Thai South and Malay North examines the history of ethnic, religious, social, economic, and political pluralism in the unique zone where Mainland and Maritime Southeast Asia meet. Sections focused on politics, religion, Chinese populations, and historiographic traditions provide background information and a range of perspectives on the longstanding conflicts afflicting southern Thailand. The book represents the most comprehensive work to date on a part of Southeast Asia whose historical, linguistic, and political complexity has long defied scholarly synthesis. Unique in the depth and breadth of its coverage of the history of northern Malaysia and southern Thailand, it will be a major resource for scholars, journalists and policy-makers --essential reading for anyone seeking to understand southern Thailand's complex past and troubled present.
Part I Plural Historiographical Traditions
Part II The Peninsula in the Age of Nation-States
Part III Peninsular Chinese as Agents, Creoles, and Mediators
Part IV Religious Pluralism and Competing Ethno-Nationalisms