The Silver Linings of the Border Between Perak, Malaysia and Yala Province, Thailand

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.

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.

A Third Kelantan-Thailand Border Crossing Near Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia

On December 21st, 2007, the Malaysian and Thai Government officiated the third border crossing in the Kelantan-Narathiwat region. In Kelantan, this third border crossing is situated at the Bukit Bunga (BB) border on the Malaysian side and Ban Buketa (BB) on the Thai side. Bukit Bunga is in a small municipality of Kampung (Kg.) Bukit (Bt.) Bunga (herein, KBB). KBB is within a bigger municipality called Ayer Lanas (AL), and both KBB and AL are within the district council of Jeli (Majlis Daerah Jeli [MDJ]), Kelantan. Hence, MDJ administers this whole region, except the BB Immigration and Customs Quarantine (BBICQS). The city of Jeli is about 19.3 km to the BBICQS on Highway (Hwy) 4, which serves as the main road network in these areas.

The only public transportation that serve the Jeli-Ayer Lanas area are the Cityliner buses from Kota Bharu and (charted) taxis from Tanah Merah, Kelantan. The Cityliner bus from Kota Bharu's final destination is Kuala Balah but it passes by KBB, AL along the way. However, from KBB, the walking distance is about 1.3 km (roughly about 16 mins) on the dry and hot asphalt. Charted taxis may cost as much as RM 30.00 from Tanah Merah (TM), Kelantan, about a 40 minutes journey and depending on the traffic as well. The Cityliner buses from Kota Bharu do alight at TM Bus Station before proceeding onward to KBB, Jeli, and its final destination at Kuala Balah.

This BB, Kelantan-Ban Buketa, Narathiwat border actually serves more to the locals from this Southern region of the Narathiwat province. The people and folks here converse a heavy accented Kelate and many of the Jeli-Ayer Lanas area are also civil servant retirees who are either Kelantanese or elsewhere from other parts of the peninsular married to Kelantanese or Narathiwatians. The former Trade and Industry Minister, Dato' Seri Mustapa bin Mohamad ('Tok Pa'), a Member for Parliament for Jeli constituency, resides not far from these quiet areas. Not far from the border, a branch of the University Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli is situated on the Hwy 4 about 13 kms from the border. Jeli is also a place for many Malaysians who are convicted under a Preventive Corrective Order (PCO) and are told to serve their sentence by residing in this quiet pristine region of Jeli environs.

The Northern Kelantan between Kota Bharu and Kuala Balah has a significant amount of cross border relationships between both nationalities. Here, we are talking about family and community relationships. The third border crossing between Kelantan and Narathiwat actually alleviate the hardships of Narathiwatians in Ban Buketa and Waeng. Poverty, civil strives, and perhaps terrorism did take a toll on the lives of many livelihoods of residents in Ban Buketa and Waeng. Security is still very tight and just a month ago in Sungei Golok, a bomb went off and fortunately no one was hurt in that blast. A conversation with the Manager of Hotel Jeli Inn, what he informed me was seemingly interesting at least from the standpoint of at least another conversation I had with another Northern person in Thailand some years back. So what basically transpired was the fact that they told me there aren't any civil strife and the terrorism were carried out by the Thai military so that they are able to inject manpower security in the South of Thailand. He said that the Thai Malays do not have any misgivings at the Thai government and these acts of violence are the work of the military or gangsters. Of course when I tried to reason with him about some of the mugshots of 'wanted persons' I saw at the Sungei Golok ICQS (just outside the immigration complex); he refuted me and told me that those 'wanted persons' are gangsters or drug dealers. Of course, and again I did not want to rile a conversation with him since he was nice enough to bring me to the BBICQS and later returned me to the Inn. Moreover, I have serious reservations that this Kelantanese could actually be Thai as well and had lived in Malaysia for quite sometime for whatever reasons. From the conversations sought too, he's tacitly defiant about Thai nationalism and there are many like him that also refused to identify themselves as Thais and speak the language. In fact many Southern Thais (from Jala, Narathiwat, and Pattani) of a middle-age and older disposition have a dislike for the Thai central government. Perhaps in another part of this area on border surveillance, I will devote a whole part on the history of this region and my o' my is certainly an exciting journey to examine the history of Northern Malaya and the Kra Isthmus.

On Saturday morning, the Manager of Hotel Jeli Inn offered to give me a ride to the BBICQS in his Ford pickup. Saturday was a quiet morning in Kelantan after the Friday public holiday. The ride was peppered with his views about the KBB, the distance, and the folks that goes there. All which I have said pretty much in the earlier part of this write up. He looked a bit like a normal Malay guy but his intelligence is commendable and he spoke Bahasa Malaysia and not Bahasa Kelate. When he swerved into a paved asphalt road before reaching the BBICQS, I noticed the walled and fenced up structures just about 400 meters before the ICQS. It's impressively strengthened and as we approached the complex, it's huge like the ones at Bukit Kayu, Rantau Panjang, and Pengkalan Hulu ICQS.  As a matter of fact in terms of its width, its probably slightly smaller as compared to the Southern Integrated Gateway in Johor. Not sure whether a massive building like this would have any use in this remote area; perhaps many years later, these many spaces (in this ICQS) will nor be wasted otherwise it may become 'a white elephant'.


