The government said today it has spent RM6.8 million on closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras on the Thai border to stop smuggling and the inflow of illegal immigrants.

The cameras, set up along a 5.3 kilometre stretch of the border in the northernmost Perlis state, will be operational by mid-September, Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

"This is a pilot project, and if the CCTVs are effective in curbing smuggling, entry of illegal immigrants and other crimes, the government will install the cameras along a 60-kilometer stretch between Bukit Kayu Hitam and Wang Kelian in Perlis," he said.

Watch towers to be upgraded

Noh said the government would also upgrade 33 dilapidated watch towers at the joint border, at a cost of RM25,000 each, to boost surveillance.

Malaysia has tightened security along its frontier with southern Thailand amid bloody clashes between Muslim rebels and Thai security forces in five southern provinces bordering Malaysia's northern fundamentalist Muslim heartland.