Perak Darul Takzim, Malaysia, is considered the second richest state in Malaysia after Selangor Darul Ehsan, according to the Munich Personal RePEc Archive (MPRA) Report that was published in 2014. Perak also shares a common land border that stretches from the far end reaches in Kuala Perlis, Perlis, to Pengkalan Kubur in Kelantan. Similarly, in Thailand, Yala's border with Malaysia continued from the Western far end reaches in Satun Province and all the way Eastwards ends of Tat Bai in Narathiwat Province. This land border is undulating from the low lands at both the Peninsular Coasts to the inland frosted forested hills of Perak and Yala. Both Perak and Yala only shared one common crossing point. The town in Perak that's nearest to the Malaysian ICQS is Pengkalan Hulu (PH) or historically it's known as 'Kroh' or 'Keroh'. From PH, it's about 7 Kms to Bukit Berapit (BB) and that's the Perak border ICQS post and this post is known as the BBICQS. Walking a short distance of about less than 200 meters from the final police post at BBICQS is the Betong, Yala ICQS. Before getting in the specifics about these border posts, I would like to touch a little bit about the economic history and its development of these existing entities.
According to the MPRA report, these border posts existed to function the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Economic Zone or better known as IMTEZ. The Betong-PH border is one of the most liveliest economic entities and cross-border trade between Northern Perak and Southern Yala brought drastic economic development to Malaysia's Northern Corridor that affected cities like Seberang Perai, Sungei Petani, Gerik, and Baling. However, in this part of Southern Thailand, Betong has grown into a lightweight city of sorts that was once a backwater community for Malayan Communists and a town to launch cross-border attacks in Malaya.
PH is the most Northern town in Perak. PH was once called 'Keroh' or 'Kroh' and to many Malaysians and Thais alike, the history of this area or 'Keroh' is laced with interesting facts. Keroh' was once ruled by the Kingdom of Reman that was under the auspicies of His Royal Majesty the Siamese Kingdom. When the (King or Sultan) of Reman decided to get greedy and raided 'Klian Intan' (now called 'Teluk Intan') for the tin and the surrounding mines. The Sultan of Perak and its people felt besieged by the constant harassment and ill treatment of these so-called Siamese called Remans. And so it seemed the only way to negotiate out of this mess was to talk with the powerful Siam King in 'Krunthep' or Bangkok. Thus, under the 1909 Treaty between Siam, Colonial Britain, and the Sultan of Perak, Hulu Perak (where 'Keroh' or PH is now situated) and Perak, became a British Colonial entity. The Siamese, in exchanged, enhanced Siam with British Protection against the French threats arising from the Khmer region (that today is known as) Vietnam. And so Colonial Britain further rationalized the treaty and extended Westwards into Kedah and Perlis as well.
Today, PH or 'Kroh' is a small backwater town struggling like many small cities in Malaysia. It seemed today, it has become a stop over for many Malaysians wanting to visit Betong, Yala. As stated in the MPRA report, there are major plans to redevelop the region into a bilateral entity to attract travelers and tourists. However, the situation becomes delayed because in the city of Yala (about 2 hours from Betong) there were insurgent bombings. As indicated before, Yala together with Narathiwat and Pattani are major insurgency targets by rebels wanting a freer autonomy or even independence from the Kingdom of Thailand. As the talks are off and on between parties, it seemed from various parties and witnesses that the Thai Islamists (even labelled as PAS by Thai Malay Muslims) are in cahoots with the Thai Buddhist military or even militias to instigate these sort of threats to contain the South and even to give jobs to the military personnel. Having said that many ordinary Thai Malay Muslims and Thai folks (in the South) are frustrated with these politics because their livelihoods are contained and they cannot move forward with their lives and allow their provinces to progress.
On the otherhand, the Thai Southern Government have tried to make inroads by establishing major touristy cities like Dannok, Hatyai, Su'Ngai Kolok, and Betong as major tourist heavens for cross-border Malaysians and travelers alike. Some of these cities do look a bit like Malaysian cities and many crave the delicacies towards Malaysian tastes and even the languages here (despite Thai is the main language) many in these cities speak Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and even Teochew. Many of these cities have drawbacks as well, its a major attraction for prostitution for many Malaysians who want to do a quickie across the border, hence, the issue of human trafficking is rife.
