Padang Besar
Encyclopedia
Padang Besar is a border
town located in the northern part of Perlis
state in Malaysia. It is situated on the border with Songkhla province
, Thailand
, 35 kilometers northeast of Kangar
and about 70 km southwest of Hat Yai
. The town opposite Padang Besar in Thailand is also known as Padang Besar, although locals here usually refer to the town as "Pekan Siam" or Siamese town.
The town is a "shopping heaven" and popular destination for Malaysians because of the duty-free shopping complex in between the border checkpoints of the two countries. The town attracts several thousand visitors from Peninsular Malaysia
and Southern Thailand
every weekend and public holiday.
and railway
which lead to the border crossing into Thailand. The road and railway respectively connect directly to Padang Besar – Sadao Highway (Thailand Route 4054) and State Railway of Thailand
to form part of the Trans-Asian Railway
.
The Malaysian checkpoint is located to the north east of town, about 300m from the actual border where the Thai checkpoint is located. Both the Malaysian and Thai checkpoints have drive-through lanes
The Padang Besar railway station
has Malaysia's only integrated customs, immigration and quarantine facility for Malaysia and Thailand and rail passengers are processed for exiting Malaysia and entering Thailand (or vice-versa if traveling the other direction) in the station. The Padang Besar
station in Thailand only serves as a domestic station.
/Satun
and Perlis
/Songkhla
as well as Kedah/Songkhla portions of the border to curb smuggling. The walls were of concrete and steel and were topped with barbed wire as well as iron fencing at other stretches. As both countries constructed their own walls a little into their own territory, a strip of "no-man's-land" about 10m wide was created and this strip of land became a convenient refuge for smugglers (not all smuggling was deterred by the wall) and drug runners.
In 2001, the two countries agreed to construct just one wall along the border which would be located just inside Thai territory. The new border wall is 2.5m high and made up of a concrete lower half and steel fencing on the upper half. At the base, barbed wire runs along the length of the wall.
While the stated reason for the construction of the wall has been to curb smuggling and encroachment, security reasons - earlier in the 1970s and 1980s resulting from Malaysian communist groups and groups involved in the South Thailand insurgency
in the late 1990s and early 2000s - have also been a major push for the barrier to be constructed.
and Southern Thailand
in every weekend and public holiday. Majority of Malaysian would like to shopping at Complex Aked Niaga Padang Besar, Pasar Padang Besar and Gapura Square, besides, Jalan Besar (town center) is one of the famous shopping area for Thai and Malaysian visitor.
Except above mentioned shopping area, places of interest can be reach within 20mins from Padang besar are listed as below
Malaysia), Ipoh-Padang Besar double tracking railway
, new college and Jalan Besar road widening project.
Padang Besar railway station
serve as a dryport in Northern Malaysia and IMT-GT, its land for cargo is limited by compare to the grow rate of the cargo, government noticed the future development restriction by expand the reservation land for cargo.
Malay: 73.52%
Chinese: 23.23%
Indian: 2.82%
Other: 0.59% (majority is Thailand Muslim from Southern Thailand)
, Mandarin Chinese, Thai
, Hakka
and Tamil
. Majority of local citizen are able to speak basic English.
Malaysia-Thailand border
The Malaysia-Thailand border consists of both a land boundary across the Malay Peninsula and maritime boundaries in the Straits of Malacca and the Gulf of Thailand/South China Sea. Malaysia lies to the south of the border while Thailand lies to the north...
town located in the northern part of Perlis
Perlis
Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...
state in Malaysia. It is situated on the border with Songkhla province
Songkhla Province
Songkhla is one of the southern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Satun, Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani and Yala. To the south it borders Kedah and Perlis of Malaysia....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, 35 kilometers northeast of Kangar
Kangar
Kangar is the state capital of Perlis, Malaysia. It has a population of 48,898 and an area of 2,619.4 ha. It is located in the northern most point of Peninsular Malaysia and is situated by the Perlis River. The center of Kangar is Sena Province, which is referred to by few locals as 'Uptown Sena'...
and about 70 km southwest of Hat Yai
Hat Yai
Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand near the Malaysian border. Located at , it has a population of 157,359 in the city itself and about 800,000 in the greater Hat Yai area. Hat Yai is the largest city of Songkhla Province, the largest metropolitan area in Southern, and third largest...
. The town opposite Padang Besar in Thailand is also known as Padang Besar, although locals here usually refer to the town as "Pekan Siam" or Siamese town.
The town is a "shopping heaven" and popular destination for Malaysians because of the duty-free shopping complex in between the border checkpoints of the two countries. The town attracts several thousand visitors from Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
and Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus.-Geography:Southern Thailand is located on the Malay Peninsula, with an area around 70,713 km², bounded to the north by Kra Isthmus as the narrowest part of the peninsula. The...
every weekend and public holiday.