I alighted the pickup truck and headed straight to the immigration office. As Saturday is a public holiday, there weren't much activities. I walked straight to the signboard that mentioned 'Pedestrian Lane' (Laluan Perjalanan Kaki). As I walked to the windows, I noticed that the offices were closed and blue-colored queue control retractable stretch posts safs were used and stretched across to block the entrances to denote closure.  Another staff pointed further up advised that I proceeded to the vehicular immigration post as only one is operable on that very day. As the incoming traffic was particular naught, I was the only individual heading towards Ban Buketa. The immigration officer was pleasant and typically scanned and chopped my passport without much fuss despite asking me where I was heading. I told him I wanted to see the Ban Buketa Saturday morning market. He smiled and replied "von voyage" respectfully. I walked and observed that the traffic coming into Malaysia was slightly more active.  As I approached the customs, the customs officers were nonchalantly quiet and unobtrusive. Furthermore, their scanning x-ray machines on the other side was non-operable. As a matter of fact the top part of the machine is covered by tarpaulin.

As I proceeded further away and into the open areas of the other end of the complex and carrying my phone with me. Suddenly, two police officers in military T-shirts and khaki attires stopped me in my tracks and asked me to come over. They wanted to know whether I filmed them and demanded my phone for their investigation. They queried me why I was there and what I was up to and whether I filmed them or not. Apparently, they were aware of the fact that taking pictures of them was illegal. My intention was to see whether anybody was aware of the fact, apart from these officers. They reasoned, queried, and listened to my positions in a respectable and professional manner. I was impressed with their alertness disposition (as this was an important trait lacking in many of these border areas). After they were satisfied, they took a picture of my passport, allowed me to proceed, and advised me to be cautious whilst in Thailand.

The "Friendship Bridge" as its being labelled by both Thailand and Malaysia is solidly built and very impressive. As I looked forward and backward, I noticed that Malaysia spent a lot of money for the ICQS and the Thai side seemed nothing like it and rather more like an isolated wild west outpost. The Friendship Bridge crosses the Golok River (Sungai Golok) and at its low ebb, one can virtually cross the river easily even without using the bridge. Even the island in the river has some weeds overgrown. Apparently the bridge's lightings are powered by Thai solar systems. There's also some sort of a remote camera system that's powered by solar and peering down into the river (actually not very sure what's the reason for, perhaps as a sort of flood waters monitoring on rainy seasons). The Golok River was known to swell and become treacherous on rainy seasons.

As I approached the Thai ICQS at Ban Buketa, both sides of the opposite oncoming traffic had cars parked on the sides of them. Apparently passengers and drivers were required to parked and alighted their vehicles to get their passports verified and stamped. The queues were not particularly long today but I do think that on weekdays they could even stretch out to the Malaysian side of the bridge. The Thai officer verified, checked the tourist or traveler immigration card and returned to me.  There were a couple of customs officers but they smiled and waved me on.

Just off the Ban Buketa ICQS, there was a military checking post. Despite it's empty, and as I peered to the left, I noticed that soldiers were busy checking a vehicle. The soldiers were armed with assault rifles. Apparently they took time checking it as mentioned that a month ago, a bomb went off at Sungai Golok.

There was a time when in Songkhla and Thais advises were never to tour, visit, and travel the utmost South provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani, and Jala. Ban Buketa does not have much going at all. Despite the roads are properly paved and asphalted, many people in the surrounding areas are satisfied with the village or kampung life. Goods and foodstuffs are relatively simple, styled like five-foot-way simple convenient shop lots. Merchandises depending on who are selling and making monies, if its a Thai Malay stall, things are really cheap. The Thai-Chinese (even though the ethnicity is considered absolved into a one-Thai nationality) sold their merchandises in a much pricier way and the activities inside the sundry shop was busy in organizing and the bargaining of prices with another middle men or proprietor. Most of the goods do come from across the border from either Tanah Merah or Jeli but there are also some Thai made goods. As compared to Sungai Golok, it seemed the retailers there have decided to sell more goods made in Thailand. However, in Ban Buketa and the surrounding areas, it seemed only the morning market in Kampung Bukit Bunga just off the the road proceeding to the BBICQS in Malaysia is a more popular area. Its not that Ban Buketa is not popular, there is a morning market that sells mostly local foodstuffs like meat, fish, vegetables, etc., and that's just directly to the left of where the vehicle was checked by the soldiers.

