KOTA BARU: The school holidays in conjunction with the Chinese New Year will only start next week but Kelantan folk have begun flocking the state Immigration Department to apply for border passes to cross the border.
Huge crowds were seen at a department branch here since yesterday. Some people arrived as early as 8am.
They were lining up to apply for the border passes to travel to Thailand during the upcoming school holidays.
Self-employed Rosliza Mohamad, 45, and her friends were among those who were at the Immigration Department in Jalan Hamzah here yesterday.
She was told that the border passes were finished.
"It is a suprise. We arrived at the counter and were informed that the border passes for the day had finished.
"The immigration officer told us to come again today, so we did. Luckily, we managed to get the border passes although we had to que up almost three hours," said the mother of three.
Businessman Saifulzaman Zakaria said he was willing to travel to Pengkalan Kubor, Tumpat just to apply for the border passes.
"I saw huge crowds in Kota Baru when l arrived about 9am and I was afraid that l will not have the chance to get the border pass. I then decided to go to Pengkalan Kubor," said the 37-year-old.
A survey at the immigration office at the Rural Transformation Centre in Jalan Hamzah revealed huge crowds turning up at the counters.
A line, which was about 30m long, could be seen from its main entrance until outside the office.