Political integration policies and strategies of the Thai government toward the Malay-Muslims of southernmost Thailand (1973--2000)

This dissertation is about how the Thai government reacts to the problem of Malay-Muslim separatism in the southernmost provinces of the country. The study adopts a historical approach using a qualitative method. The dissertation traces the government's policies, the reactions of the Malay-Muslims, and the determinants of both the Thai policies and the Malay responses during the democratization period in Thailand that began in 1973. It focuses on the process by which the tensions between the Thai State and the ethnic Malay-Muslims are reduced. It stresses the importance of political rules and institutions that shaped both the government's approaches and the responses from the Malay-Muslims.; The study examines five policy dimensions: political socialization, socioeconomic development, coercion, political participation, and administrative and personal management reforms. Because the Malay-Muslim separatist movements involve foreign support, the study also investigates Thailand's diplomatic effort to stop the support.; The study finds that Thailand's political integration had accelerated because of the effects of democratization on the political system that began in 1973 and had intensified from 1992 on. Democratization opened channels for Malay-Muslims to participate as equal citizens in Thailand's political life and to access to political power to protect the ethnic interests both at the national and local levels. It resulted in deradicalization of ethnicity. Moreover, Thailand's diplomatic effort proved to be successful in reducing foreign supports to the separatist movements, hence weakening their capacity to mobilize.; The study concludes that political integration can be attained in a culturally fragmented society because the leadership of the majority group was willing to accept the principle of the rights for ethnic minorities, and the leaders of ethnic minorities were willing to engage in cooperative efforts to control ethnic competition. The study stresses the indispensability of institutional rules and arrangements that facilitated such cooperation. It notes that a democratic mechanism was used effectively as a means to deal with ethnic cleavages in Thailand. Thus, as Thailand's democratization progressed, its political integration also advanced.