Johor plans Thai-style floating markets to boost tourism

PASIR GUDANG: Thailand’s floating markets, immortalised in movie scenes and postcards, will be “recreated” here with Sungai Masai and Sungai Johor as the main rivers.

Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin said it would be one of the main components of the eco-tourism push involving the two traditional villages.

The villages are Kampung Kuala Masai, which has about 700 residents, and its neighbouring Kampung Pasir Gudang Baru, which has 1,000 villagers who are mostly fishermen.

Sungai Masai is the tributary of Sungai Johor which separates the two settlements.

Many fishing villages can be found along both rivers.

Apart from a floating market where villagers could sell their products to visitors, there would also be seafood restaurants along the riverbanks, he said at the launch of the Pusat Komuniti Sihat Perkasa Negara (Kospen) in Kampung Kuala Masai yesterday.

Mohamed Khaled said the state government and the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) were now drafting the master plan for eco-tourism for the two villages.

The master plan, he said, was expected to be ready in four months.

Mohamed Khaled said the identity of traditional villages should be preserved as the state government did not want only skyscrapers in Iskandar Malaysia.

He said the state authorities and Irda would engage the villagers to manage the eco-tourism activities.

“This is a pioneer project in Iskandar Malaysia.

“We are planning to involve other villages in the economic region in tourism-related businesses,” he said.