Can the Malay Muslims be Thai enough in Thailand’s far South?

Abstract

This essay examines the construction of minorities in Thailand, questioning its naturalness, both theoretically and practically. Investigating the plight of Malay Muslim minorities in Thailand’s far south can show how minorities are central to the construction of state power in Thailand. This article argues that Siam’s annexation of the Sultanate of Patani requires a revision that brings its Malay Muslim subjects centrally and integrally into the history of modern Thailand. Indeed, given the Kingdom’s propensity to use the trope of fragility to manufacture unity and patriotism, the Malay Muslims are in fact not at the margins but one of the key problematics for Thai nationalism, one that provides a pretext for the continuing exercise of state power and violence in Thailand’s far south. The Malay Muslims in Thailand’s far south are led to ask themselves whether they can be Thai enough.