Pasir Mas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Geography

The district of Pasir Mas covers an area of 577 square kilometers and is bordered by the districts of Tumpat

Tumpat

Tumpat is a town and a district in Kelantan, Malaysia. Tumpat is situated at the end of the East Coast Line train line operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu which links Kelantan to the western part of Peninsular Malaysia. This strategic location makes it the transportation hub of Kelantan...

to the north, Tanah Merah

Tanah Merah

Tanah Merah is a territory and town in the state of Kelantan in northeast Malaysia.The capital and main town is Bandar Tanah Merah where is situated nearby Sungai Kelantan.It is bordered by Pasir Mas in the north, Machang to the East, Kuala Krai to the South East, Jeli to the South West and...

to the south, Kota Bahru to the east, and the Thai

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

district of Su-ngai Kolok

Amphoe Su-ngai Kolok

Su-ngai Kolok is a district of Narathiwat Province, southern Thailand.-History:The minor district was created on January 1 1948, consisting of the three tambon Su-ngai Kolok, Puyo and Pasemat from Su-ngai Padi district and Muno from Tak Bai district...

to the west. Due to its geographical location, it acts as the main gateway of the East Coast of Malaysia to Thailand

Thailand

and is also traversed by major road transport routes from the West Coast to the state capital of Kota Bahru. The main town of the same name was once the second biggest in the state until the early 1990s when it was overtaken by Tanah Merah

Tanah Merah

. The town is blocked from expanding to the south by the Kelantan River

Kelantan River

The Kelantan River is the major river in Kelantan, Malaysia. It drains a catchment area of about 11900 km²...

. To the north, the railway line splits the town - further limiting land suitable and desirable for commercial real estate development. Haphazard development over the past decades has resulted in the mushrooming of residential houses that encircle the town. This makes potential land acquisition for commercial development a complex and costly exercise. A new township is slowly taking shape about four miles away at the Mukim (Hamlet) of Lubuk Jong - a previously swampy area along the road leading to Rantau Panjang

Rantau Panjang

Rantau Panjang is a town and also a parliamentary constituency in Kelantan which is located near the Malaysia-Thailand Border. Across the border is Sungai Golok, Thailand.Banks in Rantau PanjangMaybank, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Agro Bank Malaysia....

History

According to legend, this area which is now known as Pasir Mas was first opened up by Che Leh Ismail who was also known as Che Leh Tok Pendekar. Che Leh Ismail was forced to shift to Pasir Mas from Kota Bharu when his land was taken over by the Sultan

Sultan of Kelantan

The Sultan of Kelantan is the constitutional head of Kelantan state in Malaysia. The current sultan, Muhammad V, is the 29th Sultan of Kelantan. He is the figurehead of Islam in the state and the source of all titles, honours and dignities of its people....

to build his palace.

During that time, a religious teacher from Bachok

Bachok

Bachok is a territory and town in Kelantan, Malaysia. It is located 25 kilometers east of Kota Bharu. It borders Pasir Puteh to the south and Kota Bharu to the west. Bachok district's mukims are Tawang, Perupok, Repek, Telong, Gunung, Mahligai, and Bekelam...

came to teach the Quran to the villagers in Pasir Mas. The religious teacher returned to Bachok after his teachings were completed. However, a few days after the religious teacher returned to Bachok, three pots of gold suddenly appeared in some bushes. The pots of gold then rolled into a pond at the fringe of the bushes. The villagers who witnessed this happening shouted "Mas! Mas!" (Malay for gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

) Hence the place was subsequently called Pasir Mas. The word Pasir originated because there was a large field of sand at the bank of the Kelantan River, which was situated near Pasir Mas.

The district of Pasir Mas was originally part of the district of Kota Bahru. In 1918, the town of Pasir Mas and its surrounding areas were separated from Kota Bahru and granted its own local government.

Population

Pasir Mas as of 2009, it has a population of 206,400 people

Ranking Population Jajahan Pasir Mas.

Rank	Daerah/Mukim	Population 2000
1	Rantau Panjang Rantau Panjang Rantau Panjang is a town and also a parliamentary constituency in Kelantan which is located near the Malaysia-Thailand Border. Across the border is Sungai Golok, Thailand.Banks in Rantau PanjangMaybank, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Agro Bank Malaysia....	23,714
2	Kubang Gadong	22,931
3	Pasir Mas	21,681
4	Kangkong	16,488
5	Gual Periok	15,326
6	Bunut Susu	15,008
7	Kubang Sepat	14,484
8	Chetok	12,576
9	Lemal	10,753
10	Alor Pasir	9,351

Education

A public institution of higher learning; Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA Pasir Mas (MARA Higher Vocational College); is located in the township of Lubok Jong within the district. A Nurses Training College is located near the Pasir Mas Poliklinik, Jalan Hospital.

Transportation

Pasir Mas is part of the Rantau Panjang Line of Keretapi Tanah Melayu

Keretapi Tanah Melayu

Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was first built to transport tin...

's KTM Intercity

KTM Intercity

KTM Intercity is the brand name for a group of diesel-hauled intercity train services in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad . Most services operate from Kuala Lumpur Sentral station in the Malaysian capital. A few operate solely along the East...

service and is the interchange with the service's East Coast Line that ends at the town of Tumpat

Tumpat

. The nightly Ekspres Timuran from Johor Baru usually reaches here at around 9 A.M. The Ekspres Wau departs at 6.30 P.M. for the 13-hour journey to Sentral, Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

. The Rantau Panjang Line continues towards the north with a station in the border town of Rantau Panjang

Rantau Panjang

and links to the Southern Line of the State Railway of Thailand

State Railway of Thailand

The State Railway of Thailand is the state-owned rail operator in Thailand. The network sees around 50 million passengers per annum.-History:SRT was founded as the Royal State Railways of Siam in 1890...

. A new train station, which replaced the original at the same location, was completed in July 2008. The reasonable fare attracts small-traders, who would board here with various goods - usually foodstuff from Rantau Panjang

Rantau Panjang

- to transport to the interiors. The trains' scheduled arrivals and departures often create traffic-jams in the town several times daily. A carriageway connecting Lemal and Kubang Panjang over the railway track is being built to overcome this. Trains no longer stop at the hamlet station of Tok Uban along the way to Tanah Merah

Tanah Merah

.
Bus From Pasir Mas town, it is possible to go to any state capital in peninsular Malaysia

Peninsular Malaysia

Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...

without having to change buses. However, buses departing from these state capitals with Kota Bharu

Kota Bharu

Kota Bharu is a city in Malaysia, is the state capital and Royal City of Kelantan. It is also the name of the territory in which Kota Bharu City is situated. The name means 'new city' or 'new castle/fort' in Malay. Kota Bharu is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia, and lies...

as the final destination might not pass through Pasir Mas. But those with Rantau Panjang

Rantau Panjang

as the final destination, will. The most popular inter-state bus company is Transnasional, which is majority-owned by a federal government agency. Syarikat Kenderaan Melayu Kelantan SKMK has a monopoly of inter-district and intra-district bus routes. There are direct buses to the main towns of Kota Bharu

Kota Bharu

, Rantau Panjang

Rantau Panjang

and Tanah Merah

Tanah Merah

and vice-versa; which depart every 30 minutes from 7am to 6.30pm. The bus-station is at the centre of the town; about 100 metres from the train-station.
Taxi

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.