Muslim in Thailand

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outheastsi n tudies Vol. 7 No.2 September 1999

The Muslims in Thailand eview

OMAR AROUK BAJUNID

bstract

The tendency to portray Thailand as being overwhelmingly Buddhist in character andcomposition has tended to overshadow the role of it s non-Buddhist minorities. Histori-cally politically and culturally the Muslims have been an integral p ar t of Thailand forcenturies . Islam is no t only the second largest rel igion in the kingdom but also enjoysroyal and official patronage . But yet a review of existing works would reveal serious gapsin the academic treatment of the subject. The main corpus of literature on the Muslimstends to view them as a marginalized border minori ty rather than a well integratednat ional minority. Invar iably it is the role of the Malay-Muslim segment of the Muslimpopulation that is highlighted rather than the others. In contrast to thi s dominant t rendthis article offers a description of the national position of the Muslims in the modern Thaipolity. begins with a literature review an d then proceeds to trace the his tory of theMuslims in the Thai kingdom. Their contemporary sociological profile and political role issubsequently described. The article concludes with suggestions on ways in which furtherresearch and documentation on the Muslims in Thailand could be undertaken to promotea comprehensive understanding of their actual role in Thailand.

One of th e most common mistakes many people make when looking at Thailand is toimagine that it is a homogeneous Thai-Buddhist state pure and simple. Thailand hasbeen invariably portrayed in academic as well as popular literature as a Thai-Buddhistcountry. The state religion in Thailand is Buddhism but that does not necessarily meanthat all Thais are Buddhists. Although it is true that compared to most of Southeast Asiath e degree of cul tu ra l and e thnic homogeneity appears more pronounced in Thailandlike th e re st of th e region Thailand too is a multi-ethnic state and has its own share ofethno-cultural and religious pluralism.

In principle th e people of Thailand enjoy religious freedom. Notwithstanding thefrequent constitutional modifications and revisions that have occurred since the coup of1932 every new Thai const itut ion has consistently upheld th e principle of freedom ofconscience. Even mil itary governments which often put aside the consti tution rarely

Faculty of International Studies Hiroshima City University 3 4 1 Ozuka-higashi Asaminamiku Hiroshima 731 3194 Japan2


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departed from th e spirit of the constitution in respect of the question of th e f reedom ofworship. This consistent Thai official atti tude towards religious freedom sanctions andlegalises the existence of Thai citizens of th e Islamic and other faiths. The king, althoughrequired by law and tradit ion to be a Buddhist, also assumes th e role of the upholder ofall religions. The Department of Religious Affairs of t he Inte rior Ministry, which isfundamental ly Buddhist in organisation, outlook and aspiration, also undertakes thepat ronage and protection of other rel ig ions in Thailand as well The high level ofreligious tolerance in Thai society has also p layed an important part in promoting arelatively harmonious co-existence between the followers of all t he major religions of thekingdom.

Islam is accorded official patronage in Thailand and is the kingdom s second largestreligion. The Thai Muslims consider Thailand as their homeland and feel no lesscommitted to their country than the ir Tha i Buddhist counterparts. They can easilyaccept the dominant role of Buddhism in the kingdom without forfeit ing Islam s claim forspace and recognition within their own private and public life After all Islam hascoexisted harmoniously with Buddhism in the traditional Thai polities for centuries. t istherefore not surpris ing that th e Tha i Muslims generally do not see any contradictionbetween their love for their religion and the ir loyal ty to their nation. In essence, Islamhas a lready become an integra l part of t he modern Thai state.

This article b road ly aims to undertake a review of the place and position of th eMuslims in the modern Thai polity. I t is basically organised into four parts. In the firstpart, th e state of current research and writing on the Muslims in Thailand will beevaluated. In the second part th e historical background of the Muslims in th e kingdomwill be traced. Their contemporary sociological profile and political role will then beexamined in th e third part. In the concluding part of the article, some suggestions onsources and potential topics fo r future research will be offered.

eview of urrent esearch and Writing

A casual look at th e existing literature on th e Muslims in Thailand might indicate thatquite a lo t of work appears to have been done on t he theme but a closer analysis wouldreveal glaring gaps in the area of research and publication on the subject. This particularreview selectively incorporates works in English, Malay and Thai with some minorreferences to works in other languages. By necessity, th e review has to be selectivebecause of the limitation of space and the problem of access to the complete corpus ofliterature on th e subject.

t is obvious that th e most appropriate place to begin our own review is probably tolook at existing reviews. In this connection Chaiwat Satha-Anand s illuminating articleentitled Pattani in the 1980s: Academic Literature and Political Stories [Chaiwat 1994J is

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easily th e most comprehensive evaluation that has been undertaken on the subject.I Thefocus of th e article is on the ways in which the i ssue of Musl ims in southern Thailand isre-presented to the international academic community in doctoral dissertations, monographs and journal articles [ibid 45]. Chaiwat provides a critical evaluation of five majordoctoral dissertations and one Mas te rs thesis on th e subject namely, Surin s Ph. D.dissertation on Islam and Malay Nationalism which was subsequently published in abook form; Wan Kadir s Ph. D. work comparing the Muslims of southern Thailand withth e Moros of th e Philippines, which has also been publi shed as a book [Wan Kadir 1990J;Chavivun s Ph. D. thesis on th e role of women in main ta in ing ethnic iden ti ty andboundaries [Chavivun 1980J; Panomporn s Ph. D. work on th e political integration policytoward the Malay Muslim minority [Panomporn 1984J; Uthai s Ph. D. dissertation oneduca tion and e thnic nationalism among the Muslim Malays [Uthai 1981J; and, WanKadir s Master s thesis on Muslim elites and polit ics in southern Thailand [Wan Kadir1983J. Chaiwat notes that most of these works focus on the analysi s of th e reasons for theethno-religious conflict in southern Thailand except for Wan Kadir s contribution in bothhis Master s thesis and doctoral dissertation (and book) which gives greater emphasis toth e background as well as th e nature of Malay-Muslim separatism that had evolved intha t par t of Thailand. is pertinent to observe here that all th e above theses seem to beprimari ly concerned with th e Malay-Muslims of sou thern Thailand and the problemsthat t he Tha i state has had to countenance from that quarter.

In respect of research monographs, Chaiwat identifies four for analysis includingIbrahim Syukri s Sejarah Kerajaan Melayu Patani and his own work on Islam and Violence[Chaiwat 1987J. Although Ibrahim s work is extremely useful for anyone want ing tounders tand the his tory of Pattani and should be considered compulsory text because i tgives an indigenous Malay-Muslim perspective of the history of that part of Thailand i tshould be read with caution considering th e fact that it s pro-Malay-Muslim biases are soself-evident. Chaiwat suggests that his own work is not a study of th e Malay-Muslimsbut rather represents an attempt to understand the relat ionship between Islam andviolence using events which took place in th e Four Southern Provinces of Thailand from1976 to 1981 [ibid 58J. The two other monographs Chaiwat reviewed [Chaveewan et al1986; Bougas 1988J respectively discuss the problem of th e social integration between theThai Buddhist s and the Thai Muslims and the sub ject of Muslim cemeteries. A l ot morehas been written in th e form of articles and book reviews in academic journals andChaiwat has done an excellent job in highlighting and analysing these. The Table that

1) The article was origina lly pub li shed in SOJOURN 7 1 , February 1992 and subsequentlyreprinted in Omar Farouk Bajunid, ed. Muslim Social Science in S N (Kuala Lumpur:Yayasan Penataran Ilmu) with the kind permission of the original publisher, the Instituteof Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

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he provides in outlining all th ese w or ks is extremely helpful in giving an immediateintroduction to th e t re nd that ha s evolved on t he s ub je ct in th e decade of th e 1980s.Unlike th e first two categories of works th e journal articles and reviews highlighted byC ha iw at d o not only focus on th e Malay-Muslims b u t a tt e mp t t o e va lu at e t he role of th eMuslims in Thailand in a broader national perspective. Chaiwat s overall conclusion thatthe i ss ue o f subjectivity cannot be disregarded w he n w ri ti ng a b ou t P a tt an i is extremelyf ra n k a l th o ug h provocative.

