The Golok River ( th, แม่น้ำโก-ลก, , ; ms, Sungai Golok) is a river that lies on the border between

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. It is spanned only by the Malaysian–Thai Friendship Bridge. The name of the river in Malay is ''Sungai

Golok A golok is a cutting tool, similar to a machete, that comes in many variations and is found throughout the Malay archipelago. It is used as an agricultural tool as well as a weapon. The word ''golok'' (sometimes misspelled in English as "gollock" ...

'', meaning 'river of machete'. The river borders the

Malaysian state The states and federal territories of Malaysia are the principal administrative divisions of Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states (''Negeri'') and 3 federal territories (''Wilayah Persekutuan''). States and federal territories Ele ...

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

and the Thai province of

Narathiwat Narathiwat ( th, นราธิวาส, ) is a town (thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand and capital of Narathiwat Province. The town is in the Mueang Narathiwat District and was established in 1936. As of 2008, the population was 40,521. ...

. The friendship bridge connects the Malaysian town of

Rantau Panjang Rantau Panjang ( Jawi: رنتاو ڤنجڠ) (Thai: รันเตาปันจัง) is a daerah (subdistrict/commune) and also a parliamentary constituency in Pasir Mas District, Kelantan, Malaysia. Geography Rantau Panjang is located near ...

and the Thai town of

Su-ngai Kolok Su-ngai Kolok ( th, สุไหงโกลก, ms, Sungai Golok) is a border town, subdistrict, and district on the Malaysia-Thailand Border in Narathiwat Province, Thailand. It is one of the largest and most prosperous districts in Narathiwa ...

. Rantau Panjang is a duty-free zone. The river flows into the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand, also known as the Gulf of Siam, is a shallow inlet in the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. It is around in l ...

at Tak Bai District, Narathiwat Province. It floods seasonally with the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

. An unusually large flood occurred on 21 December 2009, causing an evacuation of parts of Kelantan. The river originates in

Titiwangsa Mountains The Titiwangsa Mountains ( Malay: ''Banjaran Titiwangsa,'' بنجرن تيتيوڠسا, ), also known as ''"Banjaran Besar"'' (Big Range) by locals, is the chain of mountains that forms the backbone of the Malay Peninsula. The northern section ...

Sukhirin District Sukhirin ( th, สุคิริน, ) is a district (''amphoe'') in the southern part of Narathiwat province, southern Thailand. History ''Tambons'' Mamong and Sukhirin were separated from Waeng district Waeng ( th, แว้ง, ) is the s ...

, then flows through Waeng and

with Tak Bai Districts. It is long. The area where the river flow through, especially Sukirin, it used to be a prosperous

gold mine Gold Mine may refer to: * Gold Mine (board game) *Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena *"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album ''ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characteri ...

since pre-

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

period. Although today it is not as busy as before, but the

gold panning Gold panning, or simply ''panning'', is a form of placer mining and traditional mining that extracts gold from a placer deposit using a pan. The process is one of the simplest ways to extract gold, and is popular with geology enthusiasts especi ...

career still continues for Sukhirin residents. The villagers use their wisdom of gold dredging as an addition source of income such as promoting local tourism.

References

Malaysia–Thailand border Rivers of Kelantan Rivers of Thailand Rivers of Malaysia Border rivers {{Malaysia-river-stub

See also

References