Crossing the Malaysian-Thai Border via Sungai Golok

One of the things that I had been most curious about in Kelantan is how it is like at the border of Malaysia-Thailand so I allocated my last day there to drive over to the border and see it for myself.

I learned from the people with whom I had worked on my job assignment in Kota Bharu that Thailand could be accessed from Kelantan by getting on a ferry at Pengkalan Kubor or crossing over the Golok River on a bridge at Rantau Panjang. I thought maybe it would be more adventurous going there on a ferry but Sungai Golok was badly flooded when I was there and the ferry service was temporarily halted so I had to go for the bridge.

Driving to the border would bring you to the countryside of Kelantan where you’d see the wide expanse of paddy fields on both sides of the road. The road itself is tip-top and a smooth ride is guaranteed. I was there one day before the Chinese New Year holiday so the traffic was quite bad at certain areas through which the road passes.

I had heard something about the mosque that took the shape of a temple in Kelantan but I had no idea where it was until I accidently found it when I was on my way to the border. Driven by my curiosity, I hastily parked my car on the roadside and went for a little bit of tour around the building. It really had the looks of a temple and I wouldn’t have known that it was a mosque if I didn’t see people going in in their praying attire.

The sun was blazing hot and I wasn’t properly dressed to get into the mosque so I had to trust my imagination to imagine how it was like in the inside. Oh well, in all my imagination of it, there was something that I was so sure of, that they didn’t have anything with a face inside the mosque. 😀

Good thing about driving to a place that is totally new to you is that you don’t really know what to expect. You can always imagine but things usually turn out quite differently from what you had expected and that is when things are getting really really exciting.

You know you’re nearing the border when you see the office building of Immigration Department of Rantau Panjang stretched across the road and that is the road that would take you right to the neighboring country.

I was quite surprised to see the long line of vehicles that for a moment I contemplated of turning back because I didn’t plan to bring my car to Thailand. Then I thought, it was probably too late. There was a divider that prevented vehicles from going to the other side of the road.

I later found out that the vehicles were all heading to another road which was a diversion to the one that passes through the immigration office building and taking this road would lead you right to the town of Rantau Panjang.

All these years I’ve only known about the Duty Free Zone in Langkawi, Labuan and some little patch of land in Johor Baharu but I had no idea that they actually had – not one but TWO Duty Free Zones in Kelantan. One is in a place called Pengkalan Kubor and the other one is Rantau Panjang.

Apparently, getting into Rantau Panjang on a weekend and moreover the day before CNY demands a lot of patience. The traffic was turtle-slow and there was a crazily long line of vehicles all trying to fit into the very limited space that the tiny little town could offer.

RANTAU PANJANG is a cowboy and (rather) unorganized town that people wouldn’t really go to if not for its Duty Free Zone. It reminds me a little bit of Agra and probably Jaipur in India where buildings are quite weather washed and old and mostly un(re)painted – only much smaller in size but just as crowded and busy.

Somehow along the way I suddenly realized how much of my precious time had I been spending away trailing behind the butt of someone’s car so I made a u-turn and turned towards the main road and entered the first parking lot that I bumped into.

Of course, nothing comes for free nowadays. I would say the parking rate was moderate and I actually had nothing against it but what I didn’t like was the people who were there to hassle me up.

Apparently, they have got more reason to welcome you if you’re heading out to Thailand instead of just strolling around within the township area of Rantau Panjang. I was first offered an arrangement of entering Thailand through illegal means and they seemed disappointed when I said I had a valid passport.

Then a few guys came to ask if I needed a ride to go to the other side of the river and reacted ridiculously stupid when I politely declined. One of the motorbikes followed my car until I had it parked properly under a roofed parking lot and again insisted that I needed a lift to cross the border.

My declining it again seemed to have upset him and he began to curse and speak in the most sarcastic manner as if I had just kicked him in the balls or something.

“Kalo taknok tak payoh laaaaa! Sapoooo paksoooo?!! Mu keceh gapooooo niii! ” said the pakcik in his thick Kelantanese accent.

How nice to hear that from an old pakcik who was probably in his late 50s or early 60s. I really wish I had a picture of a coffin that I could show to him just so that he got reminded how time was running out for him to behave at least in this lifetime.

Thinking of what he might do to my car if I left it there unmonitored, I jumped back in the car, started the engine and sped off without paying a single penny. You see, if you think Malaysia is nothing worse than other countries when it comes to bad attitude towards tourists, you are most certainly wrong. All the things that you’ve heard about tourists’ bad encounters at the Malaysian border might all be true then.

So, I returned to the main road where I had earlier spotted a parking lot (in front of the Immigration Office) on my way in and parked my car where appropriate. The air was much more welcoming and the parking attendants were much friendlier.

Of course I was asked if I needed a lift to the other side of the river but they just nodded when I told them I was good. “You can pay now or later, no problem”, the amoi at the counter told me, her lips curling as she smiled. Now that was nice. ^_^

So, I walked towards the immigration office and had my passport stamped in no time at all. There really was something so exhilarating and exciting about crossing an international border on foot.

GOLOK BRIDGE was nothing like how I had imagined it. Whoever told me that Sungai Golok is just a small parit (drain) that you can just frog-jump to the other side had certainly NEVER been there. GRRRRR!

So, I had a good view of the river as I sat there looking at the overflowing water that flooded quite much of the area. I couldn’t help but feeling a tinge of sympathy for all the residents-in-demise there.

Although it was far too big to be considered a drain, Sungai Golok seems to provide such an easy access to both sides of the river. I could see boats bringing people from one side to the other and vice versa.

So I continued walking towards Thailand and I wish they had an obvious marking of the border so that I knew I was taking my first step onto the Thailand soil just for the fun of it but there was none.

As I walked further, I caught sight of the Thai Immigration Office for the first time and The Thai national flag was flipping erratically high on its pole – as if welcoming me to the Land of Smiles. I am in Thailand!^_^

Follow me as I continued walking to the famous Golok town in Thailand. It was almost everything that I didn’t expect  it to be 😉