24-hr operation at Bukit Kayu Hitam will facilitate more tourists from Thailand

BANGKOK: Tourism Malaysia is hopeful the upcoming 24-hour operations at Bukit Kayu Hitam immigration checkpoint will facilitate more tourist arrivals from Thailand via road.
Its deputy chairman Datuk Zainal Abidin Omar said the government was working towards extending the operation hour at the busy checkpoint and targeted Jan 1, 2019 to begin the round-the-clock operation.
"We hope this development will be another positive step towards welcoming more Thai tourists via road," he said during the "Malaysia Appreciation Night" here last night which was also attended by the Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed and Malaysian ambassador to Thailand Datuk Jojie Samuel.
As the two neighbouring countries shared eight border land-crossing points, he was confident the 24-hour operation at Bukit Kayu Hitam would be an excellent start to further facilitate and streamline cross border travel between Malaysia and Thailand.
The decision to extend the operation hours at Bukit Kayu Hitam immigration checkpoint to 24 hours beginning next year was first announced by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the Home Minister.
He said the decision was the result of mutual agreement between Putrajaya and Bangkok.
Meanwhile Zainal said a total of 1.78 million Thai tourists came to Malaysian shores in 2016 which was a 32.7% increase from 2016 and contributed RM3.5 billion to the tourist receipts.
Thailand, he said, was Malaysia's fourth top generating tourist markets.
From Jan until Oct last year, the total number of Thai tourists visiting Malaysia increased by 4.2% to 1.53 million compared to the corresponding period in the previous year according to him, adding that the country was set to receive 1.9 million tourists from Thailand this year.
Besides attracting tourists from Thailand, he said the neighbouring country was also a popular destination for Malaysians with 2.9 million of them travelling across the border from Jan until Nov last year, which was a 3.36% increase from the same period in 2016. — Bernama