The Thai Muslims and Participation in the Democratic Process: The Case of 2007 Elections

Abstract

Thailand is a country where Buddhist political culture forms and shapes all activities in the country. This is reflected in the functioning of the Thai polity where the administrative structure functions in a secular pattern while the ideological dimension of the state is rooted in a religious/Buddhist political culture. Non-Buddhist minorities in Thailand such as Muslims and others are allowed free space to practice, express and make religious demands in the political arena of the country. The semi-secular and semi-democratic model of Thai political system has allowed the Thai Muslim minority to define, shape and build their own communal development within Thai polity. Hence, the social-political relations of mutual religious coexistence between the Thai Muslims and Thai Buddhists. The Thai Muslim community is a varied one. Broadly, there are two types of Muslims in Thailand: the Thai-speaking integrated Muslims found in the upper South, Central, North and northeastern parts of Thailand and the unintegrated Malay-speaking Muslims of the deep southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Yet they all have engaged in the democratization process of Thailand since it is becoming a constitutional monarchy in 1932. This paper looks into how the Thai Muslim minority had engaged in Thai democracy from the point of view of their religious identity in a Buddhist majority country.