Tour busses ferrying Malaysian passengers to Thailand via Kedah will now have to drop off its passengers at the Bukit Kayu Hitam border, before being ferried across the border by Thai tour buses.

This new ruling, which started on August 1, has taken an effect on many Malaysia travel and bus operators.

Holiday Sdn Bhd tour operator Tan Su Yong said he suffered a fifty percent loss since the ruling started as he had to fork out an additional RM1200 per day to rent buses to ferry passengers from the border to tourist destinations such as Krabi and Phuket.

As a result, tour package prices increased from RM750 to RM1200 per person, mainly to cover additional driver cost and travellers’ insurance at both countries.

“We can’t go in because we don’t have a bus permit. This is Thailand’s problem, not ours. I hope this problem can be solved soon. If not, we will suffer huge losses.”

The ruling was implemented due to security concerns following a series of bomb blasts targeted at few popular tourist destinations in southern Thailand.

The Thai government forbids Malaysian tour buses to ferry passengers into the country without a bus permit.

Tour bus driver Chong Yong Tak said he too is concerned on the effect of the new ruling.

“We can’t go in to Thailand starting August. It’s hard to make a living like this,” he said.

The bus operators are also no longer allowed to ferry passengers from Thailand back to Malaysia.