As an avid marathon runner himself, Penang State Exco for Tourism and Creative Economy YB Wong Hin Wai took part in the Songkhla Marathon to promote the Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) 2026 recently,
Joining him were another 500 runners from Penang State too.
Wong and his delegation were received by the Deputy Governor of Songkhla Province, Mr. Chucheep Thammaphet, together with Ms. Jirawadee Onwong, Songkhla Provincial Tourism and Sports Officer, Ms. Uraiwan Chanlap, Director of the Sports Authority of Thailand Songkhla Provincial Office, and representatives of the Songkhla Marathon organising team.
The visit was also to strengthen its ties with Southern Thailand and promote sports tourism and greater cross-border movement of runners forming an important part of PBIM’s regional outreach.
The engagement focused on building closer connections between the two destinations through major running events, while allowing both organising teams to exchange experience on race operations, safety, runner management, destination promotion and the wider economic value of sports tourism.
In all, more than 9,000 runners participated in the Songkhla Marathon.
“As one of Malaysia’s major international marathons, PBIM also shared its experience in managing a large-scale event, growing international participation and positioning the marathon as an important tourism product for Penang.
“Thailand is already one of PBIM’s key overseas markets. More than 600 runners from Thailand took part in PBIM 2025, and PBIM expects another strong Thai turnout for the 2026 edition.
“With Penang and Southern Thailand only a few hours apart by road, Wong said there is considerable potential to grow this movement further — bringing more Thai runners to Penang while encouraging more Malaysian runners to participate in events across Songkhla and Southern Thailand, said Wong.
During the meeting, Wong also invited the Songkhla Marathon organising team to visit Penang during PBIM 2026, providing them with an opportunity to experience PBIM’s scale, race operations and international event environment firsthand, while continuing the relationship between both organising teams.
The Songkhla engagement is part of PBIM’s wider approach of maintaining close ties with marathons around the region. Rather than seeing neighbouring races purely as competitors, PBIM believes stronger connections between events can create more opportunities for runner movement, tourism and regional promotion.
Wong also took part in and successfully completed the 21KM Half Marathon at Songkhla Marathon 2026, allowing him to experience the event personally from a runner’s perspective.This is the 12th half marathon Wong has completed since he started long distance running in 2022. He finished a full Marathon in PBIM 2022 and he is the only PBIM chairman who has running experience in full Marathon and series of half marathon. Earlier this month, Wong also completed the Taiping Half Marathon and met with the organizing team.
With the support of Aspen, Klippa and IHH Healthcare Malaysia, PBIM 2026 is expected to welcome approximately 25,000 runners on 13 December 2026.
Wong said the existing movement of runners between Penang and Thailand shows that the market is already there. PBIM’s aim is to build on that foundation and turn major running events into a stronger cross-border tourism link.