 Thai Malay boys inSongkhla | |
| Total population | |
| 1.5 million[2] (2018, est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Thailand Malaysia | |
| Languages | |
| Malayic languagesThai andSouthern Thai | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam,with small minorities adhering toBuddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherMalays |
Thai Malays (Standard Malay:Orang Melayu Thailand/Siam,Thai:ไทยเชื้อสายมลายู:Jawi:ملايو تاي;Pattani Malay:Oré Nayu Siae,Bangso Yawi;Bangkok Malay:Oghae Nayu Thai), with officially recognised terms including 'Malayu-descended Thais' and 'Malay',[3][4] is a term used to refer toethnic Malay citizens ofThailand, the sixth largestethnic group in Thailand. Thailand is home to the third largest ethnic Malay population afterMalaysia andIndonesia. Most Malays live primarily in the four southernmost provinces ofYala,Narathiwat,Satun andPattani.[2] They live in one of the country’s poorest regions.[2] They also live inSongkhla,Phuket andRanong.[5]Trang province, home to a sizeable Muslim population, also has many people who are of Malay descent.[6][full citation needed] Some live in Thailand's capital,Bangkok.[2] They are descended from migrants or deportees who were relocated from the South from the 13th century onwards.[7][full citation needed]
Separatist inclinations among ethnic Malays in Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala and Songkhla provinces, the cause of theSouthern Thai insurgency, are due in part to cultural differences from theThai people as well as past experiences of forced attempts to assimilate them into Thai mainstream culture after the annexation of theSultanate of Patani by SiameseRattanakosin Kingdom.[8] In 1816,Siam divided the sultanate into seven provinces as part of a policy of 'divide and rule'. Despite occasional subsequent rebellions, the policy was generally successful in ensuring peace until the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1901, Siam restructured the seven provinces into a single administrative unit, 'Monthon Pathani', under the new Ministry of the Interior, which consolidated the seven provinces into four:Patani,Bangnara,Saiburi andYala.Kedah was then ceded to the British under theAnglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909, in which a more integrated district formerly belonging to Kedah becameSatun Province.[9] The Malay Muslims of Satun are less inclined towards separatism; this is largely a result of the historical affinity of theMalay King of Setul towards Siam, compared to the violent breakup of the Sultanate of Patani. Pro-Thai inclinations can also be observed in Malay communities in Phuket, Ranong and Bangkok.[10][11]
In 1975, five Thai Malays were killed by Thai soldiers and their bodies thrown over a bridge into theSaiburi inBacho district. The incident, known asKoto Bridge incident [th], sparked a massive demonstration inPattani province, lasting 45 days. It marked one of the biggest demonstrations of Thai Malays, and in Thai history at the time.[12]
In Province Pattani, Narathiwat & Yala also known as 3 Malay regions/Province (kawasan 3 wilayah) having and practicing the same culture as the state ofKelantan, Malaysia. They also speak the same language but some different becauseStandard Malay education is non-open and not supported by the Thai government which causes them to sometimes mix Malay and Thai.
The majority of Malays in Thailand speak a distinct variety of Malay known asPattani Malay (Yawi:Baso Yawi/Pattani). However, not all Thai Malays speak Pattani Malay, some people who live inSatun and its vicinage use another distinct variety of Malay known asSatun Malay, while the Malays up north inBangkok have developed their distinct variant of Malay that incorporated elements of localism with visible Pattani-Kedahan Malay dialect influences known asBangkok Malay (Bangkok Malay:Bangkok Melayu/Nayu). The Bangkok, Kedahan and Pattani are closely related and shared many similar vocabularies but still mutually partly unintelligible.
With the introduction of Islam to Southeast Asia, the Malays use a modified version of the Arabic script known asJawi. Unlike other parts of the Malay world, like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, where the usage of Jawi is declining rapidly from the increasing usage of the Latin alphabet, Jawi is still widely used and understood among Malays in Thailand.
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Thai Malays are mainlySunni Muslims.[2] They're mostly of theShafi'i school of thought. There's also a smallBuddhist andother minorities.[citation needed]Islam is the defining element of the ThaiMalay identity.[citation needed]
