Pasir Mas

Pasir Mas is a town and territory (jajahan) in Kelantan, Malaysia.

Geography

The district of Pasir Mas covers an area of 577 square kilometers and is bordered by the districts of Tumpat to the north, Tanah Merah to the south, Kota Bahru to the east, and the Thai district of Su-ngai Kolok (Malay: Sungai Golok) to the west. Due to its geographical location, it acts as the main gateway of the East Coast of Malaysia to 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 1990's when it was overtaken by Tanah Merah. The town is blocked from expanding to the south by the Kelantan River. 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. [Pasir Mas District Council : [http://www.mdpm.kelantan.gov.my/mdpm01.html Background (Malay language)] ]

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 to build his palace.

During that time, a religious teacher from Bachok 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) 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. [Sejarah Malaysia : [http://sejarahmalaysia.pnm.my/portalBI/detail.php?section=sm03&spesifik_id=149&ttl_id=42 Origins of Place Names : 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.

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's KTM Intercity service and is the interchange with the service's "East Coast Line" that ends at the town of Tumpat. The nightly express from Johor Baru usually reaches here at around 9 A.M. The "Rantau Panjang Line" continues towards the north with a station in the border town of Rantau Panjang and links to the "Southern Line" of the State Railway of Thailand. 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- 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.

Bus From Pasir Mas town, it is possible to go to any state capital in peninsular Malaysia without having to change buses. However, buses departing from these state capitals with Kota Bharu as the final destination might not pass through Pasir Mas. But those with 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, Rantau Panjang and 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

References

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