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Published on March 21, 2008

To illustrate their kindness, Thai newsmen say "Phi, nong Thai-Muslims" (Thai Muslim brothers and sisters). Incidentally, the Malay Muslims do not call themselves that. They say "Malayu" or "Nayu" for short.

While most Muslims in the three provinces have learned to live with the terminology, it continues to rub many the wrong way. This state-generated identity we called "Thai", apparently has not been fully embraced by all Malays in the deep South.

It has been over 100 years since this region came under the direct rule of the Thai state. And yet, sadly, our news people, not to mention Thais generally, have yet to agree as to what these citizens should be called.

The rejection of the Thai state is apparent at various levels - in conversations among Malays in teashops to leaflets passed out by the militants behind the spate of attacks against Thai security forces. The fact is that the Malay southerner is of a different ethnicity, and the Thai state is going to have to learn to live with it.

Sadly, the situation has turned violent, with armed clashes between a new generation of militants and the Thai security forces. Collateral damage has been done to civilians and religious shrines, thus shattering the fabric of a society that once held all the ethnic groups together.

The advent of the Thai nation-state has created a national identity that includes the Chinese in Bangkok, the Lao in Isaan and the Khmers in Buri Ram and Surin. The only people who missed the boat were the Malays in the deep South. It's not so much that they missed the boat; they just didn't want to get on.

Last high-school year, students from various schools in the Malay-speaking region gathered at Prince of Songkhla University in Pattani to take part in traditional Malay dances. The banner on the stage said this was a "southern Thai" cultural performance. But there was nothing "Thai" about it. It was all Malay.

It is not clear why or how the state notion of national identity has become so sacred to the point that it distorts the very things in front of our own eyes. When it comes to the Malay race and ethnicity, we can't call a spade a spade. Perhaps it is not so much the refusal to adopt the Thai national identity. After all, not all the Khmers or Lao in Isaan can speak fluent Thai, or "official Thai", the required spoken language for all official agencies.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the Malays have been very disagreeable to the wishes of the Thai state. 

In late 2001, gunmen were firing with AK-47s, killing a police officer at a remote outpost. Two years later, it was roadside bombs and ambushes. Just last week, the region experienced its first car bomb. Militants and separatists are not just telling the Malays that a foreign force is occupying their land; they are telling the Malay Muslims that they have a moral obligation to resist the illegitimate forces we call Thai.

For the past 100 years the Thai state has not succeeded in bringing in the Malays under the banner of "Thai nationalism". Today the Malays are not just resisting the Thai authorities but are equating their separatist determination with a moral obligation.

If history is any indication, it's pretty clear how things will turn out. Who will be the first to give in is anybody's guess.

The Nation