Ethno-religious Identities and the Unrest in the Southern Border Provinces

Abstract

This article aims to study identities of those involved in the unrest in southern Thailand circulated in media and cultural media, local residents’ responses to such identities and contributing factors to the responses, and ethno-religious identities local residents created for each other. Research site is a village in a southern border province whose residents are Malay Muslims and Thai Buddhists. Research methods are fieldwork implemented by media and cultural media research and document research. The research finds that identities of those involved in the unrest in media and cultural media are imbued with fury and hatred which gained momentum in social media. But residents in the research site deemed these identities a market strategy lacking accurate knowledge and understanding, and most of them have never seen, listened to, or read related cultural media. They were not moved by such identities because their history, kinship, friends, religions, rituals and beliefs, and economic relations contribute to co-existence. They also created identities of each other on kinship terminologies, social relations, and religious statuses, which imply intimacy and respect. This enabled them to sustain relationship between each other and peace in the locality and not to be directed by ethno-religious identities in media and cultural media which are imbued with fury and hatred and partly nourish the unrest in the southern border provinces.