Border Crossing
Padang Besar is connected to Malaysia Federal RouteMalaysia Federal Route 7
Federal Route 7 is the main federal roads in northern Peninsula Malaysia. The roads connects Padang Besar, Perlis to Alor Setar, Kedah.-Route background:...
and railway
Rail transport in Malaysia
Rail transport in Malaysia comprises heavy rail , light rail transit , monorail and a funicular railway line. Heavy rail is mostly used for intercity passenger and freight transport as well as some urban public transport, while LRTs are used for urban public transport and some special use such as...
which lead to the border crossing into Thailand. The road and railway respectively connect directly to Padang Besar – Sadao Highway (Thailand Route 4054) and State Railway of Thailand
State Railway of Thailand
The State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator in Thailand. The network sees around 50 million passengers per annum.-History:SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam in 1890...
to form part of the Trans-Asian Railway
Trans-Asian Railway
The Trans-Asian Railway is a project to create an integrated freight railway network across Europe and Asia. The TAR is a project of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific .- Overview :...
.
The Malaysian checkpoint is located to the north east of town, about 300m from the actual border where the Thai checkpoint is located. Both the Malaysian and Thai checkpoints have drive-through lanes
The Padang Besar railway station
Padang Besar railway station
The Padang Besar railway station is a Malaysian train station located at and named after the town of Padang Besar, Perlis. It is the northern-most station of the west coast line, connecting to the State Railway of Thailand's rail network....
has Malaysia's only integrated customs, immigration and quarantine facility for Malaysia and Thailand and rail passengers are processed for exiting Malaysia and entering Thailand (or vice-versa if traveling the other direction) in the station. The Padang Besar
Padang Besar (Thailand)
Padang Besar is a border town of the Malaysia-Thailand border in the Sadao district, Songkhla province, Thailand. Since 2004 the municipality has had town status and covers parts of the subdistrict Padang Besar. In 2007 it had a population of 13,748.There is a road and rail border crossing into...
station in Thailand only serves as a domestic station.
Border Barrier
In the 1970s, both Malaysia and Thailand constructed walls along their common border, mostly in PerlisPerlis
Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...
/Satun
Satun
Satun is a town in southern Thailand, capital of the Satun Province. It covers the whole tambon Phiman of Mueang Satun district. As of 2005 it has a population of 21,498....
and Perlis
Perlis
Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...
/Songkhla
Songkhla
Songkhla is a city in the Songkhla Province of southern Thailand, near the border with Malaysia. As of 2006 it had a population of 75,048...
as well as Kedah/Songkhla portions of the border to curb smuggling. The walls were of concrete and steel and were topped with barbed wire as well as iron fencing at other stretches. As both countries constructed their own walls a little into their own territory, a strip of "no-man's-land" about 10m wide was created and this strip of land became a convenient refuge for smugglers (not all smuggling was deterred by the wall) and drug runners.
In 2001, the two countries agreed to construct just one wall along the border which would be located just inside Thai territory. The new border wall is 2.5m high and made up of a concrete lower half and steel fencing on the upper half. At the base, barbed wire runs along the length of the wall.
While the stated reason for the construction of the wall has been to curb smuggling and encroachment, security reasons - earlier in the 1970s and 1980s resulting from Malaysian communist groups and groups involved in the South Thailand insurgency
South Thailand insurgency
An ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
in the late 1990s and early 2000s - have also been a major push for the barrier to be constructed.
History
According to various resources from internet, the question regarding to "Padang Besar was established before or after Malaya-Singapore railway connected" is remain unknown . Below show the notable history in Padang Besar:- In 1913, rail connection linking Padang Besar in PerlisPerlisPerlis is the smallest state in Malaysia. It lies at the northern part of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and has Satun and Songkhla Provinces of Thailand on its northern border. It is bordered by the state of Kedah to the south...
to SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
was built. - In 1918, rail connection linking Padang Besar in Thailand to Hatyai in Songkla was built, therefore, Malaysia 3rd custom and immigration branch office was established in railway station to serve the train direct crossing into ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. - In 1928, first Chinese primary school was built under the huge desire from local Chinese citizen.
- In December 1941, Padang Besar was a one of the British MalayaBritish MalayaBritish Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
temporary army base for support war against Japanese armyImperial Japanese Army-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
in Khlong Ngea Songkla Thailand to delay Japanese invasionJapanese Invasion of MalayaThe Japanese Invasion of Malaya, or Battle of Kota Bharu, began just after midnight on 8 December 1941 before the attack on Pearl Harbor...
from reach Malaya during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. (See Operation KrohcolOperation KrohcolOperation Krohcol, or the Battle for The Ledge, was a British operation in December 1941 to move into southern Thailand following the Japanese invasion of Malaya and of Thailand during World War II...
