Sintok is a small town located in the

Kubang Pasu District The Kubang Pasu District is a district in northern Kedah, Malaysia. It contains the border town of Bukit Kayu Hitam as well as the educational hub of Changlun while Jitra is the largest town and administrative centre of the district. The distri ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It is best known as the location of

Universiti Utara Malaysia Universiti Utara Malaysia (literally meaning Northern University of Malaysia, abbreviated as UUM or UNIUTAMA) is a public management university in Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia. It also has a branch campus in Kuala Lumpur. Its main campus, which is ...

(UUM), one of the prominent public universities in the country. Sintok lies approximately 52 kilometers from

Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Kedah Malay: ) is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is home to the third-tallest ...

, the state capital, and about 12 kilometers from Changlun. The town is accessible via the Kuala Perlis-Changlun-Sintok Expressway as well as a road connecting it to

Padang Terap The Padang Terap District is a district in Kedah, Malaysia. It is governed by the Padang Terap District Council (). Padang Terap District shares a border with Thailand to the north, and with Sik District and Pendang District to the west. It is ...

History

The name "Sintok" is taken from the name of a type of tree. The town was originally a remote settlement area for tin miners. However, due to its close proximity to the border of

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, Sintok was exposed to threats from the banned communist group. Hence, the government had to migrate all the original residents to a safer area, and declared the town are as a 'black area'. History recorded many killings of members of the security forces in the area. By mid 1980s, the federal and state government agreed on building a university in Sintok. The university was named

(UUM), literally translated as "Northern University of Malaysia", and construction started in the late 1980s to replace the temporary campus in Bandar Baru Darul Aman,

Jitra Jitra is a town and a mukim in Kubang Pasu District, in northern Kedah, Malaysia. It is the seat for the district. Jitra is the fourth-largest town in Kedah after Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and Kulim. History During World War II, when the Japane ...

. As a memorial to the sacrifice by the security forces, a memorial structure was built in that UUM campus. A list of names of the members of the security forces that was killed by the communists was placed at this memorial structure. The establishment of UUM campus has expedited the growth of new settlements like Bandar Baru Sintok and Bukit Kachi which is located opposite of Sungai Badak Forest Reserve. Kubang Pasu District Towns in Kedah {{Kedah-geo-stub