What is it like to be Malaysian in Thailand?
Sanam Ratsadon is a blog with everyday stories of Thai people. Recently an article about life in the southern provinces was published. It is written by Sorayut Aiemueayut (ศรยุทธ เอี่ยมเอื้อยุทธ). Here is a shortened version translated to Dutch.
It's hard being Malaysian
In 2005, I visited Pattani and met for the first time a group of Malay-speaking Muslims. I knew nothing about them except that they called themselves Oré Nayu (ออแฆนายู, oh-khe naa-joe). Yet, at that time, I had no interest in knowing what Nayu or Melayu really meant to them in their thoughts and feelings. All I knew was that I had entered a dangerous place, full of violence.
It would be apt to say that Pattani suffered from a crisis of representation, as no one in the general public, including myself, had the means to truly understand it beyond the way it was portrayed in the media. That is, a barbaric battlefield with daily casualties from attacks and explosions. The term “Three Southern Border Provinces,” which includes Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat (and parts of Songkhla), is routinely referred to as a borderland that is at once alien and dangerous to the state.
While the violence in the “Three Southern Border Provinces” is not denied by anyone inside or outside Thailand, Muslims from the region remain largely stereotyped and misunderstood. Most Thais assume that Muslims are Khaek (แขก) by default, and see them as threatening and treacherous. An old saying goes that if you encounter both at the same time, you should strike the Khaek before the snake.
Sometimes there is the suspicion of links with radical Islamic groups and terror. This suspicion also includes a critical look at clothing, the hijab, the wearing of a beard and certain religious practices (praying five times a day, not eating pork, monotheism). The cultural and religious differences between Muslims in the south – seen as foreign and dangerous – had become a point of contention that challenges the nationalist narrative of cultural homogeneity.
To be honest, I didn’t realize the meaning and significance of being Nayu or Melayu to Malay Muslims until I was sitting with a group of Malay friends in a small teahouse in the middle of a kampong on the coast. They had the courage to ask me about the one thing that had been bothering them for so long. With a dejected look on their faces, they asked, “Are people here Thai or Nayu? Bae*, can you tell the difference between the two?” I was astonished by their questions.
Earlier, a little over two hours ago, I was swimming at a beach in front of the kampong where children normally gather. It was unusually quiet. There was only a fisherman repairing a boat. As I swam further, the wind and waves became stronger and the water became murky. When I looked up at the sky, all I could see was a reddish glow over the almost setting sun. Combined with the howling wind and howling waves, it all became rather grim, so I quickly swam to shore to find two people already waiting for me. One told me, amidst the howling wind, that I had to hurry home because a storm was approaching, and the two then warned other people to hurry back to shore or not to go out on the water with their fishing boats. As I packed up my things on the beach and ran back to my spot through the rain, the storm raged into the bay and swallowed a fishing boat in front of everyone who had come ashore.
Everyone could see how the boat owner and his son tried to swim back against the strong current in the middle of the sea. They called for help from the water police, who had larger boats that could withstand the waves, but their request was evaded and virtually denied. Some fishermen sought help elsewhere, but were also rejected. In the end, they could only watch as the boat owner drowned when he lost his ability to swim, while the son barely reached the shore. When the sea calmed down, the father’s body was found on the beach, covered in mud and strands of seaweed…
“I can’t really answer that, Bae. I don’t really know. What do you think?” I said, throwing the question back, feeling misled by the mood in the teahouse. The smoke of palm leaf tobacco hung heavy over my head.
“A Nayu person has no rights. Especially the poorer Nayu have even less rights. In the past, when a Thai village and a Nayu village caught fire at the same time, they chose to put out the Thai houses first, even though the Malay houses were closer. The same goes for the drowning death today. They could have saved the man. How are his wife and son supposed to live now?” A man answered, his expression hard to describe.
Slowly the teahouse became quiet. The sound of breathing was the only thing that could be heard…
Despite all this, many of their dreams are no different from those of the “Thais” or other people around the world. Many families want their children to have a higher education, to have job security and to avoid the hardships of fishing at sea. Others imagine their children flourishing in the civil service, as teachers, soldiers or police officers. At the same time, they simply want to be “good Muslims.”
There remained only the words of a man whose feelings might represent those of everyone in the teahouse. He said softly to me, “Seriously Bae… It’s not easy being born as a Nayu.”
***
Source: https://sanamratsadon.org/2024/08/31/melayu-as-is-felt/
* Bae (แบ, beh) is the Thai equivalent of Phîe (พี่): a salutation for an older brother, sister or friend.
NB: Sanam Ratsadon (สนามราษฎร, sà-nǎam râat-sà-don), literally: field/garden/park of the people. A place for the people to come together.
About this blogger
-
Regular visitor to Thailand since 2008. Works in the accounting department of a Dutch wholesaler.
