Since 2004, the violent conflict between Thai Buddhists and Malay Muslims has caused more than 7,500 deaths and 13,000 injuries in the southern border provinces of Thailand. This will be the first collection published in English to give voice to those who have rebounded from these profound personal tragedies to demand justice and peace.The ethnic and religious separatist insurgency in the southern provinces of Thailand is complex. Ninety to ninety-five percent of Thai citizens are Buddhists. In the southernmost provinces, however, Muslims are in the majority-yet they are governed by the Buddhist Thai capital in the north. In 2006 and 2014, the Thai government went through separate coups, resulting in differing policies to address this problem in the south, including a National Culture Act to promote "Thai-ness" throughout the country. In the south, this has resulted in a repressive and corrupt police force and military raids on Muslim villages, provoking the burning of schools and other symbols of Thai government, bombings, and even the killing of teachers and monks. The narratives collected here, primarily from women, testify that although the violence has been generated from both sides of the Buddhist/Muslim divide, the actions undertaken by armed forces of the Thai Buddhist state-including repressive violence and torture-have served as a catalyst for increased Muslim insurgency. These contributions reveal the fundamental problem of how a minority people can fully belong within a state that has insisted on religious, cultural, and linguistic homogenization.
John Clifford Holt is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of the Humanities in Religion and Asian Studies at Bowdoin College. Soraya Jamjuree teaches at Prince of Songkla University in Pattani and is a founder of the Civic Women's Network for Peace in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand. Hara Shintaro is a researcher and translator of Malay.
[The editors and translators] have dedicated their talents and resources to making the stories written by people in less privileged situations available to a wider audience. This is an ethical approach to a difficult situation. Furthermore, it can be read as a positive response to recent calls to decolonize scholarship, for those in already-privileged positions to act as megaphones for the less privileged, for research to engage with activism, and for research to proceed from collaboration and partnership. On all these counts, In Search of Justice in Thailand's Deep South is both a highly commendable and a contemporary book . . . It stands as one of the very few available opportunities to hear from victims of the violence in Thailand's deep south. This book is recommended reading for anyone seeking to better understand religious violence and the Thailand 'beyond the smiles' (as the original Thai collection was titled).-- "Southeast Asian Studies" The conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in southern Thailand has received little attention for the simple reason that it has been more dangerous doing research in this region than in other regions of the country. This remarkable collection enables readers to get a sense of the everyday lives of southerners living in the midst of this tension. I found the accounts gripping and memorable;they made me want to learn more about the historical roots of this conflict. --Katherine Bowie, University of Wisconsin-Madison, author of Of Beggars and Buddhas: The Politics of Humor in the "Vessantara Jataka" in Thailand This book is unique in its approach, giving voice to an often-marginalized group in society. The personal narratives provide readers with intimate details and insights into the experiences, challenges and transformations of both Muslim and Buddhist women who have endured tremendous suffering due to the conflict. In Search of Justice in Thailand's Deep South is a valuable contribution to the literature on the Deep South conflict, Islam and Buddhism in Thailand, and women in general.