Seni M ud ma rn h as also t ri ed t o e v al u at e t h e state of research a nd w ri ti ng in Englishon the Muslim Minority in Thailand by Thai Muslim scholars [Seni 1994J. In th eintroduction to h is a rt ic le h e p oi nt s out that most of th e works published in Thai seek toemphasise th e threat coming from th e M us li ms i n the south with the exception of tw oobjective pieces one by Khacadphai Burutphat w ho rev iew s th e problem from th ebureaucrat s point o f v ie w [Khacadphai 1976J a nd th e other b y A ro ng S ut ha sa sn a a ThaiMuslim scholar whose w ork emerged as a direct consequence of th e long antigovernment demonstrations in Pattani [Arong 1976J. Nantawan s historical treatment ofth e Malay-Muslim problem Uthai s analysis of t he g o ve r nm e nt s policies o f m o de rn is ation and integration of th e Muslims and Chavivun s anthropological study on th e role ofwomen in the maintenance of Malay ethnic identity a re m e nt ioned in passing but it is th eworks of Surin [1985J Chaiwat [1987J an d Seni himself [1988J that have been selected fo ranalysis. Hi s conclusion that all the three w ork s an aly se d p oin t to th e prospect ofcontinuing proble ms i n th e Malay-Muslim provinces of th e south unless th e Thai Staterecognises the right of th e Malay-Muslims to practise their separate culture and tocherish their unique Islamic identity to say the least is telling.

In both Chaiwat s and Seni s r ev ie ws i t is obvious that in th e m ai n c or pu s of workson the Muslims it is th e p ro bl em s i n th e Malay-Muslim south that h av e a tt ra ct edove rw he lm i ng a tt enti on. P r oba bl y fo r that reason too; th e tw o books by Surin [1985J andWan Kadir [1990J respectively have received repeated reviews in many leading journals.I have myself reviewed b o th t he se works. I consider Surin s contribution to be th e b estever written and the most authoritative so far on t he s ub je ct [Gmar 9 9: 180 181J. a tt em pt s n ot only to look at th e relationship between Islam and the religious-culturalidentity of th e Malay-Muslims of southern Thailand as expressed in political protests butalso seeks to analyse th e nation-building imperatives of th e Thai S tate and the MalayMuslim responses to these. The ability of th e author to couch th e discussion within atheoretical framework has also considerably helped to elevate t h e p r es en t at io n to animpressively erudite level. A l th o ug h t h is is a major contribution by Surin it is obviousthat as t h e p r im a ry f oc us o f th e book is on th e problem of th e Malay-Muslims in southernT h ai la n d t h e full story of th e role of th e M u sl im s a s a na ti ona l m i nor it y ha s yet to be fullytold. My own view of Wan Kadir s work is that it is th e first m a jo r c o mp a ra t iv e s t ud y ofth e unresolved problem of Moro separatism in southern Philippines and M a la y s ep ar atism in southern Thailand [Gmar 1992b: 145 147J. is auseful and absorbing study which

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political activities of th e Malay-Muslims and the reaction of the Thai authori t ies towardsthese act iv it ie s. However , unlike Ahmad Gmar Chapakia s work this thesis is muchnarrower in focus singling out just one province and using th e time-frame of only onedecade. This is also a study of a volatile and vio lent per iod in th e political history ofThailand. The unstable circumstances of th e decade, particularly in Narathiwat, hadcreated major problems for th e state as well as th e local population. I t was a differentscenario altogether from that of subsequent decades which saw a consolidation ofdemocracy in Thailand. Although thi s work is useful in portraying the uncer ta in yearsof th e 1970s in Narathiwat, i ts perspective is very much local.

A commendable effort to depart slightly from th e Malay-Muslim centered approachhas been earlier attempted by Andrew Forbes when he edited and published two separatevolumes on th e Muslims of Thailand based on the contributions of more than a dozenscholars who have been doing work on the subject for a long while [Forbes 1988a; 1988b].The first volume particularly merits particular mention as it represents a major effort toprovide an extensive overview of the var ious Muslim groups among the Thai-speakingMuslims all over Tha il and as well as the Malay-speaking Muslims of t he sou thernprovinces. However, the second volume focuses on the problems of th e Malay-speakingsou th and does not really provide any new national perspective on th e subject. Most ofth e articles that appear in both these volumes are also not really new, but what makesForbes contribution useful is that he has managed to put them together in one volume. should also be considered compulsory reading for anyone wanting to understand th ecomple te Muslim perspec tive in Tha iland and not just th e Malay-Muslim south.

Notwithstanding the posi tive aspect of Forbes s contribution it is obvious from th eabove discussion that the major emphasis in exi st ing works on the Muslims is still verymuch confined to th e Malay-Muslims of southern Thailand. This approach, unfortunately, continues to give the impression that the Muslim c ommunity in Thailand is basicallymade up of th e Malay-Muslims.

The attempt to look at the broader context of Islam in Thailand rathe r than jus t th eextreme south has also been commendably attempted by Raymond Scupin in his severalstimulating pieces. Apart from his two articles in Forbes f irst volume, Scupin has alsomade other valuable contributions on this wider Islamic theme. His two art ic les onIslamic reformism, namely, Islamic Reformism in Thailand [Scupin 1980a] and ThePolit ics of Islamic Reformism [Scupin 1980b] though overlapping for th e most par t, a reindeed refreshing as they introduce a new issue in the Islamic discourse in Thailand. Hisvarious other articles on such topics as Cham Muslims of Thailand: A Haven of Securityin Mainland Southeast Asia, Islam in Thailand before the Bangkok Period, TheSocio-Economic Status of Muslims in Central and Nor th Thailand, Interpreting IslamicMovements in Thailand I , Language, Hierarchy and Hegemony: Thai Muslim Dis-course Strategies, and The Social Significance of th e Hajj fo r Thai Muslims, to namesome, underline, in no uncer ta in terms the presence of Muslims outside of th e Malay-

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these Thai theses and graduation exercises. This is an invaluable source of scholarshipon Islam in T ha il an d w hich h as y et to be systematically collected and collated. I am alsoaware of at least one Masters thesis on Islam in Thailand written in Turkish andsubmitted to a Turkish univers ity [Muhammed Roflee Weahama 997] is not in-conceivable that the re are other works avai lable on Islam in Thailand in other languagesin m an y o th er univers it ies around the world.