The Southern region has become a sore thumb for vehicular and individual checks that many Southern Thais find it difficult to progress and do business efficiently. Just for example, when I came out of the Ban Buketa checkpoint, there's a military outpost as the one shown above. However, within the city limits and zones, there are at least four other military checkpoints. It's not even the checks on vehicles, and when I completed my tour from within the city limits, I saw a senior military figure walking into a mosque compound and shook hands with the hosts and an Iman (who also happened to be a (colleague) military officer). Presumably, its not an invitation but somehow it's to acknowledge the ceremony and to see who are the attendees. The question is whether these sorts of surveillance are effective in curtailing threats or are these monitoring and surveillance just bore brunt in the everyday normal livelihoods of these peaceful residents. Perhaps, what the driver told me could be true, the military themselves defaulting into acts of treachery to serve their purpose as military officers and a reason for job creations. The South is neglected (for a long time) and these harassments cannot be ideal way to resolve conflicts. When and if the bombings do get suspiciously serious then they'd be curfews and because of these curfews, the stress may get to these people as discrimination and thus a tit-for-tat revenge.

The tough monitoring and business interests do make many of these Thais in Ban Buketa, Waeng or any part of Southern Thailand to head South into Malaysia. The Thai Malays here identify themselves naturally by the conversant of the language they used and that is Kelate. Everyone speaks perfect Kelate and its difficult to acknowledge who's Malaysian and who's Thai, unless they lapsed into Thai language. Here in this Jeli Inn Hotel, most of the staff are Thais, especially the food sellers and cooks. Thai Malay food is popular in these parts.

One of the interesting facts about this border is the fact that many of the border areas within Bukit Bunga and Ban Buketa are pretty much under control. However, upon my return from Ban Buketa, and after crossing the Bukit Bunga ICQS, the Manager from Jeli Inn brought me to the illegal route where many would have utilized the route as a convenience either to come to Kelantan and within the Peninsula. The amazing thing is that this route is situated just behind and beside the Bukit Bunga ICQS. He told me that many locals from Kelantan and Malaysians, as well, used this very route to go to the Ban Buketa morning market that's just beside the Ban Buketa ICQS. He drove me close to the dirt lane and I saw a number of Malaysian cars of different plates from different states parked by the roadside by the lane. There were some 40 cars or so but I think most would have cross just to go to the market. Nevertheless, desperate people will make use of this illegal lane/s during odd hours of the day to cross into Malaysia or fugitives on the run to Thailand.

It's relatively difficult to control all illegal land routes. Normal and honest people will not use these places, unless its just for a short excursion to the market without any fuss. However, since the border is already that sufficiently weak and porous, such excursions are likelihoods for smuggling, trafficking, and even to a certain extent kidnapping. Nobody bothers this route and even if there are Thai nationals ready to participate to bring people over on their bikes for a nominal fee, with no questions asked, no one actually bothers to acknowledge the legality of it, and not even enforcement officers as well. The real dawning and blow-off-the-mind question is whether building such a wonderful and huge complex at the BBICQS can determine and deter smuggling and trafficking purposes, which in effect is countered by 'rat' routes or holes to filter across both sides of the divide. No wonder the customs officials when I crossed looked nonchalantly unobtrusive as they knew what's the point of enforcement when people from both sides can filter easily. No wonder they had their scanning x-ray machines covered in tarpaulin because they are not going to use it anyway when if desperate patrons saw the stiffness of surveillance they can just use these illegal 'rat' routes or holes. Its time the government look into these issues and address them evenly at each of these borderlands, otherwise, weapons and drugs will keep coming into Malaysia. Pastor Koh, that was cornered and disappeared in Petaling Jaya be very well could be brought into Thailand with these illegal 'rat' routes. The Thais in these parts are desperate, hence, with sufficient adequate funds anything is doable.

Malaysian Borders Become a Bane Even During Election Season

In a posting by The Nation, an online Bangkok social news media, it was reported that the authorities in Malaysia have tightened the borders when dual nationality Thais and Malaysians are securing monetary compensation to vote in the Malaysian election in the far reaches of the Kelantan North. There are some 200 of these dual nationality holders who were paid RM 50.00 or Thai Baht 400.00. And if these 200 dual nationality holders succeeded in voting on the 9th of May, they would be further paid RM 200.00 that's roughly about Thai Baht 1,600.00. As this will purvey irregularities in our election system, the authorities have only allowed two crossings on the election day. The article did not say who these 200 dual nationality holders would be voting for.

