Southern Thailand Insurgency

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SOUTHERN THAILAND INSURGENCY INTRODUCTION The insurgency can be defined as a violent attempt to take control of a government, whether a rebellion or uprising (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) . Insurgency also can be defined as an armed rebellion against the existing government when those taking part in the rebellion is not recognized as belligerents (Free Dictionary) . Southern Thailand is a region which is mainly in Thailand's three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, which border Malaysia, and in four districts of Songkhla province. These three provinces are predominantly inhabited by Muslim Malays, also known as Melayu Pattani due to their Malay dialect. Therefore, Southern Thailand Insurgency can be recognized as an ethnic…show more content…
The last sultan of Pattani opposes the Thai occupation and subsequently charged with treason and imprisoned. This history and the continuing political control of the Malay minority are key factors behind the aperiodic violence that has broken out in the region. At the end of World War Two, there are region's hopes of independence and then of acquisition of British Malaya were dashed. Prime Minister Pridi Phanomyong, ideologue of the 1932 revolution has transformed Thailand from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. He is concerned about rising nationalism, invited Muslim leaders to participate in government and advise the king on Islamic matters. However, the Muslim did not see that Thai government can lead them to a better future and this makes them more confident on Islamic religious teacher or…show more content…
Strict enforcement was a huge indignity to Malay Muslims who perceived it as a direct attack to their culture, religion and language. Moreover, the state schools not only taught a secular curriculum in Thai, but also included the instruction in Buddhist ethics, with monks often serving as teachers. This attempt is actually made Islamic religious teacher threatened to undermine not only the social and cultural but also the economic power of the religious teachers. Besides, most of the parents refused to send their children to the state schools and the villages staged massive protests against the education policy. Moreover, student only can choose English, French, German and Arabic as a second language but Malay was not allowed. Thailand also implements Malay languages in one school in each state, but using the Thai alphabet while English and French are being taught using the Latin alphabet. This policy, however, succeeded which almost all Malay children now speak Thai. This policy actually makes Muslims viewing the school system as a tool of Thai
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