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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.
An examination—through manuscripts preserved from the seventeenth century to the present—of the historical sensibilities and mindset of rural southern Thailand.
Examines the ways in which religion and nationalism have interacted to provide a powerful impetus for mobilization in Southeast Asia.
Since January 2004, a violent separatist insurgency has raged in southern Thailand, resulting in more than three thousand deaths. Though largely unnoticed outside Southeast Asia, the rebellion in Pattani and neighboring provinces and the Thai government's harsh crackdown have resulted in a full-scale crisis. Tearing Apart the Land by Duncan McCargo, one of the world's leading scholars of contemporary Thai politics, is the first fieldwork-based book about this conflict. Drawing on his extensive knowledge of the region, hundreds of interviews conducted during a year's research in the troubled area, and unpublished Thai-language sources that range from anonymous leaflets to confessions extracted by Thai security forces, McCargo locates the roots of the conflict in the context of the troubled power relations between Bangkok and the Muslim-majority "deep South." McCargo describes how Bangkok tried to establish legitimacy by co-opting local religious and political elites. This successful strategy was upset when Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister in 2001 and set out to reorganize power in the region. Before Thaksin was overthrown in a 2006 military coup, his repressive policies had exposed the precariousness of the Bangkok government's influence. A rejuvenated militant movement had emerged, invoking Islamic rhetoric to challenge the authority of local leaders obedient to Bangkok. For readers interested in contemporary Southeast Asia, insurgency and counterinsurgency, Islam, politics, and questions of political violence, Tearing Apart the Land is a powerful account of the changing nature of Islam on the Malay peninsula, the legitimacy of the central Thai government and the failures of its security policy, the composition of the militant movement, and the conflict's disastrous impact on daily life in the deep South. Carefully distinguishing the uprising in southern Thailand from other Muslim rebellions, McCargo suggests that the conflict can be ended only if a more participatory mode of governance is adopted in the region.
"The twelve articles making up this volume examine a wide range of social, political, and economic issues in southern Thailand, focusing on particular questions such as: Is Islam compatible with Thai nationalism and the ideals of the Thai state? What features make southern Thai politics unique? What are some social consequences of top-down development projects in the South? How has subregional development affected southern Thailand? To what extent are women involved in community development in the South? Other articles investigate the consumption practices in a rural border community, the nang talung shadow puppet theater, the Hat Yai Vegetarian Festival, the feminization of nora spirit mediumship, a Dhamma walk around Lake Songkhla to highlight ecological concerns, the social relationship network of the Baba Chinese business community in Phuket, and the cultural construction of a Thai community across the border in Kelantan." "The wide range of issues and ideas presented in this collection reveal the unique character of the region and the variety of cultures that contribute to its dynamic diversity."--BOOK JACKET.
In this eye-opening volume, the author examines the roots of the current southern Thai conflict, gives a detailed overview of the present crisis, documents the flight of the south's Buddhist community, and argues that the Thai government has woefully misplayed its hand.
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.
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.