An investigation of border shopping development at Padang Besar

Padang Besar, a border town between the States of Malaysia and Thailand is well known for its shopping activities since early 1950s, with the establishment of shophouses along the border. However, the development and shopping facilities offered to the visitors seem to be insufficient. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to provide some understanding on the development of border shopping scenario at Padang Besar. Grounded theory qualitative data analysis strategy was employed in an attempt to generate the understanding of the border shopping development from the tourism supply chains perspective.The data was gathered through personal interviews and observations.The finding revealed that the town of Padang Besar does has a potential to be developed into a border shopping tourism destination since the town itself is associated mainly with border shopping activities