Notwithstanding this what is obvious is that there is still a dearth of literature on theMuslims in Thailand especially in the English language. In addition to this most of whathas been writ ten tends to focus on th e Malay Muslims and the political problems of theextreme south. While there are certainly valid r easons to examine the volatile problemsin th e south it would be misleading to imagine that they represent al l that there is to theMuslim perspective in Thailand. The imp or ta nt thing to note is that th e non Malay-Muslim factor in Thailand is also extremely important. Likewise although there certain-ly was greater evidence of political disintegration in the Muslim provinces two decadesago the si tuation has now improved greatly. The Malay Muslims too have undergone alot of changes in th e last twenty years or so and m ore recent works on their role testifyto this. is essential that we recognize the dynamic role of th e Muslims in Thailand inorder to fully appreciate the processes of adaptation and change that have evolved overthe years.

II istorical ackground of the usl msHistorically th e Muslim presence in the traditional Thai polity is traceable to the 13thcentury in the Sukhota i era. was however during the Ayutthayan period that th eMuslims asserted their dominant position. The rise to prominence of t he T ha i Kingdomof Ayutthaya as a regional political power coincided w it h t he per iod of the dominance ofMuslim trade in Southeast Asia and the phenomenon of Islamisat ion in th e regionparticularly in the Malay archipelago. This coincidence no doubt helped account fo r th epresence and th e influence of the Muslims in th e Kingdom of Ayutthaya. Like most otherSoutheast Asian polities Ayutthaya was inextricably l inked to the political and commer-cial events that were unfolding in th e region as a whole although unlike the archipelagickingdoms it was only per ipherally affected by the Islamisation process.

The eclectic Siamese political structure with it s acculturation of th e importantelements of Brahmanistic practices of th e earl ier Mon Khmer culture into what was anessentially Tai Hinayana Buddhis t k ingdom showed an even more astounding degree ofdynamic pragmatism during th e Ayutthayan era when non Buddhis t and non Tai cameto be employed in th e royal service often in highly influential positions. became acommon feature of the Ayutthayan polity then to have foreigners such as the JapaneseMalays Chinese Portuguese Persians and Indians in the service of the k ing and the state

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in various capacities.Invariably just as it was trade that ushered in the Islamisation a nd the political an d

economic development of the maritime states of the M a la y w o rl d in th e 15th 16th and 17th centuries A D it w as also th e d o m in a n t factor of trade that brought Islam in to c o n ta c twith Ayutthaya perhaps more importantly securing fo r it a respectable place w i th in t heBuddhist polity.

T he d om in an t p os it io n o f the M us lim s in Ayutthaya can be seen in the fact thatmany of them at various times e v en s er ve d the K in g a s h is m in is te rs and factors [Collis1936: 29 42] A Muslim of W es t A si an o ri gi n was said to have been appointed by the T ha iking as a m in is te r w ho se d ut ie s i nc lu de d th e a d m in istr ation o f f or ei gn trade and thea ff a ir s of f ore igner s in A y u tth ay a ; th e collection of import-export duties a nd t he supervision of in te r na tio n al s h ip p in g [ K uk r it 1972: 9] Subsequently he rose to occupy an evenhigher position in the royal c ou rt a nd at the age of 87 during t he r ei gn of K in g PrasatThong became a royal adviser [ibid 10]

The commercial influence of t he M us li ms w a s g en er al ly p er va si ve . was howeverin t he e xp or t sector that the Muslim merchants w ere m os t a ct iv e [ Sm it h 1977: 75J Therole of th e Muslims as the k in g s m i ni st er s a nd m er ch an ts fo r successive rulers madethem a very powerful group in the Ayutthayan court. This t o so m e e x te n t e x pl a in s w hymany accounts of the time attribute the power and influence of the Muslims elsewhere int he T ha i kingdom particularly on the trans-peninsular trading route a s b ei ng the directresult of t he i n st ru m en t al role of the Muslim Ministers in p ro m ot in g t he ir cause fromAyutthaya [Collis 1936: 42] The Muslims therefore not only t ot al ly e ng ro ss e d thetrans-peninsular trade but also s ec ur ed k ey administrative appointments all over t hekingdom of Ayutthaya.

Along w it h t he Indians and the Persians the Arabs Chams Malays Macassarese andAcheenese formed the broader section o f M us li m society of the time although numerically it was the Malays who were th e most distinct. The Muslims a pp ea re d t o be thelargest foreign nationality in A yu tt ha ya . T h e Moors especially s ee me d t o be a favouredgroup who unlike the other foreign nationalities came under the direct protection of thek ing [ Rav e ns w aa y 1969 [1900J: 66JThe cause of Islam interestingly was also supported b y th e State in many ways.Islam was p a tr o ni sed b y t he k in g [L a Loubere 1969 [1691J: 112] State funds w er e u se d fo rth e c o ns tru c tio n of mosques in Ayutthaya a nd the cost of Muslim religious festivals waseven borne b y th e king. The S ia m ese w h o e m b ra c ed Islam had e v en b ee n exempted fromthe personal service ta x required of others. This was a c le a r e v id e nc e of early Siameseconversions to Islam. Foreign Muslim states too perhaps en co ur ag ed b y t he specialstatus Islam enjoyed in Ayutthaya and the presence of a large Muslim c o mm u ni ty h a de ven tried to persuade the Ayutthayan rulers to e mbra ce Islam by sending specialmissions fo r the purpose. In 1668 A D Ambassadors from Acheen [IndonesiaJ andGolconda [IndiaJ tried in vain to persuade King Narai to accept I sl am [ W ood 1926: 196-21 8


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197] In 1685 a P er si an A m ba ss ad or tried to convert the Thai king without success[Anderson 1890: 248]

The Muslims in Ayutthaya also took u p m il it ar y duties. There w er e Moo rs andM ala ys in th e A y ut th ay an a rm y [Schouten 1969 [1636J: 134] The Moors made up tw ocompanies of t he h or se -g ua rd s w ho were in the service of the king [ La L ou be re 1969[1691J: 97] The Admiral in charge of a w ar fleet sen t by Ayutthaya in 1692 A D in ane x p ed i ti o n t o quell the rebellion in Nakhon Si Thammarat, in th e so uth, w as a Malay, aswas the rebel governor of t h e p r ov in c e [Wood 1926: 221J The M usl im s a ls o served in th eking s merchant navy; t o g et h e r w i th Chinese a n d T h ai -b o rn Chinese they helped m an th eking s junks [Smith 1977: 40J

The T h a i t r ad i ti o na l polity under the Chakri dynasty was in many ways unlike th etraditional polity of Ayutthaya. f during the Ayutthayan e ra c e nt ri fu ga l tendencieswere reasonably tolerated among t he d i st an t p r ov in c es a n d vassals, during the Bangkokera, th e process of territorial consolidation and centralization of power, which was startedby P hy a T ak d ur in g t he T ho nb uri interregnum, from 1767 to 1782 A D was vigorouslyp ur su ed b y successive Chakri kings.2 T ra de w as no l on ge r t he dominant regulator offoreign policy as it u sed to be d ur in g t he Ayutthayan times. Similarly, the internationalrelations of Siam n o l on ge r principally involved th e relations w it h th e other independentand sovereign Asian and Southeast Asian states as w as t he case during the Ayutthayandays, because of t he a d va n ce s of colonialism which seemed to be subduing one state afteranother. In the s ec on d h al f of the 19th century, th e flood of Chinese i m m ig r at i on i n toSiam had also a lt er ed c on si de ra bl y t he d em og ra ph ic a nd economic landscape of Si am .However, up to th e e ar ly y ea rs of the 20th c en tu ry , t he Muslims continued to constitutean important element of Siamese h is to ry a nd politics.

The Muslim population of Siam under the Chakris was as h et er og en eo us a s everconsisting o f M al ay s, A ra bs , Persians, Chams, Bengalis, Chulias, J av an es e a n d Baweans[Carter 1904: 111] Before the influx of the Chinese into the kingdom the Muslimsconstituted t he l ar ge st single minority in th e kingdom, next in importance only to theSiamese. According to one estimate in the early 19th c e nt ur y t h e M a la ys a lone made up1 million out of th e kingdom s total population of 6 million people [Bowring 1969 [1857J:81] The M usl im s w e re not only a numerically large group bu t were also to be found inmany a rea s in the kingdom apart from th e southern provinces.

O ne f ac to r which brought a f ai rl y w id e d is pe rs al of th e Malays in the kingdom ofSiam was a d i re c t r e su l t of State policy on man-power. The organisation of man-power

2 T h e T h on b ur i p er io d w as an attempt by Phya Tak to restore some measure of central rulein S ia m a ft er Ayutthaya w as d es tr oy ed by th e Burmese in 1767 A D This period wassoon followed by the establishment of t he C ha kr i dynasty in Bangkok in 1782 A D Thepresent dynasty o we s it s o ri gi n t o this period.

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was always a ce nt ra l co nc ept in th e Siamese art of government, a s i nd ee d was true ofother traditional Southeast Asian States as well. Populations would be moved from onearea of th e kingdom to another fo r all sorts of reasons such as t o o pe n up ne w agriculturalareas; t o d im in is h t he p ro sp ec ts of future rebellion by dependencies; t o w ea ke n t he p ow erof the provincial governors and etc. In the case of th e m a jo r ity of the Malays living in th ecentral plains of Siam, many were brought there in c ap ti vi ty a s prisoners-of-war and agood many more were forcibly rehabilitated in those a re as a s a consequence of defeat inwar. The prisoners-of-war were m o stly r e ta ine d as slaves of the king although a fe wmight be share d by the principal courtiers and settled i n v il la ge s near Bangkok.

The M a la y s d id not only d o min ate th e tr ad itio na l b u r ea u cr a cy in the tributary statesbut had also made their presence felt elsewhere in Siam. Ranong, a province in th eIsthmus region bordering Burma, fo r example, had at on e time a Malay chief. Phattalungtoo another s outher n province, used to have a Muslim ruler. Malay interpreters servedboth in t he C ou rt of Bangkok and among t he r ul in g circle of Nakhon Si Thammarat.Diplomatic missions, especially those that were sent to the Malay states, were undertakenby Malays in the service of Siam. The M a la y s w e re also e n ga g ed in trade in Siam. Malayships sailed r eg ul ar ly b et we en t he Malay s ta te s a n d Siam. The M al ay s t oo participatedin th e o v er lan d trade of th e I s th m ian region to g eth e r w ith th e Chinese a nd t he Coromandel I ndi ans. There were also Arab merchants i n B an gk ok . It was, h o we v er , l ik e e a rl ie rtimes, the Indian Muslims w ho a pp ea re d t o be entrenched in the t ra de a nd commerce ofSia m in the 19th century. Trade between Siam and Surat in India was still flourishing.M an y I nd ia n Muslims to o had opened up s ma ll b us in es se s in t he k in gd om although agood many c on ti nu ed t o s er ve t he commercial interests of t he r oy al ty and the mandarinate. was still through th e a v en u es of trade that many Indian Muslims found their wayinto p o si ti on s o f i nf lu en c e a n d a u th o ri ty w ith the Siamese ruling e li te o f the time.

Generally, under the Bangkok rulers, the M us li ms c o nt in u ed , at least until theopening decades of th e 19th c en tu ry , t o enjoy a significant role in directing Siamesepolitical and e co no mi c a ff ai rs although they were soon overtaken b y i nt ern al andexternal events. By the late 19th and early 20th. century more Muslim immigrants,particularly from the Dutch East Indies a nd t he Indian sub-continent made t he ir w ay i nt oSiam. There was also a good deal of internal migration, voluntary and compulsory,w i th in t h e c ou nt ry . Increasingly, the Muslims in Thailand w e re b e co m in g a much morediverse community. But w hile in most of T ha il an d t he Muslims ha d been making allsorts of adjustments in response to the c ha ng e s g en er at ed b y T ha il an d s m od er ni sa ti onefforts, th e Muslims in th e Pattani region resisted integration i nt o t he kingdom.3

Th e e m er g en c e of t he B a ng ko k dynasty h a d in tr o du c ed a new pattern in the natureof S ia m es e- M al ay r el at ions. Instead of the Ayutthayan model o f indirect control, the

3 The Pattan i r eg io n essen ti all y constitutes th e p r es en t p ro vi nc es of Pattani, Yala an dNarathiwat an d some areas in t he a d ja ce nt province o f S on gk hl a.


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Bangkok rulers in their attempts to achieve th e territorial consolidation of th e kingdomoften reso rt ed to th e use of physical force and direct intervention in th e affairs of theMalay states a strategy which alienated the Malay rulers. was during this period ofterritorial consolidation of Siam that resistance from th e Malay states was at it s height.The whole Malay region which used to maintain a tributary re la tionship w it h t heSiamese traditional polity became restive and rebellions were endemic. The Sultanate ofPattani was eventually dismembered and it s ruling elite displaced in the process of itscomplete territorial and political absorption into the modern nation-state of Thailandwhile the Sultanates of Kedah Kelantan and Trengganu managed to free themselves ofThai political control and subsequently emerged to become part of Independent Malayaand then Malaysia which is usually perceived as being a Malay state.4 The direct Thaipolitical intrusion in th e Pattani region had led to an unprecedented cul tura l confrontation in the area between the Malays who consti tu ted the overwhelming major ity of th epopulat ion and the new Thai bureaucrats sent to rule them f rom Bangkok. This wasessentially the background of the chronic conflict that would characterise the Pattaniregion for much of the 20th century 5

n contrast to th e exper ience of the Malays in Pattani the cosmopolitan Muslimcommunity l iving away from the Pattani region had establi shed a much more congenialrelationship with th e Thai state over th e Chakri era. Perhaps assisted by their directexposure to the mainstream of Thai culture and society they have become in many waysbehaviourally Thai at least outwardly. Generally they are indistinguishable from th eother Thais and have in the context of th e overall Muslim situation in Thailand beenpositive towards th e modern Thai state often assuming th e role of th e political mediators of their co-religionists in th e south.

Contemporary Sociological Profile and Political ole is obvious from the foregoing that th e Muslims have ancient roots in Thail and. Theyare neither a recent community nor a marginal one. Thus the Muslims now constitute anintegral part of the modern Thai nation. The Muslims today just as in th e past continueto be numerically and politically significant as a national minority in modern-dayThail and. The immedia te quest ion that comes to mind then is how many Muslims arethere in Thailand. This is definitely not an easy ques tion to answe r because there areseveral versions as to how many Muslims there are in Thailand. The official version has

4 Control of th e Malay States of Kedah Perlis Kelantan and Trengganu was relinquishedby Bangkok to the British in 1909 through a Treaty.

5 For a balanced discussion of the confronta tion between the Malay-Muslims and the ThaiState beginning ear ly this century see Surin [1985: especially chapters and ill]


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always been that Muslims constitute slightly less than 4 of the total population. Otherversions differ dramatically. One foreign source est imates the Muslims to numberaround 14 of the Tha i population. An internal Muslim official account with grassrootscontacts claims that they make up 10 of the population [Omar 1988: 1-2J. Variousacademic estimates consider the Thai official version to be on the low side and theMuslim figures to be unduly inflated. A recent paper published by a Muslim academicsuggests that there are as many as 4 or 5 million Muslims in Thailand [Imtiyaz 1998:279J. This view approximately coincides with my own personal estimate that the re a rebetween 5 to 8 Muslims in Thailand [Omar 1987: 8J In any case, the question is notwhether i t is 4 or 5 or even 10 , because even if we go by the lowest estimate given,in absolute terms we are really talking about a Muslim population in th e region of at least2.4 million. By any standard, numerically, th e Muslim community in Thailand must be avery large community.

The Muslims are by no means a monolithic group although officially, t he y are allknown as Thai-Islam or Thai-Muslim [Omar 1988: 4J In the popular parlance theMuslims are often re fe rred to as Khaeg, apejorative label meaning guests or darkskinned visitors, which they strongly object to for obvious reasons [ibid 5J They donot consider themselves as aliens and are often f ru st ra ted with the inability of theethnic Thais to unders tand the ethnic mosaic that characterises Muslim society. TheMuslims in Thailand are a heterogeneous group of people. For analytical purposes, i tmay be useful to classify them into two broad categories, namely, the Thai-Muslim andthe Malay-Muslim. must be recognised, however, that the boundaries between th e twocategories are not rigid but overlap considerably. Consciously and unconsciously too,there have been attempts by the Muslims to manipulate this aspect of their identity. TheThai-Muslims, who are generally more assimilated into Thai society, are represented byvarious ethnic groups such as Thai-Malay, Thai, Chinese, Javanese, Cham, Pathan, Tamil,Persian, Arab, Sam Sam, Bengali and Baweanese [ibid 5-12]. The Malay-Muslims,however, const itute the biggest e thnic group in th e broader Muslim community inThailand and appear to be the most res is tant to assimilation into Thai society despite th efact that in recent years their Malay identity too has undergone a great deal oftransformation. But even then, there are already signs that although the Malay-Muslimsstill, by and large, cherish their cul tura l and linguistic distinctiveness they have, at thesame time, become def initely more integra ted within Thai land now than ever beforeespecially in the fields of language, education, commerce and economy. Politically too,apparen tly with the advent of democracy in the kingdom, their role in Thailand hasbecome more visible. The Thai-Muslims have a lways tended to be more positive abouttheir Thai identity. In fact, although in many ways the re would still be tangible traces oftheir respect ive dis tinctive original cul tu re even to this day and although they docon tinue to communalize along their respective sub-ethnic lines in certain areas, thecultural and linguistic boundaries that used to insulate them from the e thnic Tha is have222


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OM R F ROUK JUNID The Muslims in Thailand

now become much more permeable and pliable. In a sense, they have emerged almost asa new community, de cidedly Muslim in fai th but recognizably Thai in culture.

It is also important to note here that on account of the fact that conversion is aprimary institution in Islam and people do convert, th e community therefore logicallyappears as an ever-expanding one. Converts do not suddenly leave behind their language, culture, jobs, friends, relatives, residence and whatever that used to be part of theirlives. On th e contrary they b ri ng with t hem all their pre-existing network into contactwith Islam and the Muslim community. It is this phenomenon that has helped expand thereach of Islam in th e k ingdom mak ing i t no longer a foreign faith but rather a familiarone in th e eyes of many Thais who may not themselves be Muslims. But the importantthing to take note of in trying to understand the contemporary Muslim society inThailand is that, th e mu ll s or the new converts to Islam also consti tute an importantelement of that society. For another, th ere have also been a significant number ofintermarriages between new Muslim immigrants, be they capitalists, businessmen, tourists or missionaries and local Thai women, both Muslim and Muslim convert s add ing toth e r anks of the Thai Muslim community a growing new breed of children of mixedparentage.

The growing significance of the role of the Muslims in Thailand becomes even moreself-evident if we were to look at their geographical profile in the kingdom. For a longtime the general myth that was perpetuated was that th e Muslims in Thailand wereessentially a border community l iv ing in the southernmost provinces which are eithercontiguous to Malaysia or in close proximity to it. The truth of the matter is that th eMuslims a re to be found in vir tually every province in Thailand although the ir numbervaries from province to province. As at present the total number of registered mosqueswhich are found in out of 7 of the kingdom's provinces s tands a t a staggering figureof 2 800 and is still growing see Appendix 1 ).6) There are definitely more mosques inThailand than in many Muslim countries including, for example, Brunei, Bahrain, Oman,Kuwait or even Jordan There are also more mosques in Bangkok than in Bandar SeriBegawan or Singapore. Surely, if the mosque index in Thailand is any indication, th eMuslims are not only well spread geographically but also maintain a visible presence allover th e kingdom.

Although Muslims a re found all over the Thai k ingdom it is in th e southernmostprovinces of Yala Pattani, Narathiwat and Satun , which lie close to Malaysia, that they

6) In my earlier published works I was only abl e to ident ify about 2 111 mosques spread over38 provinces. In my recent fieldwork I discovered th e gap between my earlier d ata andthe most current. T his is of course partly because many new mosques have been built ina number of new areas since I conducted my field research in th e late 1970s but partly i t isalso because many people were no t aware of their exis tence then.

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make up the majority group rev er sing the n at io na l t re nd elsewhere. But it is theMalay Muslims who predominate in these southernmost provinces ra th er th an theThai Muslims. is this demographic reality that has made the Malay Muslims t he m os tdynamic element among the Muslims within the broader Thai national society acquiringcritical cul tura l and political leverage which is quite disproportionate to their numericalstrength vis a vis the total population in th e kingdom.

The Muslims in Thailand are represented both in the rural as well as the urban areasof the kingdom. Occupationally they are also very diverse although the greater major ityseems to be engaged in f ishing farming and agr icul tu re . Musl ims in Thailand havealways been a part of the business community in the kingdom. They are represented byestablished trading families as well as the ubiquitous vendors in th e local markets andthe emerging business centres. The Muslims also have a virtual monopoly on the beefa nd ca tt le business in the kingdom. With a great deal of emphasis being given toindustrialization many Muslims too have become factory workers and managers. Therehas also always between a small but growing number of Muslim bureaucra ts andprofessionals in Thailand. They are in most respects almost indistinguishable from th eother Thais.

The major ity of the Muslims in Thailand are Sunnis following th e Shafiee schoolwith a small number of Hanafi followers especially among the Haw Chinese and theIndians. The Shiites however also have a strong base in Thailand especially in theThonburi district of Bangkok. The y h av e established themselves in Thailand for a fewcenturies already since they occupied a prominent role d ur in g the golden years of th eAyutthayan era. H ow ever th er e a re no serious tensions between them an d the largerMuslim constituency. Other religious schisms within the Muslims such as the tussle forleadership of the Muslim community between the traditionalists and the fundamental-ists the competition fo r influence between the reformists a nd the others and the generalcriticism of t he c om mu ni ty towards i nd iv id ua ls w ho a re conside red too secu la r a redefinitely more relevant issues in the context of the present day intra community poli-tics Qaddiyani teachings which are considered deviationist by mainstream Islam arenormally not tolerated. Movements like al Arqam which has been banned in Malaysiaand the more informal tabligh and dakwah activities generally flourish without seriousdifficulty in Thailand. In fact in this context there seems to be greater religious freedomfor Muslims in Thailand than elsewhere including many Muslim countries where strictmonitoring and control of Islamic activities is usua lly done to protect only the estab-l ished school of Islam.

The existence of a fairly well insulated stretch of territory where Muslims predomi-nate and where they appear to have closer affinity with the ir e thnic bre th ren across theborder in Malaysia has become the principal source of the birth and growth of th eproblem of both Muslim secessionism and Malay irredentism in the ext reme south ofThailand. This problem has often been manifested not only by the existence of various224


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OM R F ROUK JUNID : Th e M u sl im s i n Thailand

armed s e p ar a ti s t g r ou p s but also a high incidence o f p ol it ic al v io le nc e and an on-goingguerrilla war in the region. The s it ua ti on h a s not b ee n h el pe d by the fact that fo r thegreater part of i ts r ec en t h is to ry T ha il an d h a d been u n d e r m i li ta r y rule which generallyencouraged local repression by i ntol er a nt , i rr es pons ible a nd corrupt officials.

The c yc l e o f repression and violence that had characterized th e relationship betweenth e Muslim s ep a ra ti st g ro u ps in t he se p ro vi nc es and the State fo r more than foursuccessive decades in the post Second World War period and the political instability thatit often caused had seriously threatened to u nd er mi ne T ha il an d s claim to politicallegitimacy over the area. t was th e recognition of the need to overcome a seriouscredibility dilemma and the necessity to resolve th e problem of th e political mal-integration of th e Muslims in that part of Thailand which a pp ea re d m o st v ul ne ra bl e tosecessionist pursuits that had impelled t he T ha i state t o m ak e concessions to the Muslimsto try to win o v e r t h e ir u n d is p ut e d political allegiance to th e kingdom. Thus, al l kinds ofconcessions began to be given to the Muslims in th e area of M uslim Family Laws,e duc a ti ona l quot a, j ob oppor tunit ie s , dr es s codes, economic and infrastructural development of th e region and so on. But p er ha ps t he most significant gesture on the part of th estate w as t he creation of a Muslim bureaucracy under the leadership of th e Chularatmontr i or Sheikhul-Islam, w ho w as to be a royal appointee functioning as th e official adviserto th e state on Islamic affairs.7

T h is b u r ea u c ra c y brought Muslims throughout t he k in gd om u nd er a kind of semiofficial and loosely structured Islamic a d m in i st r at i ve n e tw o r k w hi ch c on fe rr ed o n th eMuslims s om e s e mbl anc e of socio-religious autonomy. During the period w he n a v en ue sfor p ol it ic al participation fo r the Muslims were c on st ri ct ed , t hi s b ur ea uc ra cy h ademerged as the most important political institution to bring about th e political co-optionof the Muslims into the State. The Muslim socio-religious b ur ea uc ra cy c re at ed aframework which allowed th e Muslims to become involved in their ow n religiousactivities w it hi n t he b ro ad er n at io na l s et ti ng a n d with official patronage.

Paradoxically, th e desire of the Thai state to p lacate the M a la y- M us li m s o f th esouthernmost provinces in order to avoid t he p ro sp ec t of a prolonged c ri si s i n that partof Thailand w hic h s ee ms m os t v ul ne ra bl e to Muslim secessionism had the effect offirstly motivating Muslims elsewhere in t he k in gd om to e n th u si a st ic a ll y u n d e rt a k e t h epolitical socialization of t he ir s ou t he r n b re t hr e n a nd s ec ondly, of giving Islam a highernational role and visibility. The very existence of that administrative network, especiallyfo r th e M us li ms o u ts id e of th e Muslim-majority provinces, was ge ne r al ly posi ti ve lyviewed as a kind of b e ne v ol e nt p a t ro n a ge of their status a nd t he ir religion. For manydifferent reasons though the Muslims in th e southern provinces were not as enthusiastic

7 For a brief b u t u sef ul d is cu ss io n o f th e institution of t h e C h ul a ra t mo n tr i se e Imtiyaz[ 998]

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as their counterparts elsewhere in the kingdom. Nevertheless, they too became drawninto the new Muslim socio-religious framework and thus, in the process rendered themselves to greater exposure to Thailand.The royal patronage of Islam has also been an impor tant fac tor in promoting greaterMuslim political allegiance to th e sta te o r at least in warding of f opposition to it as theThai k ing was h ighly revered and respected by the rural Muslim folk for h is magnanimi ty towards them. This was also considered as a vital source of protection particularlywhen Thailand was under oppressive military rule. The Tha i political system therefore,to a large extent has always had an important impact on the role of the Muslims withinthe s ta te . Invar iably, the incidence of greatest resistance to the s ta te t ended to coincidewith the period of non-democratic rule. Democracy, had from time to time, given th eMuslims a platform to air their grievances and participate directly in the affairs ofgovernment, but i ts repeated breakdown in Thailand, had only left them disillusionedand neglected. Bureaucratic rule in Thailand, usually under a military dictatorship ofsome sort tended to breed corruption and to encourage repression. The Muslims,especially those in th e southernmost provinces, like their fellow-citizens elsewhere inThailand had to bear the brunt of th e excesses of a political system which th ey had nocontrol over. was only when democratiza tion was pursued in a more vigorous mannerthat Muslims began to assert a growing role in the public affairs of the State. There is nodoubt that democracy has d irec tly helped give the Muslims in Thailand not onlyopportunities for greater political participation but also their proper role in government.The significance of the Muslims is acknowledged by almost all political parties andthey are normally represented almost at all levels in most political parties. The electoralstrength of th e Muslims in areas where they predominate has always been recognized.Traditionally th e Muslims have tended to identify with the Democrat Party but in 1988the Wahdah 8 group was formed by a number of leading Muslim politicians who decidedto align themselves with the New Aspiration Party NAP to s trengthen their politicalbargaining power. The strategy of the Wahdah group was to try to win as many seats aspossible in the Muslim dominated provinces of Yala, Pattani. Narathiwat and Satun inorder to be in a bargaining position for ministerial positions [Imtiyaz 99 : 290]. In the1992 parliamentary elections s ix members of the Wahdah group representing the NAP

8 The term w hd h is derived from the Arabic word signifying oneness or unity. Inth e Thai Muslim context th e Wahdah group is supposed to funct ion as a political factionpresenting a unified position among Muslim par li amentar ians to p romote and pursueMuslim collective interests. has to be borne in mind that as t he Tha i Const itu ti onforbids th e formation of a religious-based par ty , t he formation of such a fac tion l ike th eWahdah is the closest th e Muslim pol it ic ians could get to using religion as a commonbond. The attempt to form a Mus lim pol it ical fac tion was also aimed at chal lenging thetraditional alliance between the Democrat Par ty a nd th e th e Muslims.

