Kuala Krai (town)

Kuala Krai (alternative spelling: Kuala Kerai; Kelantanese: Kkeghe) is a town located in the coterminous Kuala Krai District in southern-central Kelantan, Malaysia. During British protection it was known as Kuala Lebir. It is 67 km from state capital Kota Bharu and 273 km from national capital Kuala Lumpur. The altitude is 53 metres (177 ft) above sea level here.
The history of the town of Kuala Krai started with the building of the East Coast Railway in the 1920s. Before that, the only settlement of any significance in the area was called Batu Mengkebang. The area was remote and travel was by river: there was a weekly service from Kota Baru to Batu Mengkebang via Pasir Mas and Tanah Merah, run by Duff Development River Steamers under contract to the Kelantan Government.
The opening of the railway line made a significant difference to the remote interior of the state of Kelantan. River traffic downstream from Kuala Krai was soon completely replaced by rail travel, and the railway became very popular with what was still quite a large planting fraternity in the interior of the state. The town grew as a centre of trade and supplies for the surrounding area.
More recently, road traffic past the town has significantly increased with the proximity of Federal Route 8 which opens a direct road link between Kota Bharu and the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. The suburb of Guchil has developed along this road to take advantage of the increased traffic.
Some important events in the history of the town:
Kuala Krai has excellent transport links. The railway station operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) is on the East Coast Line which runs from Tumpat and Wakaf Bharu (close to Kota Bharu) right through the interior parts of Kelantan and Pahang to Gemas on the west of the peninsula, where it joins the West Coast Line from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. The town has good road links, with Federal Route 8 passing close to the town. It is also located on the western bank of the Kelantan River, along which there are regular boat services up-river from the town.
Hospital Kuala Krai (HKK) opened in 1917, built on a small hill close to the town. Also known as Hospikrai, it serves a population of 200,000 in the southern part of Kelantan, and has 120 beds and 218 staff. The hospital has resident specialists in Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Surgery, Anesthesiology, Pathology and Medical; there are visiting specialists from Kota Bharu for work in Psychiatric, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic and ENT.
Kuala Krai Mini Zoo is managed by the District Council and open to the public. It is home to a variety of animals, including a male elephant called "Salleh", monkeys, bears, deer and various birds. The site extends to about 10 acres (40,000 m), and also includes a Mini Museum displaying photographs and documents relating to the history of Kuala Krai, as well as a number of preserved animals. The mini zoo was opened in 1961 and is the only zoo to specialise exclusively in animals from the Malaysian jungle.
There is a small public library in the town which, as well as giving access to its collection of books, affords public access to the internet for a small charge.
Eighty-one concrete steps leading down from the town to the river bank and boat jetty were constructed sometime between 1927 and 1929, and were named the Bradley Steps after a Mr. Gerald Bradley who was the energetic District Officer of the interior of Kelantan at the time. They have recently been renamed the Kuala Krai Steps.
Just upstream from the town is the confluence of the Lebir and Galas rivers to become the Kelantan river, and it became clear that an elevated river level at the Bradley Steps was a good predictor of imminent flooding in the cultivated and populated river basin further downstream (i.e. Kota Bharu). Consequently, stick gauges were placed by the steps so that the river level could be read and monitored by the local police, who transmitted the rainfall and water level information via VHF sets to the Flood Warning and Relief Committee in Kota Bharu.
The Kelantan Department of Drainage and Irrigation has since replaced the stick gauges with metric plates. This facilitates the prediction of flood levels and lead-times in villages all the way from Kuala Krai to the river estuary. The steps, and the floodwater level, can be seen on the Kuala Krai Flood Webcam.
There are a number of schools and colleges in the town, including: