South-east Asia is home to the world’s most populous Muslim population, with over 12.7% of the entire world’s Muslims living in Indonesia. However, little known minority Muslim communities also occupy a place in some of South-east Asia’s other popular destinations, including Thailand. Over 90% of the population follow the Buddhist tradition, but the country maintains many small diverse ethnic and religious populations, including Islam.

Currently, Islam in Thailand is practiced by a community of approximately 5% of total people living in the country, ranking in as the second largest religious group after Buddhism. Although Muslims live occupy areas all over the country, some of the most highly concentrated Muslim areas remain in the southernmost regions of the country. This includes the country’s capital and most populous city of Bangkok, and the areas of Narathiwat, Satun, Pattani and Yala, towards the border with Malaysia.

Although Muslims in Thailand are of diverse ethnic heritage, including members of predominantly South Asian countries living in the south, and many Chinese Muslims living in the northernmost parts of the country, the majority of Muslims living in Thailand today are from Thai Malay heritage, which is indicative of a rich and complex overlap with the history of the Malaysian Peninsula at Thailand’s border.

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A Brief History

As early as the 14th century, the Thai Empire began embarking on a conquest of its now the southernmost region, originally belonging to the Malaysian peninsula. The existing population there were Malays who had converted to the religion Islam throughout the 15th century, and when the Thai empire eventually conquered the region in 1767,  Islam was also incorporated into the existing Thai empire, accounting for an immediate and large increase of the country’s minority Muslim population. The conquered lands originally comprised of small Malay states that attributed local power to their respective Sultans. Their power remained an attribute of Thai Malay culture until in the 20th century, when Muslim rule was finally admonished in favour of an overarching, centralised Thai power.

The Spotlight on Islam In Thailand

However, religious freedom in Thailand is a core tenet of the country’s governance and Muslims in the country have been allowed to prosper into a large and diverse Muslim community. Although the majority of Muslims in Thailand practice Sunni Islam, large parts of the community also practice the Sufi tradition which can be attributed to the migration of Muslims from surrounding countries into Thailand.

Much has also been produced in the way of academic research on the complex nature of Thai national identity and Islam, as most consider it to be intrinsically connected to the Buddhist tradition. A huge corpus of work continues to be produced on the subject as a result of the keen of interest of many anthropologists.

There are currently 3500 mosques across Thailand, with over 170 in Bangkok alone, and religious institutions in the country have a well known and established position in higher authority. The Central Islamic Council of Thailand is a body of officials appointed directly by the King himself, and is responsible for relations between the government and the country’s Muslim community, ensuring their needs are met as the minority religious population continues to grow in the country.