More can be assessed here:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/asean-plus/30344916

Rantau Panjang and Su'Ngai Kolok: An Ideal Crossing in Malaysia

Kelantan is one of the most fortunate state in Peninsula Malaysia to have two border crossings. Earlier and yesterday, I made a good crossing from Pengkalan Kubor to Tak Bai in Thailand. Today, I made a third time crossing and this time from Rantau Panjang, Kelantan to Sungai Golok (Thai: Su'Ngai Kolok) in Narathiwat, Thailand. From here onwards I prefer to spell Sungai Golok as Sungai Kolok like how they write in Narathiwat, Thailand.

Sungai Kolok is a bizarre town and for a long time it has been one of the many popular crossings for travellers from Malaysia, much more than Bukit Kayu Hitam (in Kedah, Malaysia) and Danok (in Songkhla, Thailand) crossing. There was even once a rail connection between Rantau Panjang and Sungai Kolok but that has thus far become defunct for a long time - no one actually knows why the service is discontinued perhaps it was way during the Colonial times as more of logistical transport rather than public transport for commuters.

To get to Rantau Panjang, a commuter has to board the Cityliner bus No. 21 from Kota Bharu to Rantau Panjang. The travel time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes depending the amount of passengers alighting of various towns in between Kota Bharu and Rantau Panjang and that includes Pasir Mas, a relatively sizable town in Kelantan. The distance from Kota Bharu to Rantau Abang is about 45 km. And from Rantau Panjang to the immigration is another 2 to 3 km to the immigration that's close to Sungai Kolok. The bus trip from Kota Bharu to Rantau Panjang costs RM5.50.

Apparently, the Immigration, Customs, and Quarantine Sections (ICQS) have improved tremendously since I last visited. The pedestrian ICQS is simple and impressive. On the Malaysian side, despite there's a queue line for both Malaysian and foreign nationalities, on the other side of the counter, the Malaysian immigration authorities have set up a feasible passport reader and scanning machine for Malaysian passport readers. As I stepped into the booth the machine closed the booth's door, scanned me as the passport, scanned my thumbprint without any fuss and in a matter of seconds, confirmed me as the passport holder, and the booth's door on the other side opened to say that I was cleared. Similarly, on my return from Sungai Kolok, after four hours later, the machine on the returning side cleared me as well. Somehow, some officials saw my actions as bizarre, perhaps no one had yet to use the machines, and most Malaysians and Thais prefer the queue line to get their passports or travel permits (those that stayed on the borders and traverse along Kelantan and Narathiwat can get travel permits from the Malaysian and Thai immigration authorities) checked and stamped. I was the most glad person for this development - and on my way out I gave both my thumbs up and the authorities thought perhaps I was mad or what.

That was however untrue for the Customs side of the enforcement - there weren't anybody at all especially on the side where visitors from Thailand entering Rantau Panjang, Malaysia. The bag scanning machine was turned off and not sure where are the customs officials. Having said that, however, Malaysia ICQS have in fact one of the best vehicular inspection bays consisting of 5 vehicular bays. Perhaps Customs officials are better stationed to check vehicles rather than pedestrians crossing the borders.

The Thai side of the ICQS at Su'Ngai Kolok has improved tremendously since those days they stationed on the wooden bridge (along the Sungai Kolok) and a row of connected of offices were built adjacent to the then Thai immigration office. The Thai immigration office shifted inland and they set up similarly to the Malaysian ICQS. When I arrived at the Thai pedestrians' ICQS, its very organized and straightforward two queues in tow. The clearance is simple, efficient, and fast. I took my time to take a few pictures for this write-up and also took my time to fill up the traveller or tourist immigration card. Still the clearance only took like less than half-an-hour. The Immigration Officer was also meticulous as well and queried me as to my whereabouts in Sungai Kolok because I did not input a residence as I would be there for a few hours only. In the end, I did offer him my input that I will be hanging about in the morning market in Sungei Kolok and he was indeed satisfied. I wasn't annoyed at all, and thought his actions and questions were relevant, important, and commendable, as Sungei Kolok was troubled with a bomb blast a couple of weeks before and not far from the ICQS.

As I exited the Thai ICQS, I noticed a poster of wanted persons on banners. Not sure whether these individuals are wanted for a series of troubles in Narathiwat and Southern Thailand.

About 100 metres from the Thai ICQS, there's a military checkpoint with two soldiers in full military uniforms and weapons straddled on their shoulders. They were pleasantly nice and offered their "hellos" or "Sawadee Krap" as most Thais will do. Thailand like any country in the world, when their country is besieged with a violent problem, the full force of the military is called upon to make the presence felt rather than to enforce the law.

After the military checkpoint, the immediate building near the ICQS zone is the Thai Tourism Office and Exhibition Centre. The buildings are so massively built that it kind of reminds tourists and travellers that Narathiwat is not dangerous and patrons are free to visit and travel anywhere in Southern Thailand. I did not go there because I felt silly and felt the buildings are just 'white elephants'  because even from the outside, it seemed quite empty and not much actually feel the insides even though today is a Sunday. Trespassing is not my best suite anyway and decided to prod on towards more exciting places.

