RANTAU PANJANG: During the long school holiday, over 10,000 Malaysian travelers crossed over to Thailand in just two days, marking a significant increase.
A Thai immigration officer, who wished to remain anonymous, the surge recorded at the Sungai Golok Immigration checkpoint surpassed daily records from the past two years.
Normally, the officer said, the checkpoint sees an average of 2,000 to 3,000 Malaysian travelers daily.
He said most of the travelers, primarily from Kelantan, took advantage of the holiday season to visit the southern part of Thailand to reunite with family and friends.
"Despite facing waits of over two hours at the checkpoint, many Malaysians preferred using the Sungai Golok checkpoint over others like Takbai and Buketa."
Aisyah Mohd Faisal, a 25-year-old clerk from Kota Baru, visited Narathiwat province with her friends for the second time.
"We planned a two-day stay to explore tourist attractions before returning to work tomorrow," she said.
On the other hand, businessman Mohamad Hasan and his family experienced a nearly four-hour wait yesterday to cross over to the Sungai Golok sub-province.
"I did not expect have to queue for that long. It seems that many Kelantanese and those from other nearby states choose to go to Thailand for its variety of Thai foods and experiences."