Having said that, the city of Betong came into existence in the 60s not because the city just sprung up by itself but because its a major refuge for Malayan Communists who hid deep in the hills and jungles of these parts of Yala province. Piyampit tunnels were just across the Malaysian border that sat just above and between 'Kroh and Baling. The tunnels were impressively dug and akin to those in Vietnam during the Vietnam-French wars - Ho Chi Minh could be impressed by the tunnels.
A major operation gathered pace sometime in the 70s between the Malaysian and Thai governments but unbeknownst to many Thais, those that started the Betong city were actually communist rebels but decided to lay down their arms perhaps for their sake of their families. Many of them are Chinese and they do speak the brand of Cantonese like my parents spoke - typical Guangdong style, slightly incoherent and nonchalantly numbly sort of way.
The Thai Government also encouraged various other ethnic Thais like Khmers from Ihsan (pronounced as ee-San) from the Northeast of Thailand and Barmans (from Western and Northwestern Thailand) to move to the rebellious and delicate South. Hence, the culture become an ordinate between Thai-Malaysian hybrid culture. The food is deliciously Thai with a hint of Malay and Malaysian mix. Halal food prepared by Thai Malays are similar to the many Malay food stalls in Malaysia that sold Thai-Malay food. The Chinese food is slightly different with a touch of a lot of herbs, especially the bitter-sour lemongrass is common in Thai food. And the Thai fish soy sauce is truly salty and pungent to anyone who finds it repugnant or disgusting. For me, Thai food is deliciously sweet, salty, and stung my taste buds with those little beady bird chilies that perspire all over my face.
White foreigners may not find Betong interesting and perhaps called it a 'boring' town of sorts but they are wrong. Like many Thai towns, the Government is bent on improving its image having more bars and drinking oasis with thumping music ramping the background and Thai women from all over Thailand to attend to these patrons. One thing is for sure, Betong is no longer a backdrop insurgent town rife with ex-commie-rebels wanting to build a new life for their families, but for many Thai law abiding residents, it will be an example of peacefulness and progress.
The PH and Betong ICQS are perhaps one of the most organised ICQS facilties. On the Malaysian side there's a building block just like all the new facilities in the North. The question here that begs my understanding is, is the building block necessary? We are not talking about a simple one level block building but the building seemed like a real entire office block. Just look at the picture below, the building on the left is at least 3 storeys high! On numerous occasions, most of the immigration booths are empty, and there's perhaps one immigration officer only. Moreover, the Customs Department is mostly inactive. The day, I arrived, at the ICQS is a Friday after the Friday prayers at about 3pm. There's just one lady at the immigration booth and she seemed contented playing her game or watching a video on her phone and not even aware I arrived. Suddenly she looked up and saw me, and she quickly scanned my passport and I said "terima kasih, puan." She couldn't be bothered as if I was interrupting her activity.
PH is the most Northern town in Perak. PH was once called 'Keroh' or 'Kroh' and to many Malaysians and Thais alike, the history of this area or 'Keroh' is laced with interesting facts. Keroh' was once ruled by the Kingdom of Reman that was under the auspicies of His Royal Majesty the Siamese Kingdom. When the (King or Sultan) of Reman decided to get greedy and raided 'Klian Intan' (now called 'Teluk Intan') for the tin and the surrounding mines. The Sultan of Perak and its people felt besieged by the constant harassment and ill treatment of these so-called Siamese called Remans. And so it seemed the only way to negotiate out of this mess was to talk with the powerful Siam King in 'Krunthep' or Bangkok. Thus, under the 1909 Treaty between Siam, Colonial Britain, and the Sultan of Perak, Hulu Perak (where 'Keroh' or PH is now situated) and Perak, became a British Colonial entity. The Siamese, in exchanged, enhanced Siam with British Protection against the French threats arising from the Khmer region (that today is known as) Vietnam. And so Colonial Britain further rationalized the treaty and extended Westwards into Kedah and Perlis as well.
