They have left their motherland in Southeast Asia for the holy city of Mecca, in the desert, to seek peace in the name of Islam - without any intention of bringing violent ideas home with them after graduating.

But Thai Muslim students in Saudi Arabia claim they have never been trusted by people back home - notably by state officials. Having spent a long time studying in the Middle East, many feel they are stereotyped as having been trained to be militants.

"Every time I land at Bangkok airport, everyone looks at me as if I have done something wrong. It makes me feel very uncomfortable arriving in my own country," said Safee Kara, a Muslim from the deep South who has already spent seven years studying in Saudi Arabia.

"But whenever I land in Kuala Lumpur airport from the Middle East, nobody looks at me suspiciously," he said, adding that many people in Malaysia praised him when they realised he had studied in Saudi Arabia.

Always dressed in Muslim black and sporting a long beard, the soft-spoken Safee feels Thailand is yet to be a place where multiculturalism is respected or accepted.

"I don't know how our country can call itself civilised if we cannot accept that everyone can live together peacefully with different identities," he said.

Safee is doing his master's degree at Al Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, on Dawah missionary work, after he gained a bachelor's degree on the same subject in 2000.

He is the leader of the Thai students' association in Saudi Arabia, which was established to help students while studying in that country. "We help each other and our favourite activity is playing football - nothing involved with politics," Safee said.

Nearly 70 Thai students in Saudi Arabia gathered at the Thai Embassy in Riyadh late last month to vent their frustration over the misunderstandings and misconceptions they endure in Thailand. It was the first time they had the chance to talk about their problems with officials.

Suvat Chairapant, the Charge d'Affaires to Saudi Arabia, who initiated the meeting, told the Muslim students that such an attitude might exist only among low-ranking officials who don't know the reality about their lives and education of students in the Islamic and Arabic world.

"Please forgive them for their ignorance. I do believe that the majority of state officials and Thai people understand Muslim students," said Suvat, who is also a Muslim.

Misconceptions towards Muslim students educated in the Middle East might stem from sketchy intelligence that some students have been trained as terrorists and returned to create trouble at home in the deep South.

Former Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura said last year that some Thai students underwent weapons training in the Middle East and North Africa. They were allegedly involved in violence in the South that erupted at the beginning of 2004. More than 1,700 people have been killed in the region since then.

Many students interviewed by The Nation said they knew nothing about terrorist ideology, whether it be extremism or Wahabism, as intelligence officials have claimed.

Study was their priority, they said. And new students must study Arabic for two years and need a score of at least 80 per cent in order to get approval to extend their education for a bachelor degree.

"After two years some students fail the Arabic language exam. They pack their bags and go home," said Hussen Hayeenawae, a third year student at Riyadh's Imam University.

Life is tense there. Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most conservative Islamic state in the region. There is no entertainment in the holy land. Chatting over a meal sipping non-alcohol drinks and sport are the only things Thai students can enjoy.

Students need to attend classes at least four hours per day and also take time out for religious service at mosques.

"Living and studying in Saudi Arabia is not easy. We have no time and energy for weapons training or terror activities," said Ramadhan Hasamoh, a student of Umm Al Qura University in the holy city of Makkah (Mecca).

"On top of that, we are not interested in such activities and don't even know where they are available," said the student, who comes from Pattani.

Ramadhan has been in Saudi Arabia since 2000 and is in his final year of university studying Arabic. Like other Thai students in Saudi Arabia, Ramadhan obtained a scholarship from the university. The campus provides his tuition fee, textbooks and accommodation. He also gets Bt8,400 a month for meals and other expenditures.

Students in the holy land have further duties - helping pilgrims from around the globe who visit the city to perform the Hajj. Around 10,000 Thai pilgrims visit Makkah every year.

For around three weeks between October and November, students in Makkah have to work hard. "Each student has to take care of at least 200 pilgrims, taking them from one place to another place and teaching them how to perform the Hajj," Ramadhan said.

"It is a difficult job and we have to handle a lot of people. It's all voluntary." he said.

If living and studying in Saudi Arabia is not easy then finding a job after graduation is even harder. Many students are willing to return to Thailand although there are few opportunities back home. Some hope to find religious teaching jobs at Islamic schools or universities.

Many well-known Muslim scholars such as Ismail Lutfi Japakiya, the rector from Yala Islamic College, and Isma-ae Alee from Prince of Songkhla University's College of Islamic Studies, graduated from Saudi Arabia

Their knowledge of the Arabic world is useful if Thailand is willing to open up to this part of the world, in terms of trade, tourism and diplomacy. But the opportunities for jobs are limited as the majority of Thais would rather deal with the Western world, rather than with the Islamic and Arab regions.

Ramadhan said he planned to extend his education in a Western country if he can't find a job in Thailand.

"Of course, I'm proud of the chance to study Islam in the holy land of Makkah. It's perfect for a Muslim, but I'm thinking how to survive in the secular world as well," he said.

Nevertheless, Thai students in Saudi Arabia want the younger generation to have more chance to study there, as the number of Thai students with scholarships has declined sharply since 2000.

New admissions to Saudi Arabia dropped from 22 in 2000 to only four this year, according to Safee, leader of the Thai students' association.

The Thai government should negotiate with Riyadh to obtain more quotas for Thai students, he said.

Charge d'Affaires Suvat explained that Saudi Arabia had changed its policy towards scholarships since 9/11 as many countries alleged the scholarships were somehow involved in terrorism.

It remains unclear if Riyadh will review the policy in the near future and Thai students are concerned as Malaysia and Indonesia still have high numbers of students there.

Despite the lack of jobs, any Muslim should be proud to be educated in the holy land, they said.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Riyadh