Cultural Factors Affecting the Rural Development Interface of Thai Bureaucrats and Thai Muslim Villagers

Abstract

There is a growing body of both scholarly and applied literature which focuses on the interface of government bureaucrats and villagers as regards rural development in Thailand.1 However, this literature almost exclusively deals with the interaction between Thai Buddhist bureaucrats and Thai Buddhist villagers. Thus, it tends to ignore the extent to which cultural factors affect the efforts of Thai officials, most of whom are Buddhists, to undertake rural development activities in areas where the population overwhelmingly belongs to a different ethnic group. Such is the case in four provinces which are on, or near, the Thailand-Malaysia border. Nearly one million Thai Muslims live in this subregion, accounting for almost two-thirds of the population in Yala province and more than three-fourths in each of the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Satun. Like their cousins across the border, they are ethnic Malays who follow Malay customs and mostly (except for those living in Satun) speak a local dialect of Malay as their first or only language. The vast majority live in rural villages and engage in agriculture or fishing.2 There is very little social intercourse between Thai Muslims and the rela tively few Thai Buddhists living in these provinces. In part, this is due to the different languages used by the two communities. A second reason lies in some of the religious beliefs and practices of the Thai Muslims. For instance, it is con sidered improper for Thai Muslims to attend social functions having any kind of non-Muslim religious overtones or to marry those of another religious persuasion. Another example is that they refuse to eat food prepared by non-Muslims unless they are certain that it contains no pork, that other meats have been slaughtered in the approved Islamic manner, that pork grease is not used in cooking the food, and that utensils used for preparing food have never been exposed to pork grease ? considerations which tend to prevent Thai Muslims from entering the homes or attending social functions of Thai Buddhists since it is the custom of rural folk in Thailand to offer and accept food as an integral part of playing the roles of host and guest. A third reason is the fear of Thai Muslims that social interaction with Thai Buddhists would have the effect of encouraging their children to accept features of the Thai culture, thereby facilitating assimilation and the destruction of their Malay heritage. And a fourth reason is that some Thai Buddhists are prone to view the Thai Muslims as being culturally and socially inferior, speak of (as well as to) them in a condescending manner, and avoid contact with them whenever possible.3 1