During his tenure as the Terengganu EXCO Member in charge of Tourism, he oversaw the recognition of Kenyir Lake as the national geopark of Malaysia.
He defended the seat and was reelected as the Alur Limbat MLA for the second term after defeating Saiful Bahri Baharuddin of BN and Ahmad Sabri Ali @ Mamat of Pakatan Harapan (PH) by a majority of 4,194 votes.
He defended the seat was reelected as the Alur Limbat MLA for the third term after defeating Mohd Yuseri Isa of BN by a significantly increased majority of 12,656 votes.
On 15 August 2023, PN was reelected to power in the 2023 state election, Ariffin was reappointed to the position but was given different portfolios of Entrepreneurship, Human Resources, Cooperatives and Consumer Affairs the following day.
Ariffin described it as one of the best achievements of the state administration which has been working hard to establish the lake as a geopark since 2015 as one of the initiatives of the "2030 Terengganu Sejahtera Master Plan" (PITAS 2030).