My aim is to find out where the Sungai Kolok Train Station was.

As I proceeded on, I saw another banner in fact one big banner was actually stationed across the Tourist and Exhibition Centre and its about the International Competition on Chinese Lion Dance and to be held sometime in May 2018. Participants from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, and Australia are invited to the competition together with the Thai competitors and it will be held in the Exhibition Centre. Further down there were smaller banners hanging straight down on the lamp post.

 Just after the Genting Hotel, the shops came into view; I was surprised to see so many shops and further into avenues, five-foot way shops sprung and there were security checkpoints with policing figures stationed at these checkpoints. In these controlled areas apparently, many Thais of various ethnic groups (despite majority are still Malay Muslims) conducted their businesses. Most are Chinese owned shops and they employed Muslims to run their shops - whether its eateries, sundry goods shops or pharmacies. Most of these Thais spoke dual languages, Malay and Thai. And some even can converse in local Chinese dialects like Hokkien or Teochew to my delight.

The odd thing about this, is that, it seemed the controlled secured areas are run by Thais whom have assimilated comfortably into the Thai culture. It seemed as compared to Tak Bai, Thai Muslims in Sungai Kolok are pretty comfortable with their lifestyles and have assimilated more readily. When I was having my lunch at one of the eateries, they played and sang along with Thai pop songs that one could listen readily in Bangkok and not those traditional Thai music. And to my delight most of them are Muslims and yet they don't feel the uncomfortable and at ease.

I managed to arrive at the Sungai Kolok Train Station, and the station had metal detecting machines and military figures but it seemed they either uninterested or lackadaisical in their attributes. Hence, the metal detecting machine is for show as deterrence rather than for enforcement. I went to the ticket window to inquire the ticket price for a lower berth sleeper from Sungai Kolok to Bangkok and got a favorable answer.

I did not hang around that long and decided because this place is anywhere like Thailand and thus did not thrill me at all, apart from the vegetarian lunch I had and thought it was delicious.

I returned to the immigration and observed what are the impossibilities but it seemed, on the Thai ICQS side, one have to go to one of the vehicle bays and not back to the office. Nevertheless, everything's efficient as well but I just feel its rather queer to have to be examined and checked at a vehicle bay.

All in all, my experience with the Rantau Panjang and Sungei Kolok crossings is one of positive note, if not the best, and most efficient crossings of all times. Despite, the crossings is considered well enforced but still I could see bike runners offering rides to pedestrians, however, I did not see any of those who want to risk crossing illegally.

Pengkalan Kubor and Tak Bai: Desperate Getaway Joys Either Discreetly or Not

To many of us crossing land borders are of wonders, mysteries, and excitements. It's a burgeoning experience coupled with uncertainties. Some people love it, some hated it. Airports' borders in Thailand and Malaysia are basically very organized and secure without much frills, but full of professionalism and surveillance. Security is considered a serious responsibility for all travellers as the airlines, IATA organization, national governments, etc., ensure that there will be untoward happenings after a series of hijackings, terrorisms, crimes, etc., that plagued airlines and airports. We can seriously say that airports' security are one of the best managed, anywhere in the world, except  those troubled hotspots nations.

That said, however, it's not the case for land borders.

In ASEAN, ninety percent of the countries share a land border and the only exception of this country is the Philippines that is isolated in the South China Sea, Celebes Sea, Sulu Sea, Sibuyan Sea, Bohol Sea, and the Philippine Sea.

Malaysia and Thailand are separated by both on land and sea. As this study relies on land borders and how surveillance are conducted. Travelling to the borders is an imperative methodology and there are many ways to survey and observe borders. Having one's own vehicle is probably the most convenient but travelling in vehicles can be a drag for observation. The best way to achieve this methodology is walking and observing from one border post to another border post. Now, border posts are ways away from the bustling cities or towns save for a few more traditional crossing spots like Bukit Kayu Hitam or Rantau Panjang on the Malaysian side or Danok and Sungai Golok cities on the Thai side. Another drawback is those wanting to do this has to be prepared for the weather conditions and a lot of walking and perhaps minor tracking. Some people may find this unpleasant. So, in order to get from the cities like Kota Bharu to either Pengkalan Kubor or Rantau Panjang, one can always go to the city centre in Kota Bharu to take the public buses or metro buses or city link. In Kota Bharu, this mode of public transportation is served by a service called Cityliner. Cityliner is one of the most common connectivity among town folks to connect to various cities in a state. There are others like Causeway Link, Sierramas (in the Klang Valley), etc.

