YALA, Dec 27 — A sick Malaysian in Yala, south Thailand wants to return home to Malaysia to seek medical treatment as soon as possible after being stranded for nine months there.

Idris Mat Saman, 53, has been stranded in Thailand since March with his two daughters, aged 16 and 12, after the Malaysia-Thailand border was closed to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Idris and his daughters, who hail from Jitra, Kedah, entered Thailand together with his wife Suemoh Jehloh, 49, a Thai national, to renew her visa and to visit relatives during the school holidays on March 16.

Following the border closure, he said his wife could not enter Malaysia.

"We all had to stay on in Yala to enable her to take care of me. My health is deteriorating. I hope to return to Malaysia to seek treatment as soon as possible.

"I plead (with the authorities) to allow my wife to return to Malaysia to take care of me,” he told Bernama today.

The family of four are currently staying with their in-laws in Yala.

Idris was a cattle breeder and his wife a food trader. Idris suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure and has been bed-ridden for the past few months after suffering a stroke.

Meanwhile, daughter Nur Atiqah Najewa, 16, said she wanted to return to Malaysia as soon as possible to continue her studies and to enable her father to get treatment.

"Our family hopes our mother can return with us because she takes care of our father,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Consul General in Songkhla, Muhammad Ridzuan Abu Yazid said the consulate office was doing its best to help the family.

He added that the consulate office needs to help Suemoh to submit a MyTravelPass application to enter Malaysia. — Bernama