) - In 60s, Golden Triangle Commercial Area was built just beside the current new Padang Besar Railways StationPadang Besar railway stationThe Padang Besar railway station is a Malaysian train station located at and named after the town of Padang Besar, Perlis. It is the northern-most station of the west coast line, connecting to the State Railway of Thailand's rail network....
which just 1m away from the border line in between Malaysia and Thailand. It became a famous shopping heaven in Malaysia and Southern Thailand. Besides, smuggling of this area is serious and finally caught the attention from both Malaysia and Thailand governments. - In 90s, new Padang Besar Immigration and Custom Complex were constructed to replace the Sadao Rd custom check point. Meanwhile, the old railway station renovated and upgraded to inland dryport. Both checkpoints were link together by pedestrian bridge to form Malaysia first ICQ complex.
- In 1994, Golden Triangle Commercial Area was demolished by Perlis state government due to the smuggling activity of this area is serious, affected Thailand border economic and relationship between both countries. Meanwhile, new commercial area (Aked Niaga Padang Besar) was built to replace the demolished commercial area.
Economy
Tourism, International trading and logistic sector are the most important profit source to local citizen if compare to agriculture. Besides, Padang Besar industry area acting as one of important industry area in Perlis.Tourism
Padang Besar is a popular shopping paradise since year 1960, this town frequently visited by the citizen from both Malaysia and Thailand for travel and business purpose. Nowadays, this town still attracts several thousands of visitor from Peninsular MalaysiaPeninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
and Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand
Southern Thailand is a distinct region of Thailand, connected with the Central region by the narrow Kra Isthmus.-Geography:Southern Thailand is located on the Malay Peninsula, with an area around 70,713 km², bounded to the north by Kra Isthmus as the narrowest part of the peninsula. The...
in every weekend and public holiday. Majority of Malaysian would like to shopping at Complex Aked Niaga Padang Besar, Pasar Padang Besar and Gapura Square, besides, Jalan Besar (town center) is one of the famous shopping area for Thai and Malaysian visitor.
Except above mentioned shopping area, places of interest can be reach within 20mins from Padang besar are listed as below
- Gua Kelam (Limestone cave)
- ChupingChupingChuping is a small town in Perlis, Malaysia. It is located to the northeast of Kangar, the state capital. The town has 22,000 hectares of plantations, which consist of rubber estates and the largest sugar cane plantation in Malaysia....
(Malaysia largest sugar cane land and one the Malaysia Rally Championship circuit) - Perlis State Park (the only semi deciduous forest in Malaysia)
- Timah Tasoh Lake
Future of the Town
According the numerous of newspaper and news released by government, in short term, Padang Besar will have a Halal Hub (under NCER), Padang Besar New City (project approved under IMT-GTIMT-GT
The Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle started life as an early attempt at economic liberalization & integration in ASEAN. It was formally endorsed by Indonesia’s President Suharto, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Tun Dr...
Malaysia), Ipoh-Padang Besar double tracking railway
Rail transport in Malaysia
Rail transport in Malaysia comprises heavy rail , light rail transit , monorail and a funicular railway line. Heavy rail is mostly used for intercity passenger and freight transport as well as some urban public transport, while LRTs are used for urban public transport and some special use such as...
, new college and Jalan Besar road widening project.
Padang Besar railway station
Padang Besar railway station
The Padang Besar railway station is a Malaysian train station located at and named after the town of Padang Besar, Perlis. It is the northern-most station of the west coast line, connecting to the State Railway of Thailand's rail network....
serve as a dryport in Northern Malaysia and IMT-GT, its land for cargo is limited by compare to the grow rate of the cargo, government noticed the future development restriction by expand the reservation land for cargo.
Demographics
Based on the research from Malaysian general election 2008, Population in Padang Besar town is around 10000, the population structure based on races are as below:Malay: 73.52%
Chinese: 23.23%
Indian: 2.82%
Other: 0.59% (majority is Thailand Muslim from Southern Thailand)
Languages
Bahasa Melayu—the national language, is the principal language of Perlis as well as in Padang Besar. Other major languages spoken by local citizen are HokkienHokkien
Hokkien is a Hokkien word corresponding to Standard Chinese "Fujian". It may refer to:* Hokkien dialect, a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in Southern Fujian , Taiwan, South-east Asia, and elsewhere....
, Mandarin Chinese, Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
, Hakka
Hakka
The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
and Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
. Majority of local citizen are able to speak basic English.