Malaysia to deploy elite force on Thai border to combat crime

Malaysia will assign a special force to take the lead in guarding the border with Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district from Sunday as the neighbouring country takes serious action against smuggling and other cross-border crimes.
Mohd Yusoff Mamat, chief of the police in Kelantan state, said at least 90 members of the Senoi Praaq will be stationed along the border opposite the Thai district from Sunday, when the elite unit will take over leading the border force assignment from the regular police force, Bernama reported on Monday.
Senoi Praaq has British SAS-trained personnel. It once was nicknamed “The Silent Killer” by the US Central Intelligence Agency when they were deployed in Laos during the Indochina war, according to the New Straits Times.
The decision to use the elite police team, which has been greenlighted by the Malaysian national police chief, is believed to underline Kelantan’s seriousness to put an end to contraband and other crimes widespread along its border with Thailand.
The timing is in line with the Malaysia’s move on Sunday to begin arresting all its citizens using illegal border crossings when returning to the border town of Rantau Panjang from Sungai Kolok district of Thailand.
“The issue of leakage (in smuggling) and misuse of power (corruption) at the national border will be controlled, including the northern border,” the Malaysian news agency quoted the Kelantan police commander as saying.
Hamzah Ishak, the deputy director-general of the Malaysian National Security Council, has warned all Malaysian citizens that only three checkpoints in Kelantan are permitted for travelling between its state and Narathiwat province, according to another Bernama story on Sunday.
The two countries operate three checkpoints between Kelantan and Narathiwat. They are Tak Bai district and Penkalan Kubor, Sungai Kolok and Rantau Panjang, and Waeng district and Bukit Bunga. The Sungai Kolok-Rantau Panjang crossing is the main connection between the two countries and the second busiest checkpoint after the one in Sadao district in Songkhla province and Bukit Hitam in Kedah state.