Conflicts of Religious Believes and Cultural Practices Among Muslims

The conflicts and violence in southern Thailand provinces could be traced back in 19th century and continue until today. The linkage between Islam and culture of the people in that provinces served as a means of defining the identity of the Malay-Muslims. The study contends that beside the main factors such as politics, and economy, the unrests in southern border provinces of Thailand were also rooted on religious beliefs and cultural practices among the Muslims. The frequency and intensity of conflicts varied with the extent to which the government sought to impose the wrong policy or alien norms which seemed against the religuious beliefs and cultural practices of the people in the southern provinces.