, and you're going to want a reasonably hardy (read: 4WD, etc.) vehicle to do it.

My Mum and Dad did India-UK overland some years ago, and it remains do-able as far as I know. The trickiest bit will be Myanmar, which whilst more liberal than previously, is still pretty tightly controlled.

There are various fora specifically for international overland travellers, but my favourite is the HUBB (disclaimer: I'm a registered user but have no other connection with them) which whilst motorcycle-oriented still has a healthy four-wheel population. Reports there suggest that a government guide is required for travel in Myanmar, and that's going to take some arranging. Visas will be needed, which will be date-linked to your travel plans, thus giving you the chance to enjoy the well-known phenomenon of being nailed to your itinerary because you have to cross your current country and the next border inside 72 hours. A couple of local shakedown tours to check your gear and skills are a must-do. The open/not-open-to-you/closed status of border crossing points changes frequently, sometimes day-to-day, so a great deal of flexibility and patience can be required.

As others have pointed out, you'll need a carnet to indemnify you against swingeing customs duties, and you can't dispose of the car at your destination unless you make suitable arrangements. In short, this is probably do-able, but will need months of research, preparation, and planning. If you're doing it as a life experience, I'd say go for it if you're minded to; if you're doing it as a way to move a car from SE Asia to the UK, just ship it.

MadHatter
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    Man in seat 61 suggests "Overland travel between Burma & India or Burma & China is difficult or impossible, due to civil unrest in border regions and/or areas where travel by foreigners is restricted or prohibited", but obviously there are always ways and means available to deep enough pockets... – AakashM Sep 06 '18 at 09:15
  • @AakashM thanks - that's another source of excellent data! As I think I said, Myanmar will be the trickiest bit - which definitely includes both getting in and getting out. Wikipedia's map of conflict zones in Myanmar is pretty much "the whole country except the bit in the middle", which doesn't bode well. (And Hanky - you're welcome!) – MadHatter Sep 06 '18 at 09:34
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    India-Paksitan will also likely involve a lot of tedious paperwork and can be guaranteed to be a bureaucratic nightmare. We have a question about crossing Indo-Pak border by car but it doesn't have a lot of information. – RedBaron Sep 06 '18 at 09:52
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    @RedBaron the impression I get is that every border crossing (outside Europe) is a bureaucratic nightmare involving a lot of tedious paperwork; this is just to be taken as read, really. But I'm grateful for your data to the effect that India-Pakistan is no exception. – MadHatter Sep 06 '18 at 09:56
  • @MadHatter Of course every border crossing involves a lot of paperwork but given the tensions between these two neighbours, getting permission would require serious preparation and then the actual process of crossing would also be a nightmare. Contrast this to say India-Bangladesh or India-Nepal border for which there are established procedures that are not too convoluted. – RedBaron Sep 06 '18 at 10:03
  • @RedBaron a very fair point, well made. – MadHatter Sep 06 '18 at 10:13
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    Why suggest the south Asian route? In my opinion going through Vietnam, China, Kazakhstan/Mongolia, Russia to Europe is much easier (though probably longer) – 8192K Sep 06 '18 at 11:19
  • @Sebastian excellent suggestion, you should probably write a full answer making it. I'm doubtless guilty of thinking like a motorcyclist, which makes Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and eastern Russia less desirable. China is downright complicated, still, as I understand it. But it's certainly worth exploring. – MadHatter Sep 06 '18 at 11:40
  • @MadHatter I can't make it an answer since I have no experience on the route or taking a car across those borders. However, with google maps failing, Openrouteservice can provide you with a route at least from Singapore to Almaty as well as Almaty to London, all in all 16000 km. – 8192K Sep 06 '18 at 14:12
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    @Sebastian Google maps notoriously doesn't allow some border crossings, in particular India-Pakistan. So you can compute the route from Malaysia to India, and from Pakistan to the UK, but not the whole thing. I believe it also does not allow any crossing into or out of China or something similar, which explains why it can't find an alternative route either. – jcaron Sep 06 '18 at 15:06
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    @Sebastian I believe it's mighty difficult to cross into China with your own car. I'm pretty sure there was a similar discussion on the same topic not so long ago. – jcaron Sep 06 '18 at 15:12
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    See https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/14610/is-it-possible-for-a-foreigner-to-drive-through-mainland-china-in-a-foreign-re for the issues around driving a foreign-registered car in China. Not impossible, but needs preparation. – jcaron Sep 06 '18 at 15:15