You folks are lucky to have dedicated camping grounds and you can just walk/cycle/drive in to camp, even though paying a small fee for the usage of the campground.
In Malaysia, if its a private campground, you may do that but hopefully no one has booked the whole place for a team building or family gathering event. If its a govt campground, you gotta call ahead, book the place and wait for them to reply (which is usually very late). The fee is cheap though.
I usually hike/bike camp solo...so I tend to go the jungles and camp for free, amidst the threats of wild animals. Going solo is okay to camp there, but in a group, the authorities will notice you and chase you out as the big group might damage the area.