A Thai Muslim woman applies for her travel documents at the passport office in Yala. Opened four years ago, the facility is staffed with Patani Malayu language speakers and offers a range of services designed to help travelers. [Ahmad Ramansiriwong/Khabar]

The scene at Yala's passport office on Wednesday (August 13th) was one of intense activity.

Marking the Idul Fitri festival, widely referred to simply as Hari Raya, thousands of Thai Muslims who live and work in neighbouring Malaysia returned last week to visit their hometowns in Thailand, as is customary. Now they are on their way back.

For these travelers, crossing back and forth across the border can be a bureaucratic nightmare. Although reciprocal agreements between the two countries provide for temporary entry, those intending to stay and work in Malaysia must have passports. As a result, many Idul Fitri visitors find themselves applying for documentation that will allow them to re-enter Malaysia legally.

Thanks to the establishment of the passport office four years ago, however, the process has become considerably easier. Launched in order to serve people from across the Deep South provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, the facility has a staff of 15 – including Malay-speaking personnel. Their job is to help process applications, answer questions, and respond to complaints.

Although similar offices exist in Songkhla and Surat Thani, Yala's is the only one located in the Deep South proper.

Tawee Sodsong, the secretary general of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre, (SBPAC) was on hand to greet this week's applicants.

Islamic tradition "holds that families should celebrate Idul Fitri together, if possible", Tawee noted. The expanded services available at the office help make that possible, he said.

"Having a passport office here reduces travel costs and time for people in all three southernmost provinces. It helps them a lot, especially in the period after Ramadan when they return from abroad to stay with their families," Tawee said. The office, he added, is also a boon to those planning to study or work abroad, or to attend the Hajj pilgrimage.

One of the many members of the public who gathered to use the service Wednesday was Yamila Saleh, a Thai Muslim resident of Budi subdistrict in Muang District, Yala.

"I work in Johor state as an employee of a Tom Yum Kung (a spicy seafood soup) restaurant. My friends come back to observe the holiday with our families, then return to work after Hari Raya," she told Khabar. "In the past we had to travel all the way to Songkhla to apply for a passport, which was time-consuming and expensive.

"When I learned they had opened a new passport office at the SBPAC, it made me very happy. Now I don't need to travel far or spend a lot of money. It is very convenient and the service is very good, and the staff speak Yawi [the local dialect, more properly known as Patani Malayu], which makes it much easier to communicate," she said with a smile.

Sawang Srihakrote, who heads the SBPAC passport office, told Khabar: "The period after the long holiday and Hari Raya is always very busy, with many Thai Muslims and other members of the public coming to use our service, but especially Thais who work in Malaysia. We are open from 8.30am until 3.30pm daily on weekdays, except public holidays," he said.

The office reflects a more general commitment by the SBPAC to support religious observances in the region, Tawee said.

"As for services to facilitate pilgrims from the three provinces preparing for the Hajj, we also have a special committee set up just for them and this year it also includes a representative from the Sheikhul Islam Office, which views the practice of both Islam and Buddhism as key factor in the process of bringing peace and unity to the region," he told Khabar.

"SBPAC continues to work to use religion to help treat victims of the unrest, and their families, by doing everything possible to help Muslims attend the Hajj, or in the case of Buddhists, to travel to holy sites in India," Tawee said.