Informal citizens: graduated citizenship in Southern Thailand

Abstract

Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted in the Southern border region of Thailand, this article explores ways in which Malay Muslims understand their place in Thai society. It argues that a new conception of ‘informal citizenship’ is needed in order to characterize such relationships between ethnic minorities and the state. The informal Thai citizenship neither sought by, nor granted to, Malay Muslims has parallels with earlier forms of ‘graduated citizenship’ that applied to the Sino-Thai community for much of the twentieth century. Citizenship is not an either/or, but a matter of degree.