The Muslims of Thailand

Michel Gilquin (translated by Michael Smithies)
Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai
2005, 164 p.
ISBN : 974-9575-85-7
English text

Thailand is usually closely associated with Buddhism, but since 1998 the country has been one of the observer members of the Islamic Conference Organization, and senior figures in the present and previous governments have been Muslim. Some 8 percent of the population is Muslim, and in the three southernmost provinces of the country they constitute a majority. Islam is ever more visible in Bangkok, where the demographic increase of Muslims is marked.

Michel Gilquin, a sociologist specializing in the study of Muslim societies and a resident of Morocco, examines the origins of Islam in the kingdom of Siam, Muslim integration into the Thai nation, and the effects of globalization and modemity on a mostly traditional and rural community. In particular he considers the weight of history of the old sultanate of Patani on the present-day Yawi-speaking majority in Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani, and the circumstances leading to “the troubles” which erupted in 2004 and which, alas, continue.

Without proposing any solutions, the book explains the background to the present impasse, and considers how far intégration of the minority has been, and can be, successful.

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CONTENTS

Publisher’s note
Thailand facts and figures
Timeline of the Thai State and Thai Islam : 1253-2001
Préfacé : Islam and Muslim “minorities” in East Asia

PART I. DIVERSE FORMS OF ISLAM

Impressions

Chapter 1. The origins of Islam in Thailand
Chapter 2. Being Muslim in Thailand
Chapter 3. Thai Muslim structures and démographie importance

PART II. THE MUSLIMS OF THE DEEP SOUTH

Chapter 4. On the Thai-Malaysian border
Chapter 5. The weight ofhistory
Chapter 6. The intégration of the Southern provinces

PART III. ISLAM AND THE THAÏ NATION

Chapter 7. The renewal of Thai Islam
Chapter 8. Muslims and Thai democratization

Epilogue : Being a minority

Glossary of Arabie and Malay Terms
Bibliography
Index

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THE AUTHOR

MICHEL GILQUIN specializes in the study of Islamic societies and is a re- searcher at the Center for Social Science and Humanities in Rabat, Morocco. In addition to his book on Thai Muslims (2002), he has also published two books on Malaysia, and regularly visits Thailand. MICHAEL SMITHIES, résident in Thailand, has translated and edited many volumes from French for Oxford University Press and other publishers. He is also an author in his own right, specializing in late seventeenth-century Siamese history.