The bus trip from the Kota Bharu Bus Terminal (Terminal Bas Kota Bharu) is about 28km and it takes about an hours travelling time. The trip each way only costs RM 3.50.
[https://bustravelstation.com/tag/pengkalan-kubor/]

The bus trip traverse via Wakaf Salor (where AEON Tesco and the main interstate buses terminal are located), Wakaf Baru (about 250 metres from KTM Kota Bharu train station), Tumpat town centre and Tumpat North (where 3 Thai wat temples are located), afterwhich the trip ended at the Pengkalan Kubor town and pier. The Marine and Fisheries Department in Kelantan is situated here.

To go across from Pengkalan Kubor in Malaysia to Tat Bai in Thailand one still has to cross the river, Sungai Golok (or Su'Ngai Kolok in Thai) that separates both countries. This is the mouth of the river.) The river is not small at the mouth and it's about 300 metres wide. There are two types of ferry crosses; one type is for pedestrians who visits the market daily at the morning Tat Bai market. The other ferry crossing is for vehicles from either side. The pedestrian crossing costs about RM 1.20 or Baht 10. I am not too sure about the ferry crossings for vehicles. [The video below shows the insides and views from the ferry boat.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwschan/40018954210/in/album-72157668480780498/]

Land borders are plagued with surveillance and disciplinary issues. There are many concerns about land borders immigration and security. One of the reasons why a country like Malaysia with serious weapon laws and controls, have weapons regularly turn up in the country illegally. Another area of serious breaches of immigration and security issues, is the trafficking of human beings, either for labor or migration.

Middlemen (on both sides of the border) will certainly take control of these illegal opportunities to make quick bucks and become rich instantly.  On July 18, 2017, a very senior army general, two provincial politicians, and police officers were among the 62 people found guilty of human trafficking in Thailand. One of the individuals responsible for the dozens of murders in the mass graves is a Rohingya by the name of Soe Naing, aka Anwar. Most of these dead are Rohingyas running or fleeing their homelands from political persecutions, genocides, and/or discriminatory practices of the Burmese government. Many viewed that Malaysia would have given them hope and a second chance in life. Anwar, a supposedly good talker and salespersons, for "immigration" offered that senseless hope. As they reached the Thai-Malaysian border between Wang Prachan (in Satun province, in Thailand) and Wang Kelian (in the state of Perlis, Malaysia), they were unable to cross into the jungles as authorities have rigidly implemented protocols and controls.

Another issue that's of real concern was that many of these immigrants were duped and many had to fully pay for their crossings, and thus they were made to stay before crossing into Malaysia. As they had no choice and as illegals in Thailand as well, they built makeshift camps not far from the border (in the jungle). When their families were unable to come with their payments, these desperate immigrants were murdered and dumped in mass graves. Unfortunately, these immigrants did not know that they were actually in Malaysia, as majority of these mass graves were found just slightly Northwest of Wang Kelian. The human trafficking case caused a major embarrassment to designate Prime Minister Prayut Chan O' Cha of Thailand. It also created a major international uproar and the then Obama Administration decided to downgrade and highlighted Thailand as a major human trafficking nation. Relations between US and Thailand was at a low ebb since.

Thailand has yet to fully meet the minimum standards of human trafficking and thus they are still within the realm of Tier 2 on the US Human Trafficking Watchlist. Since June 2017, Malaysia has been taken off the watchlist, however, as  a precaution and monitoring the US decided to emplace Malaysia under the Tier 2 list.

I am not applauding Malaysia's effort as of right now because I think there are still many issues facing the country's borders. Despite Prime Minister Tan Sri Najib Tun Razak has promised to enhanced border securities, it's still lagging somewhat behind.

In September 2016, the Prime Ministers of both Thailand and Malaysia agreed to building a wall to stop human trafficking, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and illegal cross border trade and smuggling. These had yet to materialize, however, because building a border wall requires humongous resources and the need for true feasibility studies of what entails in the strategies and not just with a wall to prevent illegal immigration. When US President Donald Trump wanted to build a wall, he came to the realization that a wall need not be a wall because a defensive and reliable fencing coupled with surveillance solutions really are much cheaper way then building a wall. From the Israeli experience as well, its not necessarily that a wall can stop breaches of sorts because desperate persons can still tunnel beneath a wall.

The most important question is how do we actually resolve security immigration issues?

Despite earlier, this article pointed out the importance of surveillance and disciplinary issues, the real resolve is still the discipline and how land border control officials view this perspective. Do they have a lackadaisical attitude and just go about their jobs or do they want to do this seriously as pride and their actions and implications (here within and as stakeholders) can translate the whole security network in a more solidifying presence.

