Minorities in Thailand: some observations or ethnic relations and integration from a Thai Buddhist perspective

Abstract

The majority of the people in Thailand are Buddhists. And the minorities are Muslims, Chinese, Hill tribes etc. But the majority of the people in the Southern border provinces of Thailand namely: Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Satun are Muslims whose Islamic cultures are clearly different from those of the Thai in general. Hinduism and Buddhism have been predominant religions in this region from the ancient time thus have affected the existing cultures. Nevertheless, the traditions, which are strongly incompartible with Islamic faith, have been clearly declined, whereas some are still in practice.