by JASON JOHNSON
PATTANI – In Thailand’s insurgency-hit three southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, the state’s marginalization of the Malay language has been a core grievance among Malay Muslim nationalists aiming for either independence or substantial autonomy from the predominantly Buddhist nation.
For nearly a century, the state’s effort to promote central Thai as the sole legitimate language has engendered animosity and even violent resistance in the historically Malay-speaking region. If relative peace is ever to be restored, the issue of language use will need to be addressed.
After the 1921 Compulsory Primary Education Act, which required all children in Thailand to attend state primary schools where central Thai was the medium of instruction, Tengku Abdul Kadir, a Malay Muslim aristocrat, launched an organized rebellion against the government. Kadir and others considered the reforms an attempt by the government to destroy the identity of Malay Muslims and convert them into Thai-speaking Buddhists.
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