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OM R FROUK JUNID : The Muslims in Thailandw er e e le ct ed t o parliament in the Muslim-dominated provinces while the Democrat Partyhad o nl y f ou r Muslim representatives w ho w on the elections [Suria 1998: 157-158]. In the1995 general elections seven Muslim politicians from th e Democrat Party were electedand five Muslim representatives from the NA P were returned [ibid 158-159]. In the 1992Cabinet line-up two Muslim Members of Parliament w er e m ad e D e pu ty M in is te rs but fo rthe first time in t h e h i st o ry of m o d er n T h a il a nd a Muslim was made a full Minister in theGovernment of Banharn S il a- ar pac ha i n 1995 [ibid 160J. Th e tre nd of having Muslimministerial representation at th e highest level of th e T ha i g o ve rn m e nt was sustained inthe coalition governments o f G en er al C h av a li t Y o n gc h ai y ut and Chuan Lekpai. Apartfrom this appointment there were also other M us li ms w h o have b ee n e le c te d to success ive P a rl ia m ent s. A t p re se nt th e S pea ke r is a Muslim a nd t he l at es t T ha i C on st it ut io nbears his signature onstitution 1998: 99]. T he p re se nt F ore ig n Minister of Thailand inChuan Lekpai s Coalition Cabinet, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan who is from th e D e m oc r at P a rt y,is also a Muslim.g With a high-profile presence of th e Muslims in Government, manymore significant concessions have been gradually acco rd ed to the Muslims. Prayerr oo ms , f or example, have bee n a ll oc at ed to Muslims in public places such as the International Airport, t he m aj or train station in Bangkok at Hualumpong and, even at theHouse of Parliament itself. Contemporary Muslim representation in G o ve rn m en t h asdefinitely given Islam a much more favourable p la ce in th e polity than ever before.

Of course, a lt ho ug h th e role of democracy ha s been fundamental in giving Islamspace and recognition, there were also other f ac to rs w h ic h helped. There were at leastthree other important developments that favoured Islam and the Muslims in Thailand.The first, was th e large movement of Thais going a br oa d to Muslim countries especiallyin th e Middle East to work. The overwhelming majority of these people were Buddhistsrather than Muslims. In their s o jo u rn a b ro a d most of them became greatly e xp os ed toMuslim c ul tu re a nd w ay of life often working fo r Muslims or with Muslims. When theyreturned to T h a il a nd t h ey brought b ac k w ith th em th e a gg re ga te s um of their experienceand knowledge. Quite a number among them w ho cam e b ac k w ith la ng ua ge sk il ls i nArabic, for e xa mple , e ven attempted to e it he r s et up t he ir o wn businesses with dealingsw ith the Arabs or continued to work in outlets in Bangkok and e ls ew he re w h er e s om edegree of Arabic proficiency was required.

A significant number of people had even embraced Islam. For example, according toone source, more than 10 000 Thais from issaan or the northeast region, h a d c o n ve r te d toI sl am i n S a udi A r abi a alone. The significance of this development is that, fo r a long whilei t w as g en er al ly thought that there were no Muslims at all in t h e n o r th e a st e r n provincesof Thailand but apparently in the r ec en t y ea rs Islam seems to be growing steadily in

9 r Surin Pitsuwan is a Member of Parl iament for Nakhon Sri Thammarat province in aconstituency where Muslims make up only about 15 of the electorate. 7


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these provinces although it may not be due to thi s factor alone. But perhaps moreimportantly, Islam is increasingly asserting a presence in areas where it was said to havehardly existed before. The fact that this phenomenon is taking place at a time when morepeople from this particular area have conver ted to Islam albeit for whatever reason andin a foreign land too must surely have some ramifications somewhere. The image of th eMuslim as a Khaeg or a dark-skinned southerner or foreigner has already begun tochange in Thailand. Of course, it is not only the conversion to Islam that has brought thisabout as this kind of attitudinal ch ange has equally been an important function ofeducation, enlightenment and greater exposure to Islam itself.

The other thing that brought about a shifting a tt itude towards Islam and theMuslims in Thailand was th e influx of Muslim touri st s, espec ia lly from the Middle East[Omar 1992a: 7 9]. They were definitely not th e best models of Muslims as most wereplain pleasure seekers but the money they brought in to the kingdom and the jobs thatthey helped create and susta in especially in th e tourism-related industry made them avery welcome group of people. I f anything, it was th e Thai Muslims who felt disappointed by the earthly pursuits of their co-religionists who were behaving in ways seen bythem as being contrary to Islamic values and teachings. But this is besides th e point. Theimportant thing is that the ordinary non-Muslim Thai, through this kind of new exposureto Islam and the Muslims began to become more aware of th e diversity that characterizesthe Muslim world.

The th ird fac tor was very much linked to pure economics. As Tha iland began tomove aggress ively into a market economy, Muslim capital was much sought after, justlike other foreign investments. Of course, compared to Thailand s tradit ional investorslike Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan or South Korea, investment f rom Muslim countries wasstill very nominal. But it was increasingly beginning to be seen as a relatively untappedsource with a tremendous amount of promise . Muslim capital has indeed already begunmoving into Thailand. But interestingly, the new contacts that were established, thoughp rimarily in itia ted by economic considerations, also brought about ot her probablyunanticipated side effects. For one thing of course, the movement of Muslim capital alsobrought with it the movement of a new Muslim culture, not that th ere was none beforebut th is new phase certa in ly helped enhance the role of Is lam within the modern Thaipolity.

The initiative, energy, creativity and vision of the Muslims themselves have actuallyalso generated a lot of interest and confidence in them. Although the Muslim community,l ike Muslim communities elsewhere, is not free from the internal tensions that often besetheterogeneous groups, i ts leaders have at least demonstrated their maturity, social skillsand understanding in relating to the demand s of cit izenship without sacrificing theircommitment to Islam. In fact, they have in turn shown that they can act in tandem withthe S ta te to help harness the positive aspects of I slam for th e good of the country and it speople across th e board.


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OM R ROUK B JUNID The Musl ims in Thailand

on lusion

The Muslims have been an integral part of the Thai polity for centuries. Historicallypolitically culturally and even economically their role has i ndeed been s ignif ican t.Nevertheless they still appear to be little understood as a comm unity. Even basicknowledge on Islam and the Muslims seems to be scanty and fragmented. The tendencyto v iew Thailand as a Buddhist monolith has also had the unfortunate effect of margina-lising their place in the kingdom. Likewise for many decades in th e post Second WorldWar era the frequent outbreak of violent resis tance against th e state in the Muslim-dominated provinces and the repression by th e military reg ime in Thailand on politicaldissent exacerbated mutual suspicions and gave rise to al l kinds of prejudices against theMuslims. They were also often associated w ith the acts of violence the lawlessness andthe political troubles that were chronic to that part of the kingdom. Geographically theywere seen as being essentially th e people of the border provinces of th e extreme south.The existence of Muslims elsewhere in the kingdom was either downplayed or littleappreciated. The heterogeneous nature of the Muslim community too was not under-stood. Despite the high tolerance level of th e Th ai Bud dhists th ere were prejudicestoward I slam as a religion because it was invariably associated with the t roub led sou th .t was against this background that a lo t of the earlier w ork s on th e Muslims in Thailandfocused on the theme of the political disintegration of th e Malay Muslims of th e southernregion.