Today, PH or 'Kroh' is a small backwater town struggling like many small cities in Malaysia. It seemed today, it has become a stop over for many Malaysians wanting to visit Betong, Yala. As stated in the MPRA report, there are major plans to redevelop the region into a bilateral entity to attract travelers and tourists. However, the situation becomes delayed because in the city of Yala (about 2 hours from Betong) there were insurgent bombings. As indicated before, Yala together with Narathiwat and Pattani are major insurgency targets by rebels wanting a freer autonomy or even independence from the Kingdom of Thailand. As the talks are off and on between parties, it seemed from various parties and witnesses that the Thai Islamists (even labelled as PAS by Thai Malay Muslims) are in cahoots with the Thai Buddhist military or even militias to instigate these sort of threats to contain the South and even to give jobs to the military personnel. Having said that many ordinary Thai Malay Muslims and Thai folks (in the South) are frustrated with these politics because their livelihoods are contained and they cannot move forward with their lives and allow their provinces to progress.
On the otherhand, the Thai Southern Government have tried to make inroads by establishing major touristy cities like Dannok, Hatyai, Su'Ngai Kolok, and Betong as major tourist heavens for cross-border Malaysians and travelers alike. Some of these cities do look a bit like Malaysian cities and many crave the delicacies towards Malaysian tastes and even the languages here (despite Thai is the main language) many in these cities speak Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, and even Teochew. Many of these cities have drawbacks as well, its a major attraction for prostitution for many Malaysians who want to do a quickie across the border, hence, the issue of human trafficking is rife.
Having said that, the city of Betong came into existence in the 60s not because the city just sprung up by itself but because its a major refuge for Malayan Communists who hid deep in the hills and jungles of these parts of Yala province. Piyampit tunnels were just across the Malaysian border that sat just above and between 'Kroh and Baling. The tunnels were impressively dug and akin to those in Vietnam during the Vietnam-French wars - Ho Chi Minh could be impressed by the tunnels.
A major operation gathered pace sometime in the 70s between the Malaysian and Thai governments but unbeknownst to many Thais, those that started the Betong city were actually communist rebels but decided to lay down their arms perhaps for their sake of their families. Many of them are Chinese and they do speak the brand of Cantonese like my parents spoke - typical Guangdong style, slightly incoherent and nonchalantly numbly sort of way.The Thai Government also encouraged various other ethnic Thais like Khmers from Ihsan (pronounced as ee-San) from the Northeast of Thailand and Barmans (from Western and Northwestern Thailand) to move to the rebellious and delicate South. Hence, the culture become an ordinate between Thai-Malaysian hybrid culture. The food is deliciously Thai with a hint of Malay and Malaysian mix. Halal food prepared by Thai Malays are similar to the many Malay food stalls in Malaysia that sold Thai-Malay food. The Chinese food is slightly different with a touch of a lot of herbs, especially the bitter-sour lemongrass is common in Thai food. And the Thai fish soy sauce is truly salty and pungent to anyone who finds it repugnant or disgusting. For me, Thai food is deliciously sweet, salty, and stung my taste buds with those little beady bird chilies that perspire all over my face.
White foreigners may not find Betong interesting and perhaps called it a 'boring' town of sorts but they are wrong. Like many Thai towns, the Government is bent on improving its image having more bars and drinking oasis with thumping music ramping the background and Thai women from all over Thailand to attend to these patrons. One thing is for sure, Betong is no longer a backdrop insurgent town rife with ex-commie-rebels wanting to build a new life for their families, but for many Thai law abiding residents, it will be an example of peacefulness and progress.
The PH and Betong ICQS are perhaps one of the most organised ICQS facilties. On the Malaysian side there's a building block just like all the new facilities in the North. The question here that begs my understanding is, is the building block necessary? We are not talking about a simple one level block building but the building seemed like a real entire office block. Just look at the picture below, the building on the left is at least 3 storeys high! On numerous occasions, most of the immigration booths are empty, and there's perhaps one immigration officer only. Moreover, the Customs Department is mostly inactive. The day, I arrived, at the ICQS is a Friday after the Friday prayers at about 3pm. There's just one lady at the immigration booth and she seemed contented playing her game or watching a video on her phone and not even aware I arrived. Suddenly she looked up and saw me, and she quickly scanned my passport and I said "terima kasih, puan." She couldn't be bothered as if I was interrupting her activity.
