This monograph examines the tragic conflict in Thailand's southern Muslim-majority provinces near the border with Malaysia. Although the conflict has attracted wide national and international interest, no agreement exists on the cause of the resumption of violence in an area that had remained free of major conflict for two decades. This monograph critically examines explanations for the conflict and traces its evolution from the early 1990s to the beginning of the Samak government in 2008. The study points to a wide variety of factors that were important in the resumption of the conflict, with policies of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra being critical in determining the timing and intensity of the violence. These conditions include: (1) the resumption of an age-old conflict between Malay Muslims from Pattani, Yala, and Narithiwat Provinces against a discriminatory central government; (2) entrenched problems of criminality in an area far from the capital and with a porous border with Malaysia; (3) the disbanding of important conflict resolution institutions by former Prime Minister Thaksin, who then gave priority to hard line (sometimes extrajudicial) security policies; (4) growing Islamic religiosity, influenced by regional reform movements and international developments, including the example of extremist movements such as Jemaah Islamiyah; and (5) the growth of southern insurgent movements--which have never issued public demands and whose real leaders remain unknown. In this complex setting, no resolution to the violence appears likely in the near future, as Thaksin's main policies have been retained since the September 2006 coup that ousted his government.

This study addresses the competing histories of Thailand and Patani beginning in the fourteenth century up to the mid-twentieth century. It provides an explanation of the causes of ongoing political conflict between the Malay Muslims in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand and the Thai government, against which "separatist" movements fought in the 1960s. Even though January 2004 marked the beginning of the current violence that now plagues Thailand's south, most people in and outside the area still believe that the nature of such conflict is internal and could be resolved peacefully. The major contention in the competing histories of Siam and Patani revolves around national policies that resulted in discrimination and destruction of the Muslim's cultural identity and rights. In the early twentieth century under the rule of King Chulalongkorn, which was characterized by centralization and cultural suppression, Patani was reduced to a mere province. Further forced assimilation occurred under the Phibun government in the 1940s, at which time Islamic practices and the use of the Yawi language were curbed. The sources of political conflict—including the political status of Patani, ethnic identity, Bangkok politics, and bureaucratic misconduct in the south—have historical roots. Understanding and appreciation of each other's culture and ethno-religious identities could lead to positive political will on both sides for peaceful resolution of the conflict.

At the heart of the on-going armed conflict in southern Thailand is a fundamental disagreement about the history of relations between the Patani Malays and the Thai kingdom. While the Thai royalist-nationalist version of history regards Patani as part of that kingdom "since time immemorial," Patani Malay nationalists look back to a golden age when the Sultanate of Patani was an independent, prosperous trading state and a renowned center for Islamic education and scholarship in Southeast Asia — a time before it was defeated, broken up, and brought under the control of the Thai state. While still influential, in recent years these diametrically opposed views of the past have begun to make way for more nuanced and varied interpretations. Patani scholars, intellectuals and students now explore their history more freely and confidently than in the past, while the once-rigid Thai nationalist narrative is open to more pluralistic interpretations. There is growing interaction and dialogue between historians writing in Thai, Malay and English, and engagement with sources and scholarship in other languages, including Chinese and Arabic. In The Ghosts of the Past in Southern Thailand, 13 scholars who have worked on this sensitive region evaluate the current state of current historical writing about the Patani Malays of southern Thailand. The essays in this book demonstrate that an understanding of the conflict must take into account the historical dimensions of relations between Patani and the Thai kingdom, and the ongoing influence of these perceptions on Thai state officials, militants, and the local population.

Scholars have given questions about the perpetrators of nameless violence in Southern Thailand little consideration, leaving the motives that drive Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) heavily cloaked in secrecy and speculation. This book offers a rare glimpse behind the veil that shrouds BRN-Coordinate. Using exclusive access to and detailed interviews with BRN-Coordinate members, this book analyses the communicative dimension of the insurgency. It depicts the hidden channels and organized violence that drive the regions enduring rebellion as well as BRN's dichotomous existence between silence and communication.

An Esquire Best Cookbook of 2024 A beautiful, eye-opening guide to the culture and cuisine of Thailand’s south, featuring the region’s quintessential recipes: spicy noodles, coconut curries, and seafood dishes. Austin Bush has spent decades traveling across Thailand, collecting recipes, observing cooking techniques, taking photographs, and recording stories. With his documentarian’s eye, he captures the rich culinary traditions of the country’s southern region, making this the first cookbook in English to focus on the cuisine. The Food of Southern Thailand continues Austin’s ambitious project of illuminating Thailand’s foodways. Shared here are bold, spicy flavors of chile, turmeric, and black pepper that link countryside and island. Gathered, too, are cosmopolitan dishes from the cities that blend ingredients such as coconut milk and fish sauce. The food of southern Thailand is like nothing you’ve encountered before: vibrant, thanks to Thailand’s colorful larder; diverse, reflecting various waves of immigration to the region; and delicious beyond what you might find in most restaurants in the United States. In lush photographs and helpful step-by-step illustrations, Austin explores, bite by bite, the mouthwatering offerings of roadside stalls and tiny island restaurants. His detailed recipes feature the region’s most beloved dishes, including a variation on a classic tart, spicy soup with vegetables and fish, Hat Yai–Style Fried Chicken with Sticky Rice (served with a tangy dipping sauce), and Minced Kingfish Stir-Fried in a Spicy Herb Paste. Sweets from the region are unique, often wrapped in banana leaves and filled or dusted with local palm sugar: fragrant cashew brittle, crispy fritters, warm coconut pancakes. A dream book for armchair travelers, intrepid cooks, and those eager to explore the backroads of a beautiful country, The Food of Southern Thailand is a crucial record of a cuisine as it is lived now. Austin’s vivid writing and careful reporting will transport all with a powerful story of a place and its people and bring one-of-a-kind dishes to life in your home kitchen.