As Thailand matures as a modern state and as democracy beg ins to assert it spresence in Thailand the Muslims have begun to be view ed in a more positive perspec-tive. The phenomenon of greater c on ta cts between the T ha i government and foreignMuslim governments and peoples the intensification of interactions between Thai Bud-dhist migrant workers and their Muslim hosts in many Muslim countries the adoption ofmore democratic measures and a commitment to the goals of a free market economy haveall impelled the Thai state to adopt a more positive attitude towards i ts Muslim citizensand Islam itself as they begin to be treated as equals. new era of positive Muslim Staterelations seems to have emerged enabling the Muslims among other things to claim theirrightful role in the new political scenario in the kingdom. They no w appear morepolitically integrated and seem to assume a more visible public profile.

The new image of the Muslims in Thailand is much more positive than what it u se dto be for a long time. They no w appear to have a tangible stake in the affairs of thenation. They are now seen and see themselves as an integral part of modern Thailand.Hence they have begun to move into what used to be thought of as unconventional areasfor them geographically politically occupationally and socially. Perhaps more impor-tant than this is that the emerging democratic political conditions in Thailand have


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c re at ed a n academic climate which is c on du ci ve t o r es ea rc h on Islam and the Muslimswhen not t oo l on g a go th er e used to be plenty of restrictions. This is most h el pf ul f or n e wresearch to take placeWhat seems still lacking in our understanding of Islam and the Muslims in Thailandis reliable and comprehensive data on them. The sources fo r inf or m atio n o n th e Muslimsin Thailand have not only become m o re v ar ie d but also much more easily accessibleis fo r example now possible to g a th e r d a ta on the M us li ms i n Thailand through th einternet. There ar e already a number of Thai M us li m w eb s it es in place Likewise thenumber of Thai Muslim publications in Thailand including Muslim n ew sp ap er s a ndjournals ha s g ro w n. F ie ld -w or k i n Muslim enclaves all over the k in gd om is also easier toundertake no w than any time in the past. The question of access therefore should nolonger pose any major problem now.In terms of research th em e s p er h ap s we should start from the basics Ind ee d o ne o fthe most viable a rea s o f rese arch that could a nd shoul d be undertaken soon is th ecollection and collation of basic demographic and ethnographic data on th e Muslims.T h e s ur ve y type of work which I m an a ga h a s initiated is extremely useful except that itneeds to be more detailed thorough and comprehensive. In th e initial stages such asurvey should no t attempt to make regional comparisons but rather concentrate ongetting r aw a nd reliable data all over the country. In addition to this kind of survey morefocused anthropological studies on specific Muslim villages should also be undertaken. is surprising that to th e best of my knowledge there ha s been very few anthropologicalstudies of Muslim villages that have been conducted away from the Malay-Muslimprovinces.

The role of Islamic i de as i n Thailand has also not been systematically investigated.Scupin has made an invaluable contribution in e x am inin g th e i ss ue of I sl am ic reformismin Thailand but there are many more issues that ca n be researched. The evolution ofIslamic literature in Thailand in terms of sources media circulation a nd i mp ac t could beinvestigated without major difficulties The Shiite sect which is still v er y m uc h a li ve inThailand as i t ha s been fo r centuries certainly makes a viable research topic The role ofth e al rqam in Th aila n d h a s not been examined at all The t ligh movement too whichha s a very strong in te r na tio na l n e tw o rk a n d is very established in Th ailan d h a s not beenthoroughly researched.

The role o f I sl am ic ins titution s s u ch as students associations teachers unionsalumni foundations societies mosques an d madrasahs ca n also be systematically ex-amined to try to understand th e v a riou s complex processes that ar e taking p la ce i n th eMuslim community. Islamic education is also an under-researched area. The role ofmuallajs or ne w c o nv e rts to I sl am i n th e Muslim society in Thailand could also provideinteresting insights into th e dynamic nature of th e community a s o pp os ed to it s static orrigid image.In th e political realm Muslim parliamentarians also make a good theme for research.3


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OMAR FAROUK BAJUNID : The Muslims in Thailand

Muslim political participation in Thai political parties is also worth examining. Muslimelectoral behavior is another researchable topic. Another a rea which has yet to betouched upon is that of polit ical biographies of leading Muslim personalities past andpresent.

The list of researchable topics on th e Muslims is almost endless but yet hithertoscholarship on Islam and the Muslims in Thailand is still sketc hy and limited. Theoveremphasis on the role of th e Malay Muslims in the southern provinces at the expenseof that of t he nat iona l Thai Muslim community too has not been very helpful. Thecomplete picture of th e role of the Muslims in Thailand is still far from clear. Much morecertainly needs to be done to fill th e existing gaps.

ppen ix 1 Lis t o f Registered Mosques in Thailand Bangkok 159 28 Phattalung 712. Krabi 144 29 Phichit 13. Kanchanaburi 3 3 Phitsanulok 14. Kalasin 1 31 Phetchburi 135. Khon Kaen 1 32 Petchabun 26. Chanthaburi 1 33 Phrae 17. Chachoengsao 5 34 Phuket 368. Chonburi 24 35 Maehongson 29. Chainat 1 36 Yala 3 81 Chumpon 5 37 Ranong 19 Chiengrai 4 38 Rayong 612 Chiengmai 39 Ratchaburi 213 Trang 95 4 Lopburi 114 Trad 8 41 Lampang 115 Ta k 2 42 Sakolnakhon 116 Nakhon Nayok 25 43 Songkhla 29417 Nakhon Ratchasima 1 44 Satun 14718 Nakhon Sri Thammarat 97 45 Samutprakhan 119 Nakhon Sawan 1 46 Samu tsong khram 22 Nonthaburi 19 47 Saraburi 321 Narathiwat 477 48 Singburi 122 Pathurn Thani 25 49 Suphanburi 123 Prachuabkhirikhan 9 5 Surat Thani 3224 Prachinburi 2 51 Surin 125 Pattani 544 52 Angthong 126 Ayutthaya 55 53 Udonthani 127 Phangga 78

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eferen e

Ahmad Omar Chapakia. 1997. Politik Thai Dan Reaksi Masyarakat Islam Di Selatan Thai, 1932-1994[Thai Politics and the Reaction of the Muslim Community in South Thailand, 1932-1994J.Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Jabatan Sejarah, Universiti Malaya. in Malay

Anderson, John. 1890. English Intercourse with Siam in the 7th Century. London: Paul, TrenchTrubner Co.

Apierat Samail. 1999. Politik dan I sl am di Narathiwat Thailand, 1970-1980 [Politics and I sl am inNarathiwat, Thailand, 1970-1980J. Master of Arts thesis, Jabatan Sejarah, Universiti Malaya. inMalay

Arong Suthasasna. 1976. Panha Khuam Khad yaeng Na i See Changwat Phaak Tai [The Problem of theConflict in the Four Southern Provinces]. Bangkok: Phitakpracha. in Thai

Bougas, Wayne. 1988. Islamic Cemeteries in Patani. Kuala Lumpur: Malayan Historical Society.Bowring, Si r John. 1969 [1857]. The Kingdom and People of Siam. Volume One. London: Oxford

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