The recent attacks in the deep South this month and the Mother's Day bombings last month in the upper South and Prachuap Khiri Khan signify the need for new multi-cultural, multi-lingual approaches to end the southern insurgency. It is time for Thai authorities to look beyond militarisation to mitigate violence by embracing peace-building and respect for the distinct socio-cultural identity of Thai-Malay Muslims. The adoption of a bilingual programme in schools, again, is critical for peace building.
The August attacks on areas outside customary conflict zones raise a new question: How is it that insurgents in the deep South are able to roam at will and strike indiscriminately? Why is it that some 180 teachers have been killed and schools repeatedly targeted?
It is because the insurgents have enough support within the wider community. Reducing this support has now become a military imperative -- yet the response should have included respect for a distinct socio-cultural identity.
The inability of the military to bring these radical elements, said to have approximately 10,000 supporters, into the peace process means there exists the possibility of the insurgency fomenting a rebellion, with the added complication of exploitation by external jihadist ideology. Political stabilisation in the deep South will involve military and political action. But in the battle for the hearts, minds and will of Thailand's minority populations, the state must lend its full support for a policy of socio-cultural reconciliation.
Nine years ago, Mahidol University and Unicef started a pilot bilingual programme in a small number of schools. The project uses two languages, Patani Malay and Thai, to build educational success for Malay-speaking children in the deep South. It has brought about positive impacts on relations as bilingual literacy has empowered students.
The programme was extended to a further 15 schools, yet it remains a small effort. The foundations of the programme, however, are soundly based on internationally proven methods of multi-language instruction, accompanied by bi-cultural support for learners. Thailand should apply this approach more widely in the region.
Linguist Suwilai Premsrirat of Mahidol University, who was recently awarded the Unesco King Sejong Literacy Prize for her work on the programme, said this is a Muslim community in a mainly Buddhist country and they speak their own Malay dialect. The fact that most don't speak Thai means they have done poorly in the Thai monolingual school system and have not always gone on to higher education. As a result, she said they face problems finding work, which makes it easier for youth to be drawn into conflict.
Conflict researchers worldwide agree that general community violence can turn even children into terrorist combatants, and that inter-generational academic failure can make marginalised young people prone to recruitment by radicals.
Patani Malay is the main language of a community of some 1.5 million people, 85% of the population of the three southernmost provinces, as well as four Malay-speaking districts in Songkhla, who self-identify as Malay. This is a nested "majority-minority", a large majority in the provinces, but a minority within the wider Thai geo-political setting.
Several studies indicate that early schooling should build on children's knowledge of their mother tongue. It is the most effective way to stage a transition to learning the official national curriculum in Thai. As the Mahidol/Unicef programme has shown, this bilingual approach allows them to succeed in school. As a result, it supports school retention rates and helps build a sense of belonging. Moreover, it will help them participate in higher education and become more deeply integrated into Thai society.
Overcoming the chronic educational underachievement of the Patani Malay community should be a shared aim of educators, policy makers and interested citizens across Thailand.
Joseph Lo Bianco is professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Melbourne, consultant to UN agencies on multilingual education. Peerasit Kamnuansilpa is founder and former dean of the College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University.