Today, I visited the Malaysian and Thai border between Pengkalan Kubor (just off Tumpat in the state of Kelantan, on the Malaysian Northeast) and Tak Bai, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. [The file for this video about the documentation processing and checks at the immigration is massive and as such here's the link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwschan/41110951924/in/album-72157668480780498/]

The Southern provinces of Jala, Narathiwat, Pattani, and Songkhla are not in the best of terms with the rest of Thailand. These Southern provinces were once part of the Malay Sultanate states but when the British came, they agreed with the King of Siam (then) in exchange of land borders and thereby, Perak, the then Province Wellesley (Butterworth), Penang, Kedah, etc., became part of the British Administration. Hence, Siam (Thailand) would hold on to Singgora (Songkhla), Pattani, Satun, Narathiwat, and Yala. But even before the British agreements, many provinces in Southern Siam* and that included the Northern Malay states paid honorary revenues and taxes to the King of Siam. During the Second World War, after the defeat of the British Administration in Malaya, the Japanese apparently handed over the Northern Malay states (of Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak, and Penang) to Siam for administration and control. After the war, the Northern states were returned to Colonial Britain. That said, Southern provinces in Thailand were pretty much of Malay identity rather than that of the Siamese influence. Islam is the stronghold's influence and not Buddhism. In the hardcore provinces of Narathiwat, Jala, and Pattani, many Thai Muslims still identify themselves as Malay Muslims rather than Thai Muslims.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Thailand wanted to indoctrinate the Southern Thais and shifting their attributes stealthily away from mainstream Islamization to Buddhanization. Another manner that's practiced in many countries trying to whitewash a mainstream society is to encourage Northern Thais, Northeastern Thais, and Khmer Thais to move to the Southern provinces to do their business. As the weather in the Southern provinces are conducive and the land aplenty for agriculture, numerous business opportunities, and the advent of communism and socialism in Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam (during the 50s, 60s, and 70s), these Thais moved in numbers especially to the less hardcore provinces like Trang, Phatthalung, Krabi, Phuket, Surat Thani, Songkhla, Satun, and Ranong.  The indoctrination was so invasive and stealthy that Muslims in these provinces shifted their religious stance from being Muslims to being Buddhists. Many hardcore Southern provinces Muslims, where they practiced a serious sort of Sunni Wahhabism refused to adhere to such demands and thus many shifted to political strifes, by way of rebellion and causing troubles. And the result, a guerrilla war ensued. Till this day, the war is ongoing but somewhat less as before because the Thai government made serious strides to recognize the rights of Malay Muslims. Today, the three provinces are given conditional autonomies but still the Thai government dictate the policies in the provinces. As such, with these conditional policies, many Muslims in the Southern provinces are still unhappy.

On October 25, 2004, 85 Muslim residents in Tak Bai were massacred. The incident began when 1,500 residents from various parts of the three Malay Muslim provinces came to demonstrate against the detention of so-called 6 suspects, who were alleged to have given weapons to militants in the fight against the Thai military. The protests went awry when the protestors were cornered by the leaders of the protesters and the enforcement authorities. Gun fires were heard firing at the protesters but that didn't contribute to their demise. What contributed was when the protesters were forced to lie face down and thus with the many bodies on top of each other, the ones near the bottom or at the bottom were suffocated and asphyxiated and that resulted in their deaths. In retaliation for the deaths of the Tak Bai protesters, a deputy police chief, senior officials, buddhist monks, teachers, and innocent Thais and even visiting Malaysians were targeted for a period of some years. Today, and just a couple of weeks ago, there was a bomb that went off at Sungai Kolok, Narathiwat.

So what's this got to do with human trafficking? The problem here is because of these rebellion, strifes, and wanting independence and in retaliation from the Thai government, the apprehension of economic development, communique with the militants and political bodies, and the impositions of curfews and strict surveillances in many parts of Southern Thailand via many road blocks and identification checks and profilings concocted uneasiness for many Southern Thais who just want to have normal livelihoods but found their homeland unsustainable. Majority are Muslims and being Muslims (in the past) forged a stigma in their livelihoods. In the past, when these Muslims went to Central, Northern, Western or Northeastern Thailand, they were being discriminated. It's only when the late King Bhumibol saw these indifferences advised the various Thai Governments to forge a policy of inclusion and regard Thais not just as one religion but of multiple represented religions. Despite many efforts from the various administration sought to include the diversities in Thai education, many Muslim parents refused to send their children to attend Thai national schools because of the (fearful) indoctrination towards changing their faiths or identities, and as such they send them to Madrasahs or Islamic schools known as "sekolah pondok". These "sekolah pondoks" ran with minimal funds supplied from generous Islamic religious charities via the 'zakat' or Islamic welfare payments.

