Kolok: Thai and Malaysian workers are flocking across the border to Kolok after Malaysia adjusted school holidays to coincide with Eid al-Fitr, allowing for a full 10-day holiday.

According to Thai News Agency, the atmosphere surrounding Eid al-Adha, or Haji Raya, a public holiday in the five southern border provinces of Thailand-Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani, Satun, and Songkhla-is bustling. Reports from Suai Ko-lok district in Narathiwat province indicate a lively scene at the Suai Ko-lok border crossing opposite the Rantau Panjang border crossing in Kelantan state, Malaysia. Thai citizens from the three southern border provinces who work in various Malaysian states, along with Malaysian tourists, are crossing the border with their families and relatives to return home and visit the southern border provinces.

Pol. Col. Phulusak Kaewseewhite, Superintendent of the Narathiwat Immigration Police, has instructed his subordinates to facilitate Thai citizens and Malaysian tourists who are crossing the border at the Suai Ko-lok border checkpoint in greater numbers than in previous years, especially during the Eid al-Adha festival. On average, about 13,000 people cross the border daily, requiring support from the Suai Ko-lok Municipal Engineering Department to set up tents to accommodate those crossing the border while they wait for their passports to be stamped. The border checkpoint has had to be specially widened to accommodate the delays and inconvenience caused to Thai workers and Malaysian tourists waiting for their passports to be stamped.

According to a Malaysian tourist, the reason so many Malaysians traveled to Thailand with their families and relatives this year during Eid al-Adha (Hajj Day) was because the Malaysian government shifted school holidays to coincide with Hajj Day, which falls on May 27, 2069 (one day before Thailand). This resulted in a 10-day long weekend, coinciding with four public holidays in Malaysia, allowing Malaysians to take the opportunity to travel and visit relatives in Thailand.

Furthermore, Thai workers returning from Malaysia are often traveling in groups. Most of them pool their resources to hire a public van to pick them up at the border crossing, aiming to reduce costs and travel time. Another group contacts relatives to arrange transportation, resulting in crowded parking areas at the Suai Kolok border crossing.