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The Politics of Buddhist identity in Thailand's deep south: The Demise of civil religion?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2009

Duncan McCargo
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Abstract

This article sets out to criticise arguments by scholars such as Charles Keyes and Donald Swearer, who have framed their readings of Thai Buddhism through a lens of ‘civic’ or ‘civil’ religion. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the southern border provinces, the paper argues that religious tolerance is declining in Thailand, and that anti-Muslim fears and sentiments are widespread among Buddhists. Some southern Buddhists are now arming themselves, and are creating militia groups in the face of growing communal violence. In the rest of Thailand, hostility towards Muslims, coupled with growing Buddhist chauvinism, is being fuelled by developments in the south.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 11 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore 2009

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References

1 Thalaengkan khanasong jangwat Pattani ruang khwam mai sangop nai 3 jangwat chaidaen phak tai, karani Wat Phromprasit, Tambon Bannok, Amphoe Panare, Jangwat Pattani [Declaration of the sangha council of Pattani province on the subject of the unrest in the three southern border provinces, case of Wat Phromprasit, Tambon Ban Nok, Panare district, Pattani province] (2 page faxed document), 20 Oct. 2005, point 18.

2 Leaders of the movement to make Buddhism a national religion (whom I interviewed at their protest site opposite the National Assembly in Bangkok on 17 May 2007) were a disparate group pursuing their campaign based on a range of political and religious motives.

3 For background information on and analysis of the southern Thai conflict in English, see primarily the five reports published by the International Crisis Group since 2005, at www.crisisgroup.org (last accessed on 5 Sept. 2008) — as well as Rethinking Thailand's southern violence, ed. Duncan McCargo (Singapore: NUS Press, 2007, a revised version of the Mar. 2006 special issue of Critical Asian Studies, 38, 1), and McCargo, Duncan, Tearing apart the land: Islam and legitimacy in southern Thailand (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008)Google Scholar. Two invaluable studies in Thai are Supalak Ganjanakhundee and Pathan, Don, Santhiphap nai plaew phleung [Peace in flames] (Bangkok: Nation Books, 2004)Google Scholar and ed. Satha-Anand, Chaiwat, Paendin jintonakan: rat lae kankhaekhai panha khwamrunraeng nai phak tai [Imagined land: The State and solutions for the southern violence] (Bangkok: Matichon 2008)Google Scholar.

4 Core fieldwork was conducted from Sept. 2005 to Sept. 2006. Thanks are due to the Faculty of Political Science, PSU, for hosting my stay, and especially to my dedicated and endlessly supportive Pattani colleagues Srisompob Jitpiromsri and Wattana Sugunnasil.

5 Keyes, Charles F., ‘Buddhist politics and their revolutionary origins in Thailand’, International Political Science Review, 10, 2 (1999): 121–42CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 Charles F. Keyes, ‘Buddhism fragmented: Thai Buddhism and political order since the 1970s’, Keynote address, Seventh International Conference on Thai Studies, Amsterdam, 4–8 July 1999, see especially pp. 24–5.

7 Muller, Jerry Z., ‘The Enduring power of ethnic nationalism’, Foreign Affairs, Mar./Apr. 2008Google Scholar.

8 Swearer, Donald K., ‘Centre and periphery: Buddhism and politics in modern Thailand’, in ed. Harris, Ian, Buddhism and politics in twentieth century Asia (London: Continuum, 1999), p. 225Google Scholar. See also, Swearer, Donald, The Buddhist world of Southeast Asia (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1995), pp. 63–105Google Scholar; despite devoting a whole chapter to Buddhism as ‘civil religion’, he fails to clarify what he really means by the term.

9 For an outline critique, refer to McCargo, Duncan, ‘Buddhism, democracy and identity in Thailand’, Democratization, 11, 4 (2004): 155–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Robb Stewart, ‘Defending the faith(s): Buddhism and religious freedom in Thailand’, paper presented at the Seventh International Conference on Thai Studies, Amsterdam, 4–8 July 1999, p. 1.

11 Satha-Anand, Suwanna, ‘Buddhist pluralism and religious tolerance in democratizing Thailand’, in Philosophy, democracy and education, ed. Cam, Philip (Seoul: The Korean National Commission for UNESCO, 2003), pp. 193–213Google Scholar.

12 See, for example, discussions in Thanyaporn Kunakornpaiboonsiri, 2004. ‘Web forums host hot debate on the south’, The Nation, 2 May 2004, and Jory, Patrick, ‘From “Pattani Melayu” to “Thai Muslim” ’, ISIM Review, 18 (Autumn 2006): 43Google Scholar.

13 See International Crisis Group, Southern Thailand: The Problem with paramilitaries, Asia Report no. 140, 23 Oct. 2007, at www.crisisgroup.org (last accessed on 5 Sept. 2008), pp. 16–21.

