Teachers who have wives who are Thai nationals living in that country were required to inform the matter to the Education Ministry.

This is to facilitate their approval process to travel overseas on any occasion, as required of every civil servant to obtain consent from their respective departments, Datuk Mahdzir Khalid said.

The Education Minister said this group of individuals commute between the two countries the most, and there must be among them who failed to get permission beforehand.

Whether it is Golok or any other area close to the border, rules needed to be adhered to so that there would be a reference in case of emergencies, he said.

"Just declare if you have a wife in Golok or anywhere else outside the country.

"It is an offence if you go abroad without informing, in case if anything untoward happens," he said after attending an event with principals and headmasters of schools in Kelantan here today.

Mahdzir was elaborating on the incident of a male teacher found drowned in Sungai Golok at the Malaysia-Thailand border in Rantau Panjang last Feb 28.

The victim, Azami Mohamed, 38, from Kampung Pasir Kelang Baru in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, was found to have not sought permission before going abroad.

READ: Drowned teacher had been referred for counselling

Said Mahdzir, any teacher or civil servant who broke the rules would face stern action including having their pension cancelled.

Meanwhile, the minister said to date there has been 20,000 applications from teachers who applied for transfers due to them being too far away from their spouses.

To date, 1,800 cases from that total have been approved since last year.