Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

legend is unlikely to achieve similar prominence in
Phuket. Nevertheless, it has the potential of becoming
an identifying legend for the larger Thai Muslim
community in Phuket—in tourism literature, at least.
And as Phuket still lacks any monument representing
Thai Muslim heritage, the proposed Mahsuri Museum—most
likely located in the vicinity of FantaSea—is
likely to become the island’s main Thai Muslim cultural
attraction.
The Mahsuri legend is an asset to the Thai Muslims
and the Phuket tourism industry. The romantic story
of Mahsuri, a beautiful woman, a victim of slander and
injustice, draws the sympathy of its audience—whether
Muslims, Buddhists or foreigners. It shows a different
face of the Thai Muslims, completely in contrast to the
hard stereotype of Islamic militants that has been blown
up in the media after 9/11 and that is now associated
with the conflict in Southern Thailand.
HALAL FOOD, HILAL TOWN
The Halal Food, Hilal Town Festival mentioned earlier
was publicized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand
thus: “To promote greater awareness of the island’s
cultural diversity and rich cultural heritage, the Phuket
Provincial Administration Organization presents ‘Halal
Food Hilal Town’—a cultural showcase of Thai-Muslim
art and culture, customs and traditions, folklore and
way of life.”
Held in Kamala from July 28 to August 1, 2005, the
festival opened with the release of 39 doves symbolizing
the wish for peace in the South. The main draw of the
festival was a food fair offering “delicious halal food
prepared the Muslim way”. The festival offered the rare
opportunity to see a whole range of Muslim and Malay
performing arts such as Likay Ulu, a Thai version of
Dhikir Barat presented by the Kempulan Bungayaran
from Pattani, Silat Gayong from Krabi, and Wayang
Kulit from Nakhon Si Thammarat. Ronggeng was performed
by a group of mature Orang Laut women from Koh
Sirey; and lekia (Malay) or khun ple (Thai), a supplication
accompanied by drumming for month-old infants, was
performed by a group of elderly men from Bang Tao—
the last of Phuket’s Lekia groups.
“Islamic culture is not only Arabic, we have our own
traditional Thai Muslim culture”, said Khun Charoen
Thinkohkeow, Muslim advisor to the provincial
government who was mainly responsible for sourcing
the wide range of groups for the festival. Khun Charoen
is also the broadcaster of city radio FM 94 and advisor
of Phuket’s Muslim Wittaya School.
HERITAGE, IDENTITY, CHANGE AND CONFLICT
As for the Islamic groups that performed at the festival,
they are not linked to South Thailand at all; but to
Malaysia. The nasyid [an Islamic-oriented song] girls
and kompang [a shallow frame drum] boys from Islam
Phattanah were from the “Thai branch of Malaysian
Mawaddah”. The latter is a subsidiary Rufaqa, the
reformed and reconstituted corporation of the Al-
Arqam group that was previously banned by the
Malaysian government.
The festival was given an allocation of five to six million
Thai baht by the Phuket Provincial Government, whose
chief executive, Khun Anchalee, articulated the festival’s
objectives—to aid in Kamala’s recovery, to open up the
Middle Eastern tourism market and to show the world
that the Thai-Muslims can live peacefully with the Thai-
Buddhists and foreign nationalities.
The Halal Food Festival would work towards resolving
the food issue. “Middle Eastern tourists doubt whether
Phuket halal food is really halal or mashbooh
(questionable),” explained Khun Charoen. The Halal
Science Center of Chulalongkorn University was called
in to train the food providers. Presumably, if the Arabs
could be satisfied, other Muslim tourists like Malaysians
and Indonesians would have confidence in Phuket’s
halal credentials as well.
Apart from the professed justifications for the festival,
other things were going on. The festival was declared
open by the Privy Councillor General Surayud Chulanont.
Organized with the machinery of the Democratcontrolled
provincial government, The Halal Festival
provided a forum for Democrat leaders, including
former Prime Minister of Thailand and Khun Suthep
Tuaksubhand, Secretary-General of the Democrat Party
and MP of Suratthani, to address a predominantly
Muslim audience who came from all over the South.
Hailing from Trang, the veteran Democrat leader
Leekpai has been called “the political idol of Southerners”.
Speaking at the festival, Leekpai was generally critical
of his Thaksin’s hardline policies which have led to
deteriorating Muslim-Buddhist relations in the South.
He mentioned having recently visited a wat in Kelantan
where ethnic Thai Buddhists told him that they had no
problems with the Malay Muslims in Malaysia. This
was a message for the Muslim South; not for the no-show
Middle Eastern tourists.
The Thai Muslims of Phuket face identity questions as
a minority in a majority Buddhist nation, as a Thai-speaking
minority in a region where most Muslims speak
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
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