14 See International Crisis Group, Southern Thailand: The Problem with paramilitaries, Asia Report no. 140, 23 Oct. 2007, at www.crisisgroup.org (last accessed on 5 Sept. 2008), p. 20 and footnote 168, quoting statistics compiled by Srisompob Jitpiromsri. He estimates that 1,101 Buddhists and 1,281 Muslims were killed during the period in question.

15 It should be noted that at the time of writing, only four monks had been killed in the southern Thai conflict, three in 2004 and one in 2005, though there had been several other attacks on monks and temples.

16 Exactly why the two teachers were taken hostage, and why one was fatally injured yet the other emerged relatively unscathed, remains unclear and contested. Some have speculated that Juling was viewed as an informer for the security services, though such claims have never been substantiated and may be entirely unfounded.

17 The Khru Juling case is the focus of Citizen Juling, a compelling documentary film by Ing K, Manit Sriwanichpoom, and Kraisak Choonhavan; for a review, refer to Rithdee, Kong, ‘The Human face of tragedy’, Bangkok Post, 27 June 2008Google Scholar.

18 Provinces where protests were staged included Buriram, Phuket, Chumphon, Satun, Nakhon Phanom, Uttaradit, Phayao, Si Sa Ket, Roi Et and Rayong.

19 Rungrawee C. Pinyorat, ‘Distrust, brutality and glut of guns puts Thai south at risk of communal combat’, Associated Press, 27 Apr. 2007.

20 Muslim kluen phut [Muslims swallow Buddhists], undated DVD of Buddhist sermon, apparently produced in late Oct. or Nov. 2005. No details concerning the identity of the monk or his temple were included.

21 The speaker was apparently referring to the attack on Wat Phromprasit on 16 Oct. 2005, in which a monk and two temple boys were killed.

22 In 2007, the Internal Security Operations Command announced a programme to provide southern Buddhists with special protective Jatukham rammathep amulets. ‘Amulets to help “protect Buddhists” in the south’, The Nation, 14 Mar. 2007. These amulets first appeared in 1987, and were supported by well-known police officer and occultist Khun Phantharak Rajjadej, who died in July 2006, aged 108. They commemorate two mythological princes of the Krung Srivijaya kingdom in southern Thailand. For details, refer to Panupong, Ekarong, Yonroi damnan Jatukham Rammathep (Bangkok: Siam Inter Multimedia, 2007)Google Scholar.

23 The speaker was clearly referring to the 1997 Islamic Organizations Act, although he made no direct mention of Islam.

24 The NRC was an independent commission created by the Thaksin government in Mar. 2005. Chaired by former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, the 50-member body was tasked with proposing policy solutions to address the southern violence.

25 The Office of National Buddhism puts the number of abandoned temples at 6,040; see statistics as of 31 Dec. 2007, at http://www.onab.go.th/data/06.pdf. Thanks to my colleague Martin Seeger for locating this information.

26 There seems little evidence that the OIC played much of a role in the independence of East Timor (Timor Leste), a country with a Catholic majority population.

27 In fact, Buddhism was not officially Thailand's national religion under the 1997 or previous constitutions, a source of resentment among conservative Buddhists.

28 General Naphol Boontap, deputy aide-de-camp to the Queen, performed important roles in many such activities in the south. For example, he arranged for 30 senior monks from other parts of Thailand to spend the rainy season in the southern border provinces in 2004, and presided at kathin ceremonies at 38 temples in the region in Oct. 2006. These programmes were explicitly aimed to boost the morale of local Buddhists who had been faced with militant violence. Previously known as Rawat Boontap (Class 13), the general was a close friend of Surayudh Chulanont, and formerly commander of the second army region, and assistant army commander. He retired from active military service in 2001 before becoming a royal aide-de-camp.

29 Leaflet found in Kha Pho, Pattani, 29 Oct. 2004.

30 Typed letter addressed to a school principal in Panare, Pattani. Fax sheet dated 13 June 2005.

31 Dated 14 Oct. 2005. The word ‘I’ is written in green, and ‘killed’ is written in red. The Tanyonglimor incident of 20–21 Sept. 2005 began with the shooting dead of two Muslim men at a teashop, after which two marines were taken hostage by villagers and later beaten to death.

32 Leaflet distributed in Yala, Dec. 2004.

33 Bandits who killed 500 people, jon ha loi; jon nung pan, bandits who killed 1000 people.

34 The leaflet goes on to list local politicians Den Tohmeena, Areepen Uttarasint, Najmuddin Ummar, Kamnan Tohdeng, as well as religious teachers, Somchai Neelapaichit and Chavalit Yongchaiyudh as prime movers behind the violence.

35 The Thai term for ‘they’ here is ‘phuak man’, a very insulting term.

36 Refer to http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Regions/Asia-Pacific/Thailand (last accessed on 3 July 2008).

37 Ironically, the CD-Rom I received containing a PowerPoint presentation apparently from this same press conference also included numerous horrific images of beheading victims; such images could be of use to both sides in the conflict.

38 ‘Thai official says Queen's projects not aimed at dividing Buddhists, Muslims’, translated from Daily News, 8 July 2005, BBC Monitoring International Reports, 8 July 2005.

