Background and Rationale

Following the renewed outbreak of violence in the border provinces of southern Thailand since 2004 the attention of academics, media, and indeed governments (including that of Thailand, Malaysia, and other governments in the region and beyond) has focused on the role that Islam - or more precisely, a political ideology based on Islam – has played in the conflict. Seminars, research projects, training programs have all sought to promote a better understanding of Islam. Measures proposed to end the violence have consequently been based on the assumption that issues relating to Islam must be addressed, especially that the Thai state (in a Buddhist-majority country) needs to be more sensitive to religious differences in the predominantly Muslim region, and that radical Islamic ideology needs to be tackled.

While it is true that there has been a lack of understanding of Islam on the part of Thai officials in the region and the Thai public more generally, such an emphasis on religion risks neglecting other more salient factors that have played a role in the conflict.

What is lacking in the contemporary debate about the violence in southern Thailand is the role that historical consciousness plays in the minds of the militants and the people in the region - in particular the influence that nationalist historiography about the former Malay sultanate of Patani has played in forming this historical consciousness.

Expressed in its classic form in Ibrahim Syukri’s Sejarah Kerajaan Melayu Patani (History of the Malay Kingdom of Patani), Patani Malay nationalist historiography views Patani’s history as an ongoing struggle for independence from the Siamese state. It portrays Patani as a once powerful, prosperous and independent trading state and a prominent centre of Islamic scholarship inSoutheast Asia, until it came under the Siamese yoke in the late eighteenth - early nineteenth century. Patani has been struggling to break free from Siamese control and injustice ever since. The historiography of Patani thus reflects the nationalist historiographies of other formerly colonized Southeast Asian states, except that the struggle is not against a Western colonial power, but the Siamese state. The story is one of bitterness and nostalgia for a glorious, independent past. Needless to say, this narrative of Patani’s history is in stark contrast to official Thai accounts which view Patani as a vassal state of Siam since the Sukhothai era.

With the renewal of violence since 2004 there has been a rebirth of interest in Patani’s history among Thai scholars, students and the general public. More and more Thais are learning about and consuming the nationalist version of Patani’s history (which was formerly banned) through seminars, articles, and books by popular publishers such as Sinlapawathanatham, which have been taking advantage of the huge public interest in the violence in the south. A version of this historiography even appeared in the well-publicized report issued by the National Reconciliation Council in 2006 into the conflict in the south. Nationalist versions of Patani’s history now reach a new generation of southern Thai Malay Muslims by means of the Internet.

For almost two decades now official versions of Thai nationalist history have been the subject of intense criticism in academic circles. However in the case of Patani nationalist historiography the key elements in the nationalist narrative – Patani’s “independence” in the past, its former greatness as a trading state and centre of Islamic scholarship in Southeast Asia, and its decline at the hands of the Thai state – today go largely unquestioned.

The aim of this conference is, therefore, to critically evaluate historical writing about the Patani Malays and to assess the extent of its influence in southern Thailand.Issues to be addressed

When did Patani nationalist historiography emerge and what are the main historical sources on which it is based?

What is the content and spirit of this historiography?

How does this historiography depict the historical relationship between Patani and the Thai state (Ayutthaya and Bangkok)?

How does this historiography represent Malay ethnic identity?

How does this historiography represent the role of Islam?

How is this historiography disseminated today? What are the roles of pondoks, religious leaders, and families, in teaching this history?

What are the roles of the Patani Malay dialect and Yawi script, standard Malay, Thai and even English in disseminating this history?

What are the current influences on Patani nationalist historiography? (eg. Malaysian nationalist historiography? Middle Eastern historiography? Western nationalist discourse?)

What role does this historiography play in the training of militants?

What role does the Internet play in disseminating Patani historiography today?

What are the dominant views of Patani’s history on the part of Thai historians, Patani-Malay historians, Malaysian historians, and Western historians?

"For those members of the public interested in attending the conference please note that there is no pre-registration and no registration fee. "

Venue: Mahachulalongkorn Building, Chulalongkorn University

See Map; http://www.patani-conference.net/index.php?option=com_gmapspro&task=viewMap&Itemid=3&mapId=1

See Pragramme; http://www.patani-conference.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=artic...