Cross Border Shoppers

[george]

Cross border shoppers

WANG Kelian Sunday market at the border town of Malaysia and Thailand is a heaven for shoppers.

And one is certainly spoilt for choice.

Stretching 2km across the border from Satun on the Thai side to Wang Kelian in Perlis, there are hundreds of stalls selling a wide range of goods such as clothing, food, leather goods, souvenirs, handicrafts, and toys at the market, which is just near the Perlis State Park.

The best part is that shoppers are allowed to enter both countries without travel documents. They can just walk through both the immigration checkpoints freely to buy goods.

As many of the Thai traders speak Bahasa Malaysia, communication is not a problem.

One piece of advice: You must haggle over the prices but don't expect the trader to call you back to offer a cheaper price.

If you like something, just buy the item as there might not be another chance to get it, especially if you are not a Perlis resident.

Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said this shopping place was the only one in the country where people could walk 3km into each other’s country without travel documents, adding that the hilly surroundings also made the place a cool and nice environment for traders to set up their stalls.

Businessman Nazri Saad, 35, and his wife Puteri Noor Baya, 29, were spotted looking for clothes at the stalls.

Nazri, who hails from Perlis, was back for Hari Raya and decided to do some shopping before returning to Kuala Lumpur.

“The things here, especially the household items, are much cheaper as compared to Kuala Lumpur,” said Puteri Noor.

Another shopper from Jitra, Kedah, said it was her second visit to the market.

Nian Kem, 19, who came with five friends, said the items were cheaper on the Thai side.

”I like buying clothes and dry food items from here.”

Lau Kooi Han, 38, from Alor Star, was shopping with his wife and three children.

Lau, an accountant, said that since it was Deeparaya and school holidays, they decided to visit the market, adding that his children were pestering him to buy toys for them.

Christine Anderson, 56, from Australia, who has been training teachers in Perlis under the Education Ministry, said she was making her last trip to Wang Kelian before returning to her country this Sunday following the completion of her two-year contract.

“It will be really sad leaving the state. I want to buy some unique items like wooden fish traps to convert into lamp shades,'' she said, adding that it was her fifth visit to the market.

One of the traders on the Malaysian side said that since the tsunami tragedy last year and the unrest in southern Thailand, the number of visitors had dropped.

P.K. Ng, 43, who sells toys, said he used to employ five workers at his stall but now there were only two left.

“Previously, I could easily earn about RM5,000 daily but now I can hardly even touch RM1,000,” he said.

Another trader, who declined to be named, said that an arcade had been constructed on the Malaysian side for over a year now but till now, the traders had not been given any directive to move in.

“We were told by the authorities that all the Malaysian traders have to move into the arcade but we are still trading by the roadside,'' he added.

Business at the market is from 7am to 6pm.

--thestar.com.my

[jaha]

Cross border shoppers

WANG Kelian Sunday market at the border town of Malaysia and Thailand is a heaven for shoppers.

And one is certainly spoilt for choice.

Business at the market is from 7am to 6pm. 

--thestar.com.my

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK - BUT IS IT REALLY SAFE TO GO THERE THESE DAYS ?