The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has revealed that Golok, Thailand, which is less than a kilometer from the Malaysia-Thailand border, has become an ‘entertainment hub’ for Kelantanese people, including teenagers, on weekends.
They often cross the Golok River illegally, which bypasses the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Complex, to apparently enjoy drug-related entertainment centers.
According to a report by Sinar Harian, Kelantan Police Chief Datuk Mohd Yusiff Mamat shared that a lot of young people from Kelantan would take the illegal route into Golok, especially on Fridays and Saturdays.
“If they want to enter an entertainment center on a Sunday, they would have to wait their turn; one comes out and one will go in. It’s fully packed, too many people. Even on weekdays, there are many people, on Sundays, there are even more people,” he said.
He went on to explain that the Kelantan police cannot do anything about this as, on Thailand’s side, they are not blocking such entry as it is done in Malaysia.
Here in Malaysia, foreigners who enter illegally will be arrested under the Immigration Act, but this is not done in Thailand.
“Actually, there are no illegal bases because the land that exists along the Golok River is individual land and not a river reserve. We cannot do anything because they built bases and jetties behind their own houses. So, it’s not an illegal jetty, so how can we stop this?” he added.
Among the potential steps he suggested is to take over the residents’ lands to be used as buffer zones and to build a wall that could be used both as illegal border-crossing prevention and flood prevention.
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