The
perceived relative homogeneity of Thai culture and society is being challenged
on multiple fronts today. So much has been said about the socio-economic
division within Thai society, epitomized by the ‘red’ versus ‘yellow’ shirt
movements, and political outcomes over the last decade and a half. However very
little is said, publicly anyway, about the growing influence upon society that
Thailand’s Muslim population is now projecting at many levels.
The
current Muslim population of Thailand is between 5-6%, depending upon which set
of statistics you consult. This consists of a number of dispersed ethnic groups
throughout the country. About 18% of Thailand’s Muslims live within the
Southern provinces of Songkhla, Satun, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, who are primarily
of the Malay, Javanese, and Acehnese origins, agricultural based, that practice
the ‘Malay’ culture. These groups are domiciled around what was the former
Greater Petanni Sultanate that came to being around 9th Century and was annexed
by Thailand in 1909 from British influence.
Along
the West and East Coasts of the Peninsula across Trang, Krabi, Phuket, Ranong,
Nakkon Si Thammarat, and Surat Thani, are a mixture of Sea Gypsy, Thai,
somewhat intermarried with the ancestors of Arab and Pakistani traders of the
past. These groups were once primarily fisheries and agricultural based. Unlike
the Petanni group who still keep a strong ‘Malay’ identity, this group
primarily communicate in Thai and have on the whole integrated well with Thai
society.
In
other provinces, descendents of immigrants from the Rohingya in Burma
(Myanmar), the Cham from Cambodia, Pakistanis and Indians from South Asia, and
the Hui from Yunnan, China can be fund in Northern Thailand. A group of Muslims
from Persia and Arabia engaged in trade and commerce, migrated to the old
Ayutthaya Empire, and integrated with the nobility of Thai society at the time,
and are still well integrated today. The rest of Thailand’s Muslim population
is made up of a growing number of converts from those who have worked overseas.
Most
Muslims in Thailand are Sunni following the Shaffie school, although there are
a small number of Hanafi, and Shiites around the Thornburi area. Small
deviating groups like Al-Arqam, banned in Malaysia, flourish in Thailand.
Military
rule tended to repress the Muslims in the South for some years, where Thai
authorities liked to scapegoat and blame all Muslims for the troubles there. However
Royal patronage of Islam due to the insurgency has given Islam much more
exposure. The image of a Muslim as a dark skinned southern ‘khaeg’ has
radically changed in Thailand. Consequently there is now much less employment
discrimination against Muslims today and a number of Muslims have held high
offices in government, police, and the military.
Islamic
affairs are coordinated by the Central Islamic Council of Thailand which has
five councilors appointed by the King. This body links the Government and
Islamic communities, where education, the construction of mosques, pilgrimage
to Mecca are assisted.
Under
the Central Islamic Council are provincial councils. Today there are 38
provincial Islamic committees nationwide, which govern many local Islamic
issues within their respective communities. Many committees operate Islamic
schools which teach both the national and Islamic curriculum. There are a
number of Ulama who tend to come from a select number of well known families
within the various Muslim communities around Thailand. These families often
operate private Madrasas (Islamic schools), some teaching both curricula and
some teaching only the Islamic curriculum. Some families operate Pondoks,
numbering over 1,000, which just teach Islam. This is particularly the case in
Nakkon Si Thammarat, where this generational heritage is very strong. The descendents
of early teachers are still community leaders like the former ASEAN Secretary
General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan.
The
traditional Ulama in Thailand have great influence over how Islam is
interpreted within their respective communities, where this tends to be a force
for fragmentation rather than Ummah cohesion. As a consequence Thai Muslims
don’t speak with one unified voice, and there is very little consensus over
many issues.
The
various Thai Muslim communities are very distinct from each other.
Most
Ulama in Thailand have only undertaken Islamic studies at college or university
and tend to take a conservative Islamic perspective about social issues. This
is even more so in the ‘Deep South’ where issues of Malay language, conflicts
between civil and military policy, and ‘outsiders’ have led to the perception
that the Central Government in Bangkok is intent on having a ‘war’ with
Muslims, through ‘Siamization’.
Thus
through the Ulama system and issues of the ‘Deep South’ a very conservative
approach to Islam is accepted, with suspicion about anybody bringing ‘outside
teachings’.