39 Fieldnotes, temple visit and abbot interview, 12 Jan. 2006.

40 Temple names in this section are pseudonyms.

41 A central Thai province well known for its high concentration of military bases and main home to the Army's Special Forces.

42 He stated that the soldiers were like their brothers (phi nong), and looked familiar (khunkuey) although they never talked to them. Fieldnotes, Tak Bai district, 5 Oct. 2005.

43 Abbot interview, 11 Aug. 2006.

44 Interview, 19 Feb. 2006.

45 Abbot interview, 2006.

46 Abbot interview, 11 Aug. 2006.

47 Ibid.

48 Interview with an Or Ror Bor supervisor, Pattani, 23 Apr. 2006. Or Ror Bor stands for asasamak ratsadorn raksa muban, or civil volunteers for village protection.

49 International Crisis Group, The Problem with paramilitaries, p. 19.

50 Details of the speech were given in Bangkok Post and The Nation, 17 Nov. 2004. The full Thai text may be found at http://www.manager.co.th/Home/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9470000083177 (last accessed on 31 July 2008).

51 Chor Ror Bor, a programme of rotating teams of nightwatchmen in all villages across the southern border provinces, was administered by village headmen and supported by the Interior Ministry.

52 ‘Thai official says Queen's projects not aimed at dividing Buddhists, Muslims’, translated from Daily News, 8 July 2005, BBC Monitoring International Reports, 8 July 2005.

53 For details of some of these schemes, refer to Sarupsarasamkhan phaen pattanakansethakit lae sangkhom haeng chat chabab thi song (1967–71), samnakngan saphapattanasthakit haeng chat karakadkhom 1968 [Summary of the Second National Economic and Social Development Plan (1967–71)] (National Economic and Social Development Bureau, Bangkok: July 1968), pp. 32, 63–7.

54 Conversations with Buddhist villagers in Bannang Sata, Yala, July 2007.

55 Interview, 13 Apr. 2006.

56 Ibid.

57 Interview with Police Colonel Phitak Iadkaew, 23 July 2007.

58 International Crisis Group, The Problem with paramilitaries, pp. 20–1.

59 Interview, 24 Aug. 2006.

60 The two villages concerned are in different districts, but closely abut one another.

61 Interview with villagers, Than To, 20 Jan. 2007.

62 Interview with villagers, July 2007.

63 International Crisis Group, The Problem with paramilitaries, pp. 17–18. Interview with local Border Patrol Police commander, July 2007.

64 For a discussion, see ‘Thailand: Government backed militias enflame violence’, Human Rights Watch, 18 Apr. 2007, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/18/thaila15729.htm (last accessed on 14 May 2008).

65 Fieldnotes, 24 Aug. 2006.

66 Fieldnotes, 6 June 2006.

67 Interview, 25 Aug. 2006.

68 Thalaengkan, point 3.

69 Thalaengkan, point 20.

70 Thalaengkan, point 12, elaborated in Peutjai ‘jaokhana jangwat pattani’, kor or sor aojai faitrongkham [The Head of Pattani monks speaks out: The NRC is pleasing the aggressors in the south], Sun Khao Isara, 23 Oct. 2005.

71 See also, Thalaengkan point 5. In the declaration, Panlop, Kitti and former fourth army commander Phisan Wattananongkiri are described as really understanding the problems of the area [khao jai panha nai phunthi yang thae ching] and sufficiently decisive [khla thatsinjai]. Of course, Panlop was known primarily for his decisiveness in ordering the fatal storming of the historic Kru-Ze mosque on 28 Apr. 2004, while Phisan was forced out of his post after the deaths of 78 unarmed Tak Bai protestors in military custody on 25 Oct. 2004.

72 Phramahanikai yon kor or sor rathaban peut wethi rapfang khwamhen khanasong [Mahanikai monks ask National Reconciliation Commission and the government to listen to the views of the sangha], Sun Khao Isara, 26 Oct. 2005.

73 Mua phra thong phut, siangsathon jak chaidaentai [When monks have to speak! Reflections from the southern border], Sun Khao Isara, 27 Oct. 2005.

74 Fieldnotes, 11–12 Nov. 2005. Anand suspected that monks were somewhat suspicious of him because he had never been ordained himself, on account of his bad back. But a close reading of the 20 Oct. declaration shows that the NRC – which is mentioned only in the twelfth of 20 points – was not the monks' main target; the call for its abolition seems to have been a strategy to grab media attention.

75 Abbot interview, 11 Aug. 2006.

76 Anusart interview, 28 Aug. 2006. Because of the 19 Sept. 2006 military coup, Anusart was not able to take up his Senate seat. However, in early 2008 he was made an appointed Senator under the terms of the 2007 constitution, which had transformed the Senate from an all-elected body to a part-elected, part-appointed one.

77 Interview, 19 Feb. 2006.

78 Interview, 11 June 2006.

79 Phra Maha Charat's handwritten name and mobile phone number have been added to my faxed copy of the declaration, which bears no signatures at all.