Entrepreneurship Concepts: The perceptions of Malay businesses on Malaysia - Thailand Cross-Border

Previous studies have found that smuggling is the economic activity of Malay traders on the borders of Malaysia - Thailand which is easy, cheap, fast, and does not need to comply with complex regulations. Rantau Panjang town, Pengkalan Kubor, Tak Bai and Narathiwat are among the locations of two countries that involved in smuggling among entrepreneurs, wholesalers, and retailers. This problem has been a major issue for the Enforcement and Legislation Unit, the Royal Customs and Excise Department, the Immigration Department and the Royal Malaysian Police in managing the controls and actions along this border. Hence, the objective of this study is to review the perception of Malay traders in Rantau Panjang and Pengkalan Kubor on the importance of entrepreneurial concepts as a healthy practice in their business. Using AIDA Model, this study covers Malay traders in Rantau Panjang and Pengkalan Kubor as respondents. This study conducted a structured interview to measure the respondents’ perception in terms of their way of thinking, attitude and entrepreneurial culture. The findings of this study showed that their entrepreneurial perspective focuses on the level of observation and interest, and they are less likely to improve their entrepreneurial desire as an entrepreneur. In fact, this finding also shows that entrepreneurial thinking, attitudes and culture are decreasing. This shows that most Malay traders on the Malaysia - Thailand border are small traders that still have to deal with market competition and unsystematic business chains, causing them to be bounded with smuggling activities in their businesses. In conclusion, this study shows that there are still many Malay traders on the border that lack of understanding of entrepreneurial concepts in their business as discussed earlier by entrepreneurial thinkers and researchers.