Roundtable: Looking Behind and Beyond Unrest and Violence
in the Malay Muslim South of Thailand
Organizer and Chair: Thanet Aphornsuvan, Thammasat University
Discussants: Carlo Bonura, University of Puget Sound; Saroja Dorairajoo, National
University of Singapore; Andrea Molnar, Northern Illinois University; James Ockey,
University of Canterbury; Suleemarn Wongsuphap, LaTrobe University
The upsurge of violence in the predominantly Malay Muslim provinces of southern
Thailand since January 2004 has so far claimed more than 2,100 lives. Attacks
by militants and security forces occur almost daily and the battleground has
shifted from remote areas to towns and villages. This roundtable addresses many
dimensions of this conflict from both historical and contemporary perspectives.
The goal of the roundtable thus is to examine understandings of the conflict
in the region and to assess the prospects for peace-building. The scope of the
roundtable includes a critical evaluation of some of the analytical assumptions
surrounding the conflict and government policies and practices. Issues to be
discussed include histories of Siam and Patani as a contending base of both
Thai and Patani intellectuals in arguing their case for a unified nation-state
and independent Muslim region respectively; military strategies in handling
of the political violence; the roles of women and NGOs in response to the violence,
the use of Islam in the current crisis and the construction of possible post-conflict
scenarios. Finally we ask what is the impact and implication of southern violence
in Thailand for the security of Southeast Asia as a region.