Muslims
in Central Thailand on the other hand, especially around Bangkok, appear to be
much more progressive and open to exploring integrative ideas that lead to
community evolvement and assimilation with the rest of the Thai community. This
is also the case in the young urban population, who are very tolerant and tend
not to follow the taboos of their ‘Malay’ counterparts in Malaysia. In
Thailand, non-Muslims are welcome into mosques, and it is very common for
Muslims and non-Muslims to carry on friendships and dine out together.
There
are signs of a deeper Islamization all over Thailand, from the shopping centres
where you see many more women wearing Islamic dress, to the landscapes of towns
and cities where many new mosques and Islamic schools can be seen springing up.
Many Muslim households display Arabic verses of the Al Quran outside their
homes. Some of these influences like in Chiang Mai has very old historical
roots, however in other places, a very noticeable increase in Muslim presence
can be felt with Muslim restaurants appearing to cater for new Muslim settlers
in many areas.
From
the business perspective, Thailand has become very innovative within the
commerce sector through the development of ‘Halal’ tourism, ‘Halal’ hotels and
resorts, Islamic banking, Islamic micro-finance, ‘Halal’ housing and
condominium projects, as well as food and beverage products. There is a general
awareness developing among Muslim entrepreneurs about ethical business
opportunities, utilizing the ‘Tawhid’ as an ethical business model.
The
‘deep south’ as it is known by Thais has thriving market and trade economies in
the major towns of Petanni, Yala, and Narathiwat. The author on a recent trip
through the area found markets open very early and thriving with trade. Entrepreneurship
and small business seemed to be very buoyant, even with warnings from various
quarters not to go there.
Professor
Winai Dahlan, the founder and director of the Halal Science Centre at
Chulalongkorn University has developed a complete Halal logistical tracking
system and protocols called Hal Q, which has not just been widely accepted by
Muslim businesses in Thailand, but has been taken onboard as an industry
standard by many multinational food manufacturers in Thailand. In addition,
many Arab countries have also adopted this system and come to Thailand for
training on Halal logistic management, putting Thailand more than a decade in
advance of any system Malaysia has to offer. This has enabled Thailand to
become one of the foremost Halal food manufacturers in the region today.
The
Islamization of Thailand is being pushed through demographic changes. Muslim
parents are having more children than their non-Muslim counterparts today in
Thailand, and this is shifting the population balance towards a higher
percentage of Muslims. This is particularly so in the rural areas of the ‘deep
south’. To some extent this appears to be under the official radar. However some websites now report the
Muslim population in Thailand to be as high as 10%.
The
growing percentage of Muslim population within Thailand will have a number of
effects upon Thai society over the coming years. Just as the South was
Thai-ized in the period 1902-1944, now Thailand is being Islamized in a way
never seen before.
The
Thai-Muslim sense of identity will need accommodation within existing
narratives of what is ‘Thainess’ today. “Thainess’ will have to allow some
plurality in the future. Although as mentioned before, the younger generation
of Muslims see themselves as Thais, it is the small extreme groups that will
put pressure for new dualities of ‘Thainess’.
One
can see an acknowledgement of this by the Thai army in their signs outside
military bases in the south. Signs outside military bases once said, “For
Country, Religion, Monarchy, and People”. Now they read “For Country,
Religions, Monarchy, and the People”.
However
the road to these accommodations will be a rocky one due to the long historical
struggle in the south. The conflict is between a number of ‘separatist groups’
and the government. Various interests have painted this as a religious based
conflict, especially with the attack upon monks and Buddhists over the last
decade. However history shows that this struggle is more about ethnic identity,
than Islam, where many leaders of these ‘separatist groups’ have called
themselves ‘Bangsa Petanni’, rather than Muslims. Internal interests and
outside interests like the United States have tried to widen the perspective of
the Southern problems, which thankfully have been rejected by various Thai
Governments over the last few years.
The
Islamization of Thailand represents just as much of a challenge as the rich and
poor divide of Thailand, which has had such a profound influence on the
political scene over the last decade. Discussion of the subject has been
generally suppressed, except within the higher circles of power. Great changes
in Thai society are inevitable in the near future, due to the Islamization of
Thailand.
Photo:
Thai Muslims leave after Eid al-Fitr prayers at a mosque in Pattani Province. Pic:
AP.
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