Malaysians love to visit Thailand because it’s so near and has so much to offer! However, if you’re driving into the country anytime soon, you should pay heed to this new rule.
According to FMT, a new regulation will be enforced at the entry points of the Malaysia-Thailand border by the Thai government, effective from 1st October.
Under this regulation, Malaysians who are driving into Thailand will have to declare details about their vehicles and passengers. They can do so by filling up a form and submitting it to the Royal Thai Customs Department.
“Drivers who fail to comply will be fined up to four or five times the value of the vehicle, or the vehicle detained, and face a two-year jail sentence,” Malaysian Consul-General, Mohd Afandi Abu Bakar said.
That’s one massive fine!
Afandi also said that this new law is aimed to facilitate and streamline the check-in record for foreigners to Thailand. To ensure a smooth cross-over into Thailand, Afandi urged Malaysians to abide by the new rule and use valid travel documents.
The full information of this new rule will be made available on the foreign ministry’s website in the near future as the consulate is in the process of obtaining the detailed information from the Thai government.
Netizens were mostly neutral towards the implementation of this new rule, and some reckoned that it’s not totally new at all.
“Presently, all Malaysians’ cars are subjected to submit our car registration details at customs. The passengers have to disembark and go through the immigration department. Let’s hope that with this new system, the passengers need not come down like what we go through in Singapore,” a netizen said.
Although this is not an entirely new rule, we should definitely spread the word and inform our friends about it to avoid that hefty fine!
Also read: If You’re Travelling to Thailand Soon, Watch Out for This Deadly Sea Creature!