A quick note about how to get to the BBICQS. Now from PH or 'Kroh', there aren't any public transport. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most expensive places if you don't have your own private transport. There's no Grab or Uber in PH. The only mode is either taxis provided from the bus station or bus terminus at PH right in the middle of the town or illegal tout runners (who are mostly of Malays of Thai nationality). The problem is most times from the Malaysian side, they will not fetch you from PH to Betong in one go. What they would do is drop you at the Malaysian side of the ICQS at Bukit Berapit and then you have to process your passport. After completing the process and on the way out of the Malaysian immigration, there are (so-called) bike runners waiting at the exit of the pedestrian immigration hallway. These runners will bring you all the way to Betong, Thailand and at the same time even waiting for you to process your passport at the Thai side. Now the problem here is costs. The Malaysian taxi on the first instance (part) charges about RM 12.00 and the Thai runner charges another 100 Baht or another RM 12.00. So that's like RM 24.00. Its the same when you cross from Betong to PH and it can get more expensive because they know you are at their mercy. Minimum is about RM 25.00. The Thai touts can be very ruthless and they traverse between Perak and Jala regularly. I do hope the current Pakatan Government can resolve this instance with the Thai Government, soon.
Lastly, I just want to talk a little bit about surveillance and its not about the current immigration surveillance in these parts but surveillance during the communist era. Nevertheless, just a quick note, the current border programs and surveillance in PH - Betong area is pretty much controlled. Desperate migrants will never use these parts because these areas are too hilly, forested and PH-Betong is quite chilly in the mornings, meaning it does get very frosty at times. Unless you are an insurgent and running away to hide in no man's land, then perhaps these hills are ideal sort of way. But then again, one must be very adventurous and well trained in survival skills to survive these tortuous areas, not to say the least there could be vicious wild animals as well. Having said that I think the Communists during the 50s, 60s, and 70s did not just observe the activities daily on whether the Malaysian or Thai army penetrated their defenses. They did have some sort of technology to assist them and I came across interesting technology at the Betong Museum. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), one of the best ways to get information is via information from your everyday news channels on tv or radios. Look what I found in the museum, and yes, high end 'NordMende' (German) radios with powerful Shortwaves (SW) and Longwaves (LW) capabilities.
Another interesting fact is that I think the information garnered from the Communists was not via daily observations but I think they do rely on stationary camera traps that were already in place then. That's how I think today animal conservationists rely on camera traps to capture whether certain species of animals in their habitats and to record their existence and their numbers. Those days, if the camera captured soldiers or border patrols reaching their areas were recorded on pictures, they could certainly calculate the distance and whether they should retreat further or organised ambushes. Eastern communists were very creative in their pursuits and not just relied on traditional strategies; just looked at ISIS, they didn't have the know how to create advanced drones, but they relied on crude drone ideals like powering up a man-made plastic or wooden craft, crude enough to fly and become missiles in the midst, if the drones are laced with bombs. Similarly, communists then relied on camera technology to capture the existence of government troops movements and whether they breached certain frontiers. Troops who were not versed with ideals of technologies would disregard them. But these cameras can be readily camouflaged and opposition troops would not be able to distinguish a block of wood from a camera or even a huge mushroom.
Surveillance has always been an important aspect of security. To an untrained eye, surveillance is just a careless dot or coma. But to a trained eye, there's more than that to that dot or coma. Snipers relied on patience, observations, and the understandings of each of the individuals involved in their scheme of observations before they even requested to take actions. Conservationists relied on camera traps not only to capture animals but also to study their behaviour as well. Thus begs the questions whether we need unobtrusive screenings and surveillance but at the same time allow officers to be their normal selves and not dwell in nervous searches which perhaps they do not like as well. However, unobtrusive measures can be duly invasive but if its done professionally and protect nationalities from drugs and other trafficking and smuggling activities, why not. Its still the best way.