"This is a remarkable piece of scholarship that illuminates general and specific tendencies in Islamic education in South Thailand. Armed with an enormous amount of rich empirical detail and an elegant writing style, the author debunks the simplistic Orientalist conceptions of Wahhabi and Salafi influences on Islamic education in South Thailand. This work will be a state-of-the-art source for understanding the role of Islam and the ongoing conflict in this troubled region of Southeast Asia. The book is significant for those scholars who are attempting to understand Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, and also for those who want deep insights into Islamic education and its influence in any area of the Islamic world." - Raymond Scupin, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies Lindenwood University, USA "Few books address the sensitive issue of Islamic education with empathy as well as critical distance as Joseph C. Liow's Islam, Education, and Reform in Southern Thailand. He examines global networks of religious learning within a local Thai as well as regional Asian context by brilliantly revealing the intersections between religion, politics and modernity in an accessible and illuminating manner. Traditional educational institutions rarely receive such sensitive and balanced treatment. Liow's book is a tour de force and mandatory reading for policy-makers, academics and all of those interested in current affairs." - Ebrahim Moosa, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Religion, Associate Director, Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC), Duke University, USA "Islam, Education, and Reform in Southern Thailand is Joseph Chinyong Liow's critical attempt to map out the reflexive questioning, locations of authority, dynamics and contestations within the Muslim community over what constitutes Islamic knowledge and education. Through the optics of Islamic education in Southern Thailand, Liow manages to brilliantly portray the ways in which Muslim minority negotiate their lives in the local context of violence and the global context of crisis of modernity." - Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Senior Research Scholar, Thailand Research Fund, Author of The Life of this World: Negotiated Muslim Lives in Thai Society

Current unrest in the Malay-Muslim provinces of southern Thailand has captured growing national, regional, and international attention due to the heightened tempo and scale of rebel attacks, the increasingly jihadist undertone that has come to characterize insurgent actions, and the central government's often brutal handling of the situation on the ground. This paper assesses the current situation and its probable direction.

Since 2004, Thailand’s southern border provinces have been plagued by violence. There are a wide array of explanations for this violence, from the revival of Malay nationalist movements and the influence from the global trend of radical Islam, to the power play among the regional underground crime syndicates, politicians, and state authorities. The disparate interpretations signal the dynamic and complex discursive contention of this damaging and enduring conflict, and this book looks at how this is played out in the Thai media, and with what possible consequences. In analysing the southern conflict coverage, the book presents the deficiencies in news coverage, as produced by four news organisations of different natures across a seven-year review period, and discusses the professional practices that hinder journalism from serving as a fair arena for healthy and rational democratic debates. Based on in-depth interviews with news workers, it argues that Thai journalism is not always monolithic and static, as shown in the discursive shifts in news content, the variations of journalistic practices and news workers’ disparate stances on the conflict. The book goes on to highlight the less immediately apparent difficulties of political conflict reporting, such as the subtle patterns of intimidation and media manipulation, as well as the challenges of countering socially-prevailing hegemonic beliefs in Thai society. Exploring the political contingencies and socio-cultural influences at play, this book provides an in-depth study of journalism’s role in politics in Thailand, and is of interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asian Politics, Media Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies.

This volume provides an ethnographic description of Muslim merit-making rhetoric, rituals and rationales in Thailand’s Malay far-south. This study is situated in Cabetigo, one of Pattani’s oldest and most important Malay communities that has been subjected to a range of Thai and Islamic influences over the last hundred years. The volume describes religious rhetoric related to merit-making being conducted in both Thai and Malay, that the spiritual currency of merit is generated through the performance of locally occurring Malay adat, and globally normative amal 'ibadat. Concerning the rationale for merit-making, merit-makers are motivated by both a desire to ensure their own comfort in the grave and personal vindication at judgment, as well as to transfer merit for those already in the grave, who are known to the merit-maker. While the rhetoric elements of Muslim merit-making reveal Thai influence, its ritual elements confirm the local impact of reformist activism.

Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces (SBPs) are comprised of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and four districts of Songkhla provinces. The region is home to Malay-speaking Muslims, with enclaves of Thai Buddhists and ethnic Chinese communities. It is also the site of a long-running Pattani independence movement that has been driven by armed insurgent forces, wracking the region in deadly violence that has killed over 7,000 civilians since 2004. At the heart of the conflict is a struggle for the right to self-determination for the Malay Muslim population, including the right to social and political participation, non-discrimination and the recognition of their identity, language and culture. Whilst Thailand has made improvements in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in recent years, this group continues to face significant vulnerabilities and barriers to their full participation in society. The situation is especially acute for persons with disabilities in the SBPs, who continue to be neglected by policies that are meant to address their needs in the wider context of disability rights in Thailand while also being overlooked in efforts to reduce conflict and increase development in the region, deepening their marginalization from the wider society. This report aims to highlight the forms of discrimination faced by minorities with disabilities in the SBPs of Thailand. This report is written from the standpoint that intersectional discrimination on the grounds of disability and minority or other statuses cannot be separated, and therefore needs to be highlighted and addressed by relevant organizational bodies at the local, national and international levels. It is in this context that Minority Rights Group, in partnership with the Institute of Peace Studies, Prince of Songkhla University (IPS), the Center for Conflict and Cultural Diversity (CSCD) and the Southern Association of Disabilities collected data through a series of interviews and focus group discussions that took place in August and September 2020 and in July 2021 in Songkhla, Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala Provinces. This report contains an easy read summary.