By Murray Hunter
DAN Nok, the long-standing Thai border town opposite Malaysia’s Bukit Kayu Hitam in Songkhla’s Sadao district, is facing a sharp economic decline.
Once a busy stopover for Malaysian visitors seeking shopping, meals, hotels, and entertainment, the town is now largely bypassed following the opening of a new border checkpoint just one kilometre away.
The modern Sadao Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex, linked by a new road alignment to Malaysia’s Bukit Kayu Hitam ICQS, officially opened on 11 July 2026 after a ceremony by the Thai and Malaysian prime ministers the day before. Designed to ease chronic congestion at the old, smaller Dan Nok checkpoint, particularly trucks, the new facility has become the preferred route for most vehicles.
Malaysian drivers turn right after clearing Malaysian immigration and head straight to the larger Thai complex, skipping Dan Nok entirely.
Businesses in the town report earnings drops of up to 80 per cent, with some accounts citing even steeper falls in revenue and tourist numbers.
Shops, restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues that once thrived on stopovers and overnight stays are quiet. There are now many empty shops and market stalls around the town.
Local business leaders, including the president of the Dan Nok Business Association, attribute the decline to the new road layout and understaffing at the old checkpoint, which still causes queues that push drivers toward the alternative crossing.
Trucks are required to use the new facility, while private cars and buses are encouraged to continue through Dan Nok, but many simply do not see the new route as quicker.
Dan Nok has long carried a reputation as a seedy entertainment destination. Authorities in nearby Hat Yai historically directed karaoke bars and other nightlife toward the border town.
During the long COVID-era border closures, the area shifted toward residential use for workers from the nearby industrial park. When the border reopened, Malaysian travel patterns had already changed.
Solo male visitors became less dominant; families and groups of friends now form the largest demographic.
These visitors no longer limit themselves to Hat Yai.
Songkhla has grown more popular, and buses and motorcycle groups routinely continue to Krabi, Trang, and other southern destinations, focused on food, sightseeing, and shopping.
Dan Nok’s traditional offerings no longer fit the broader itineraries many Malaysians plan.
Malaysian tourism remains vital to southern Thailand overall.
In 2025, roughly 4.5 million Malaysians visited the country, making them one of the top source markets, with the majority entering via land borders and concentrating in the south.
Early 2026 figures showed more than two million arrivals in the first half of the year. Peak holiday periods continue to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors who generate significant revenue in Hat Yai, Songkhla, and beyond.
The new checkpoint is expected to improve efficiency for this large flow, yet the benefits have so far bypassed the old border town.
Local operators have called for more staffing at the old checkpoint to keep it viable for private vehicles and to restore some traffic. Whether Dan Nok can reinvent itself, perhaps by leaning into its residential character or finding new niches, remains very uncertain.
For now, the town that once marked the first taste of Thailand for countless Malaysians is learning what it means to be left just one kilometre off the main route. – August 5, 2026
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