Many of these communities in Southern Thailand have problems of assimilation because of their religion, ethnicity, as well as their language. Despite many Malay Muslims do speak Thai as their mother tongue, but within their vicinities and communities and families, they prefer their own ethnic language which is not entirely Malay but more of a similarity to that Kelantanese Jawi language. Most don't read the alphabet form of the language but more of the Jawi traditional language that's a return in the form of Arabic. Hence, because of that similarities with the Malay language in Malaysia, they tend to comprehend and understand Malaysia better than Thailand. Moreover, their relations transcends on both sides of the borders because in the past, these parts are part of the similar administration or perhaps a similar sultanate. As such the willingness to come to Malaysia is more of a desirable need than going up to Bangkok or other parts of Thailand.

Since the Tak Bai incident, many Southern Thais have sought refuge in Malaysia. However, since the state of Kelantan is under the administration of Party Islam Se Malaysia (PAS) since the 1990s, it seemed that perhaps PAS is more amenable to the plight of these Southern Thais' sufferings. When the Tak Bai incident broke and the tit-for-tat retaliations, many of these militants at one point of time sought refuge in the state of Kelantan. As such, these happenings are not just coincidences and hence, the borders have become a relatively way to make fugitive runs either from crimes or human rights issues. It's not only for fugitives coming in from Thailand, but it's also a way criminals from Malaysia sought refuge in Southern parts of Thailand as well. Well, during the Communist insurgency in Malaya, many Malaysian Chinese Communists like Chin Peng sought refuge in the jungles of Southern Thailand, and if one today visited Betong, Jala, there is an elaborate underground tunnel (ran by Malayan Communists) that's a museum of sorts today.

Today the Malaysian-Thai border is not only a fugitive run; the porous border has become a heaven for drug smuggling, human trafficking, weapons smuggling, and goods smuggling like cigarettes, cooking oil and at one point petroleum.

So what's happening today at Tak Bai and Pengkalan Kubor? Well, there's a proper way to go to Thailand and Malaysia and there's an improper way vice versa. The proper way is the individual produced the necessary papers at the egress and ingress immigration checkpoints to have his or her documents checked and bags scanned. The improper way is to avoid the checkpoints, take an inordinate route by immigrant runners and pay a fee. This improper route does not require any documentations but the individuals are on their own risks. Most times they are able to get through this without any aforethought because everyone (including to a certain extent) authorities are paid as well. The whole process is silent and as long as the individual follows without question asked, everything's alright. [Pay special attention to the long tail boats coming to the end of the video, there are zipping from further up in Pengkalan Kubor or likely from behind the Thai temples. If one pass by the temples, there's a dirt lane just outside the temples and leading towards the river:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dwschan/41782971282/in/album-72157668480780498/]

At Tat Bai, so-called long tail boats (they are not as long tail as the ones in Krabi or other parts of Thailand because of the culture here) but the boats have long tail motor propellers and as such they are definitely Thais. They traversed from some inordinate (or secluded) route from one end of Malaysia to the pier at Tat Bai.  The Thai immigration office here is located about some 250 metres from the pier. Apparently, there's an immigration office at the steps of the pier but somehow it's defunct! So if you are a Malaysian or Thai and don't have the documentation you can just basically disappeared into Narathiwat or Thailand, because you don't have to report to the immigration office which is a way away. [In the video below pay attention to the long tail boats, there are many at the Tat Bai pier:]

As such, I decided not to report to the Thai immigration office because I didn't want to fill up a silly immigration card that detailed the stay for two weeks in Thailand without a visa (even those that required a visa they are also required to fill up the visitation card). So after my three hours recce and rests at Tak Bai, I decided to return to Pengkalan Kubor at the Malaysian side. But to my dismay, the Malaysian authorities decided to check on the stamps from the Thai immigration side and discovered non. I was asked to return to get the chops before returning to Malaysia. Initially, I tried to argue but thought best not to because in order to be a responsible individual, its best to be steadfast on a policy rather than question it. I did the necessary and the Malaysian authorities were happy.

What irks me was that, here the Malaysian authorities were steadfast in the stamps from the immigration of Thailand, but they have yet to notice so many Thais and Malaysians living across the borders just used the inordinate crossings without even having the required documentations. Giving the problems we have recently about the trafficking of persons, gun smugglings, and the recent killing of a prominent Palestinian academic in Kuala Lumpur, I have no forgivings at all on how our land borders are enforced and how these so-called immigration officers think they are doing their jobs but they just turned blind eyes on how these inordinate crossings are happening daily.

I am traveller with tales and I prefer that authorities know what they are doing and not take advantage on responsible holiday or business travellers that travel the right way and not taking advantage of the system. I do hope that the Malaysian and Thai government seriously rectify all these faults and defeat these illegal and unnecessary border crossings.

* 'Siam' is the historical imperialist personification of a Kingdom whose military strength stretches from the Capital Ayutthaya (before Bangkok) to Northern Laos, Westwards towards most of Northern Burma, Southwards that include the Northern parts of Malaya and Eastwards engulfing Cambodia and parts of Vietnam. All these without a seamless border but after the wars and various bilateral treaties, today its called Thailand.