The Wang Kelian Checkpoint: Is our border porous? — Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli

APRIL 8 — Until April 1, 2015, Malaysians were at liberty to cross over into Thailand via the Wang Kelian Checkpoint to shop and trade at the Wang Prachan Sunday market without having to produce their international passports at the immigration checkpoint.

Is Malaysia doing the right thing in choosing security over economic benefits by putting an end to this open-gate policy?

The Wang Kelian Border Checkpoint

Nestled in the middle of the thick rainforest of Perlis, the Wang Kelian Checkpoint is the only gateway that connects Malaysia to the Thai checkpoint of Wang Prachan in the province of Satun. Historically known as Setul, this province was a territory within the Sultanate of Kedah until it came under Siamese rule in 1813. It was formally annexed as part of Siam via the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909. The legacy of Kedah rule could be seen in the cultural and religious similarities between both the people of Kedah/Perlis and Satun despite being politically divided into two different countries for more than two centuries now.

Wang Kelian is an old settlement that has existed for approximately 250 years. It did not receive any road facilities until the early 1980s, about the same time when both the Thai and Malaysian governments agreed to open up an immigration checkpoint in this area. Even though it is not as popular as the Padang Besar or the Bukit Kayu Hitam Checkpoints, the Wang Kelian Border Checkpoint is unique as it has a market that straddles for about two kilometres through the border from the Thai sector all the way into the Malaysian side.

The Wang Kelian Sunday Market

In order to stimulate economic benefits, the Malaysian and the Thai authorities have agreed to open up the border to allow the public to move freely from one side to the other for the purpose of visiting the Malaysian Wang Kelian and the Thai Wang Prachan Sunday Markets.

This is done, however, with a condition that the public may only roam in the market area within one kilometre radius from the border checkpoint and they have to return to their home country within the same day. At its peak, this Sunday markets received more than 30,000 visitors, mostly coming from Perlis and Satun themselves.

This has been the practice for more than 20 years. However, beginning April 1, 2015, Malaysians and Thais are required to bring along with them valid international passports to visit these Sunday markets. This has caused dissatisfaction among local traders, who have complained of significant decrease in the number of visitors ever since the new policy was enforced.

International passports

The world’s first passports were said to have been introduced by King Henry V of England in the 14th century as a means of helping his subjects to prove their national identity in foreign lands. In regulating the issuance of international passports, the League of Nations held a conference of passports in 1920. It was not until 1980 that passports were standardised under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Human migration was not a huge problem before the eruption of World War II as there were only 51 sovereign nations back then. These States were the original members of the United Nations (UN). Decolonisation of former European colonies has witnessed the significant increase in the number of sovereign States and at present, there are 195 independent sovereign States in the world. Therefore, passports are important international documents to contain unwarranted human migration for the purpose of upholding domestic interests and national security of States.

The Once Porous Checkpoint

Passport requirements are needed for Malaysians to travel overseas as governed by the Passport Act 1966. Nevertheless, this was not the case for Wang Kelian Border Checkpoint. As mentioned earlier, the public was free to enter both Thailand and Malaysia to visit the Sunday markets as long as they do not go beyond one kilometre radius from the border gates.

One may assert that this open-gate policy would not infringe the border security of Malaysia as the gates were only opened on Sundays. Foreigners were only allowed to be within the Sunday Market compound. This open-gate policy did not only generate economic benefits for the local traders but was also crucial in bridging the gaps in Malaysia-Thai relationships.

On the other hand, the Wang Kelian Checkpoint may end up becoming a “porous” border gate under this policy. It would obviously be an arduous task for the Malaysian authorities to monitor the movements of visitors to the border market as the market itself received about 30,000 visitors every week.

The authorities may also find it difficult to locate and identify immigrants entering Malaysia illegally via the Wang Kelian Checkpoint as both Thais and Malaysians, to a certain extent, look alike. With these gates wide open, one can imagine the high possibilities of the trans-boundary crimes like human trafficking and drug smuggling that could occur here. Even though there has never been a report being made of a major criminal incident taking place through these gates, this is a risk that both Malaysia and Thailand are not prepared to take.

Conclusion

The decision of both the governments of Malaysia and Thailand to end the open-gate policy to accommodate the Wang Kelian/Wang Prachan Sunday Market came in at the right time. This move surely has an impact on the well-being of the local traders here as Malaysians and Thais could no longer cross the border without much hindrance. Those without passports may not be allowed to visit the Thai side of the market.

As such, the Malaysian and the Thai authorities may come up with an alternative solution to solve the grievances of the local traders. One of the proposed ways is to allow those without valid passport to enter their respective territories with a special border pass that could be applied at the checkpoint. This initiative would not only assist the immigration officers to have better control over human migration via the checkpoints but also would ensure that the Sunday markets are still frequented by shoppers from both countries.

The Wang Kelian Checkpoint was once a “porous” gateway to Malaysia. The Malaysian authorities are indubitably correct in choosing national security over reaping economic benefits from the open-gate policy. Indeed, national security starts with human security, which begins at every border checkpoints of a country.

* Dr Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli is a visiting professor at the School of Law, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia, and a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.

** This is the view of the individual and does not necessarily represent the opinion of Malay Mail Online.