In his spare time he likes to go cycling, walking or reading a book. Mainly non-fiction, especially the history, politics, economy and society of the Netherlands, Thailand and countries in the region. Likes to listen to heavy metal and other noise
Read the latest articles here
BackgroundOctober 9, 2024The scars of captivity
Culture28 September 2024Khun Chang Khun Phaen, Thailand's most famous legend – part 5 (final)
Culture25 September 2024Khun Chang Khun Phaen, Thailand's most famous legend – part 4
Culture23 September 2024Khun Chang Khun Phaen, Thailand's most famous legend – part 3
Dear Rob,
This is yet another example of a Dutch person criticizing domestic affairs
from a foreign government. The Dutch like to profit from everything, but we have
and criticize everyone. Have you forgotten that we ourselves have a colonial past? If we continue to criticize everything and everyone who is not Dutch, we will soon no longer be welcome anywhere in the world. If you do not like it here, you should just go back to the Netherlands. And if you are so charmed by the Islamic culture, you should go live in an Arab country. Thailand is a beautiful country with a beautiful culture and lovely, beautiful people who also work very hard. You can thank God on your bare knees that you are allowed to come here.
Dear Walther,
In my opinion, Rob's piece is descriptive in nature and, granted that his piece is also 'colored' to a certain extent, he is free to be critical, whatever you think of it. In any case, with your instructions you are significantly restricting his freedom by lecturing him that he should just leave the country. Who are you to say that? In my opinion, you are the Dutchman who decides that Rob would then no longer be welcome in Thailand, which is precisely what you want to prevent in general. A bit contradictory, therefore.
Walther, if you open the link to the source of this article you will read:
Melayu as is felt
Written by ratsadon
Written by Sorayut Aiemueayut
Translated by Juria Toramae
Illustrated by Summer Panadd
The title of this article states 'It was written by Sorayut Aiemueayut (ศรยุทธ เอี่ยมเอื้อยุทธ). Here is a shortened version translated into Dutch.'
Reading that I don't understand why you put Rob V. down as the author. And then you also say 'If you don't like it here you should just go back to the Netherlands.' That's an outrage, Walther!
The text was written by a Thai, you must have missed that in your haste to respond with the cliché 'if you don't like it, go back'…….
The rose-tinted glasses brigade has only one adage: 'If you don't like it here, go back'. Lack of arguments...
Now now Walther,
What you are trying to defend here is exactly what the neo-feudal elites are trying to impose on the people as an ideal image of Thailand.
Everything and everyone that detracts from that ideal image is labeled by them as un-Thai and may/must be 'neutralized' by all available means, for better or for worse.
Also read the article (again) https://fpc.org.uk/un-thai-lives-matter-thai-identity-politics-as-a-race-war/ from Tim Rackett and the postings https://www.thailandblog.nl/cultuur/hiso-en-loso-sociale-klassen/ en https://www.thailandblog.nl/opinie/geen-woorden-maar-waarheid/
Hopefully your eyes will be opened a little (ตาส่วาง) to reality.
That you attack Rob V. about his posting of an article by a Thai person translated by him in a Thai publication has already been said enough by others.
What an aggressive reaction to a well-written, not biased, piece. Until a few years ago, I thought that Buddhism was the exception with regard to religious denominations. But after what Myanmar did with the Rohingya and this story, it confirms that xenophobia occurs everywhere, regardless of religion. Sad but true. And for that, you don't have to go on the defensive and spout all kinds of prejudices about the Dutch.
Rob V, thanks for the translation.
The deep south that came to Thailand after the exchange a good 100 years ago does not belong to Thailand in terms of language, culture and religion and there have been 'incidents' that have caused many deaths. And it is still not quiet there. The Tak Baai 'incident' may only now, after twenty years, come before the court as you recently read. The role of the now again accepted Shinawatra Sr in this is 'special'.
But all minorities in Thailand are under pressure. Three years ago I translated the series You Me We You for this blog, in which the oppression of the mountain people is highlighted. I think this will continue for a long time.
What is it like to be Malaysian in Thailand?
Who can answer that? Certainly not a Dutch person.
Look back at history and we still cannot judge.
What hatred and envy I see here again among the Dutch who live in Thailand.
First sweep your own sidewalk before we start spreading hatred among ourselves.
What is it like to be Dutch in Thailand?
Then first learn to live like an Asian and respect each other.
I don't really understand why Walther and Bert bring in being Dutch here. Like many of my pieces, I only share the story, a tale, a perspective of ordinary Thai citizens from various corners of the country. No country is monotonous but a repository of cultures, ways of thinking, people and the social and economic relationships with each other. Sharing a few perspectives on that, without giving my own judgment in the piece, which every reader must decide for themselves, seems to me a welcome contribution to those who want to know more about Thailand.
By the way, I myself am more of a dialecticist and of "faith is the opium of the people" (it brings relief but also harm). If people have a religion or way of life, that is generally fine, except for those who want to impose their faith on others. I have friends and acquaintances who adhere to various faiths. No problem for me. But as this piece shows: those the author spoke to in the south still experience that they are seen as different, not "real", not "complete" Thai. I can imagine that this still leaves a mark on your life. Too bad if such a story is picked out against the grain of some.
But I will continue to share these diverse stories, both positive and not so positive, so that the reader can see a different perspective and who knows, maybe next time they will be a little less quick to judge someone else.