RANTAU PANJANG: Thai police have warned its citizens and Malaysians against crossing the border illegally, as authorities intensify operations around Sungai Golok this week.
Sungai Golok police chief Pol Colonel Prayut Phongsanti said a special operation was launched yesterday to monitor illegal activities, ranging from smuggling of goods to illegal crossing, at the border areas.
The operation, set to continue until Friday, was held to encourage citizens of both countries to use the legal channel when entering or leaving Malaysia and Thailand.
“This operation will cover all the illegal jetties in Thailand's side of Sungai Golok, from Tanah Merah to Tumpat.
“This will be a round-the-clock operation. We hope both locals and travellers will use the immigration checkpoint as they should,” said Prayut.
He, however, denied that the operation was aimed to track down individuals who have dual citizenship ahead of 14th General Election (GE14).
This was following a recent report that Thai immigration police chief had ordered his officers to tighten security at all entry points bordering Malaysia to track down individuals with dual citizenship.
Lt Gen Suttipong Wongpin had said there was a possibility of individuals with dual citizenship using the border entrances ahead of the May 9 polls.
“Malaysia is now in election season, and there is a possibility of individuals having Thai and Malaysian dual citizenship using the border gates,” he said after visiting immigration forces at the border gate in Sungai Golok recently.
Meanwhile, 8th Brigade commander Brigadier-General Datuk Nazari Abd Hadi said security along the Kelantan-Thai border has been stepped up to prevent unwanted elements from crossing over.
“Soldiers stationed along the border are told to beef up their operation at all time including during the election period,” he told NSTP when asked to comment on the border security ahead of tomorrow’s 14th General Election.