Peace in Patani: A Minority Rights Approach to Reconciliation in South Thailand

Since 2004, a violent insurgency has been taking place in Thailand's Southern provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, and Yala. This thesis is a qualitative literature-based study, comparing varying interpretations of the conflict and efforts at ending the violence. Official Thai explanations tend to downplay the role of the local population; authorities are reluctant to acknowledge that the people of the region are dissatisfied with the state. Meanwhile, international observers typically characterise the conflict as Islamic terrorism. Yet neither of these interpretations is sufficient. Ultimately, the conflict is being driven by the grievances of a minority group, the Malay-Muslim people of the region. Therefore peace depends on respecting the minority rights of the Malay-Muslims. Unfortunately relatively little attention has been paid to minority rights in existing literature on this conflict.;In theory, Thailand has responsibilities to its minorities under national and international law. In practice, Thailand does not do enough to defend minority interests. State schools in the Southern provinces have been attacked by insurgents who view state education as a threat to their way of life. Thus there needs to be significant educational reform in the region, giving more support for the local culture and language. One possible way forward is to involve Malaysia, using a European kin-state model of bilateral cooperation for minority protection. As kin-state to the Malay-Muslim community, Malaysia could assist in creating new curricula in Thailand or extend some cross-bonier education privileges such as scholarships. This could build peace without threatening Thai sovereignty. To my knowledge, the European kin-state model has not been applied to this conflict before.