Covid-19: Malaysian tourism operators dealing with outbreak seek border control

Border control officers check passenger cars passing from Thailand to Malaysia. — Filepic

The influx of foreign vehicles into the country are ferrying tourists away from legitimate local transport operators, warns the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta).

Its president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said many Thai private vehicles and tour buses have been picking up many passengers in Malaysia when they are only allowed to bring in tourists from Thailand.

“We are calling on the Road Transport Department (RTD) to be stringent in enforcement, otherwise Malaysian transport operators will continue to suffer at the hands of unlicensed operators, ” he said.

Malaysia shares land borders with Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia. Foreign motor vehicles are allowed to cross borders with certain conditions. These include obtaining the necessary International Circulation Permit, use within a certain radius and covered with motor insurance with the driver in possession of a valid competent driving licence (CDL); and for those driving commercial vehicles, either a public service vehicle (PSV) licence or Goods Driving Licence (GDL) or equivalent.

Tan said special operations should be conducted regularly at all entry points such as those at Johor, Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak.

“Strict enforcement will promote legitimate cross-border transportation, as this will facilitate licensed local and foreign transport operators to develop a healthy tourism industry, ” he said.

Matta’s plight came at a time when local tourism operators are struggling with tourism slowdown due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Tourism operators are focusing on the domestic traveller market as part of the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020) campaign, which still retains its target of 30 million tourist arrivals and RM100bil tourist receipts this year.