Thailand is predominantly Buddhist, but its southernmost provinces are Muslim-dominated. There are about 6 million muslims in Thailand and the majority are concentrated in the provinces of Patani, Yala, Satun and Narathiwat. The others mostly reside in the central-southern provinces and the greater Bangkok area. Pattani province, once a semi-autonomous Malay-speaking sultanate, is the heartland of Muslim South Thailand. The Malays are not recent immigrants. Their descendants settled on this land centuries ago, yet most of them have never willingly assimilated and absorbed into the Thai-Buddhist mainstream.
The Malays in Southern Thailand, nearly all muslims, place a high value on social acceptance within their community. They live in close-knit communities called “kampung”. The original meaning of kampung was countryside or village but it is also often used to indicate the neighborhoods which stretch out in the back of the official roads, and maintain a village-like social structure.
 |
 |
Part of a kampung and a traditional Malay “long-leg” house
In Betong, there are religious schools called “Tadika” in the Malay kampungs. Other than going to the normal Thai school , Malay children also attend Tadika on Saturday and Sunday. In the Tadika, they learn Malay, Jawi, and other Islamic teachings from their religious teachers called ustaz(men) or ustazah(women).
We have learned that a common language is a bonding agent among people of different backgrounds. People sharing the same ethnic background tend to congregate but language often transcends ethnicity. People relate more by common language than by common physical makeup. According to a Malay friend of mine, in the Southern provinces with over 80% muslims, nearly all Malays are conversant in Thai. However, the Thai are rarely conversant in Malay, including those in the local administration.
Among Malays in the kampung, they usually speak their own language, Malay, with a Southern accent. What they speak are usually “bahasa kampung” (kampung language) and though many are conversant in Malay, a lot of them can’t read and write well, of which I am very much better :)!
 |
 |
Two of the Tadikas in Betong
 |
 |
Another Tadika and the beautiful Malay students
