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Kuala Krai is a territory (jajahan) and town in the interior of the State
of
Kelantan in the north-east of Malaysia. Kuala Krai territory is a
landlocked administrative area in the centre of the State of
Kelantan in the north east of Malaysia. The
land is hilly, and before the 20th century the entire area was tropical
rain forest.
The territory contains the confluence of two major rivers,
the Lebir and Galas, to form the Kelantan River, which then flows some 70
km northwards through one of the most densely populated flood plains on
the Malay Peninsular to its estuary in the South China Sea near the State
capital of Kota Bharu.
As transport links improved during the 20th century, people moved into the
area to take advantage of the abundant land available for farming. A
railway was constructed in the 1920s through the undeveloped interior of
Malaysia to link
Kelantan State with the
main centres of population on the west coast. This line ran through Kuala
Krai territory, and settlements became established along its route. Road
links followed, and towns and villages grew to cater for the mainly
agricultural population. Rubber production was increasingly important
throughout Malaysia, and many rubber tree plantations were set up in this
area.
Later, the country-wide shift
to oil palm in the 1970s and 1980s saw the establishment of oil palm
plantations in the territory, some of which replaced rubber.
Kuala Krai has excellent
transport links. The railway station is on the Keretapi Tanah Melayu main
line that runs from Tumpat and
Wakaf Bharu (close to
Kota Bharu) right through the interior of the
country to Gemas on the west of
the peninsula, where it joins the main west coast line from
Singapore to
Kuala Lumpur. The town has good road
links, with Federal Route 8 passing close to the town. And it is on the
western bank of the Kelantan River, along which there are regular boat
services up-river from the town.
Infrastructure developed to support the population and by the end of the
20th century Kuala Krai town had become a busy thriving town, and the
administrative centre for the territory.
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