In a recent episode of a television show he's hosting, Mohammad Shareef takes his viewers on a tour of Bangkok's Chinatown. After walking around and showing us the area's attractions _ in a similar format to most variety programmes on Thai TV _ Mohammad proceeds to the show's next highlight: an ancient mosque in the middle of the capital's Chinese neighbourhood, where the host joins the congregation in an afternoon prayer. The muezzin's call, the Koran recital and the solemn rite in the mosque are all parts of the programme.
Mohammad - his Thai name is Krisada Patcharapipat - is not exactly a household name to prime-time viewers. But to those who've been watching Muslim-related programmes and drama series on Thai television in the past decade, his angular, Indian-Indonesian-Thai-looking face, sometimes decked with glasses, sometimes with a goatee, is a familiar recurrence on the screen.
Cornering a subcultural niche, Mohammad is that unusual TV personality whose career is built almost solely on Islamic television shows. The Chinatown tour hosted by Mohammad is part of the Ramadan Night programme, a month-long special broadcast on Channel 9 during the Islamic fasting month.
"My father is half-Indonesian, my mother is half-Indian, but I was born and raised here in Bangkok," says Mohammad, 40. "I went to Assumption College in Bang Rak, and I started acting about 10 years ago.
"I was on Channel 7 soap series for a few years, playing small parts, but because of my looks and because of my connection with producers of Muslim-themed TV shows, I chose to focus on Muslim shows and series. I have to say it suits me better than when they ask me to play, say, a womanising businessman, because that's so far, far from what I am in real life!"
Mohammad is a devout, practising Muslim who grew up in various Muslim communities in Bangkok - though that doesn't mean he's always a cloistered hermit who doesn't know how to enjoy life. In his teens, he recalls, he was an ace BMX rider, an expert skateboarder and even a cool-running ice-skater. He played bass in a neighbourhood band and had his fair share of the spotlight in a number of music contests.
But in his 30s, Mohammad has chosen to pursue a more solemn life prescribed by the Koran. A few years ago, he got married and moved to his wife's home town in Pattani. But the ongoing conflict down there meant life wasn't easy, and for a year he has moved back with his family to Thon Buri.
Ironically, it's the Deep South trouble that has helped carve out his television presence. Realising the need to communicate its goodwill to the people in the region, the government has churned out drama series and TV shows with Islamic and southern themes, and Mohammad's is one of the few faces they always rely on. From a "reconciliation-style" series, which tries to show how people of different faiths and ideologies can co-exist, to Ramadan-specialised programmes, they're broadcast mostly on state-run Channel 11 and are seen not as much by Bangkok audience as the viewers in the South.
"I hope what I do plays a small part in promoting understanding from both parties - I mean the state and the villagers," says Mohammad.
"The problem is complicated since there are too many sides involved. The villagers suffer from both the insurgents and from the military, and I speak from my experience.
"I'm starring in a new drama series called Tam Roy Baan Phra Racha [Following The House Of The King], which is made up of several episodes based on the lives of southern people who benefit from Royal Initiatives. It helps that when we go down to shoot, people in the area know me - they know that I'm married to a local - and that opens a lot of doors and we can earn people's trust.
"If you want to shoot a movie or a show down there and you're only facilitated by state agencies or by the military, sometimes the locals look at you with suspicious eyes. That's how it is. People have lived in fear and uncertainty for such a long time."
During Ramadan, which continues until Aug 9, Mohammad is especially busy. Besides shooting a new series, his regular gig is to host a section of Ramadan Night, on air at 3am on Channel 9 (3am? "Yes, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and we usually get up to eat a pre-dawn meal, zuhor, at the middle of the night, that's why the show is on at that time," says Mohammad).
The host adds that in the past, the Ramadan Night programme had a strong religious content, complete with sermons and Koran recitals. But in the past few years the show has featured more lifestyle scoops and emphasises the possibility of living an Islamic life in a non-Islamic land. Mohammad's section is an urban guide, as each night the host takes us on a tour of a different district in Bangkok and concludes with information about a nearby mosque in the same area where Muslims - supposedly after following the show's advice by taking a tour - can also pop in to pray. In a recent episode, Mohammad takes his viewers to see a painting exhibition at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre in Pathumwan, then visits a prayer room at Siam Paragon.
"The show has to adapt to the lifestyle of the people, but it remains useful to Muslims, both in terms of practicality and spiritual guidance," says Mohammad. "Not many non-Muslims would wake up at 3am to see it, but in case they do, I'm sure they'll get something out of it. At least it says something about cultural diversity, which is what this city - this country - is made of, Ramadan or not."
