SUNGAI GOLOK RESIDENTS SEEK EXEMPTION FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN TO USE ILLEGAL CROSSING

By Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri

PASIR MAS, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The recent decision by the Malaysian authorities to arrest citizens using illegal crossing points along the Malaysia-Thailand border, especially along Sungai Golok, has raised concerns among local residents about their children's education.

Many people living near Sungai Golok, both Thai and Malaysian, are worried that if children are no longer allowed to use these crossing points, their schooling in Rantau Panjang will be disrupted.

In response, they are asking the authorities to consider allowing students to continue using these illegal routes to attend school in Rantau Panjang.

Ishak Ghazali, 61, a Malaysian who has lived in Sungai Golok for decades since childhood, shared that his family has been sending children to Rantau Panjang for school for three generations.

“I’m a Malaysian, and when the police announced they’d start detaining Malaysians using these crossings starting Dec 1, I became worried because many children from this area use this route to get to school,” he told Bernama when met in Sungai Golok today.

Yesterday, Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat announced that police will begin enforcing Section 5 (2) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963, from Dec 1, detaining Malaysians using ungazetted routes to cross into Thailand.

Ishak hopes the authorities will allow schoolchildren to continue using the usual crossing as it’s the most convenient option.

“If students are required to use the Rantau Panjang Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security Complex (ICQS), it will be difficult because many people here don’t have cars and live far from the ICQS,” he explained.

A Bernama check at around 6.45 am (Thailand time) today found primary and secondary schoolchildren boarding boats from Sungai Golok to Rantau Panjang for school.

Schoolchildren pay RM1 for the boat ride to Rantau Panjang, a longstanding practice for residents in the area. 

The boat service runs twice daily – once at 6.30 am (Thailand time) to take students to school, and again at 2.00 pm (Malaysian time) for their return journey.

Abdullah Abu Bakar, 64, echoed Ishak’s concerns, saying such cross-border movement has become a  way of life for the community in Sungai Golok with most of the children on the Thai side going to school in Rantau Panjang.

“I have no problem with this, I just hope the authorities allow schoolchildren to cross Sungai Golok. Before, students used the ICQS route with a border pass stamped monthly to cross, but that practice is no longer in place,” he said. 

Abdullah hopes that the Malaysian authorities will reconsider using the border pass for students that are stamped once a month.

"There are also Malaysians living in Sungai Golok who are married to locals, and their children attend school in Rantau Panjang.

“I hope the governments of Malaysia and Thailand will make it easier for our children to continue their education without interruption," said Abdullah, a Thai citizen married to a Malaysian.

-- BERNAMA