Page 94 - Dignity and justice for all of us our voices are heard in Thailand
P. 94
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Voice
Associate Professor Chaiwat Satha-Anan, a full-time professor at Thammasat University, also
claims that he too has never experienced any violation of the right to religion in terms of
Mr. Chaiwat Satha-Anan practising or teaching Islam in Thailand. But he accepts that this problem persists in other
Professor at Thammasat University
and specialist in Peace Studies countries. He thinks the problem in Thailand is not so much about the violation of religious
rights per se, but on the difficulty in determining what constitutes a religious rights violation.
The professor gave an example of the case of Pondok schools (religious education institutions
“It is important that for the Muslims in Thailand’s southern region). He is of the opinion that whether the Pondok
we re-evaluate the schools should exist or not does not depend on permission granted by the government. Parents
have the right to choose whether or not to send their children to such schools. This is true to the
importance of tradition of Pondok schools. The issue relates more to how the government controls these
religion in issues institutions, such as the official process for registering the schools. Some Pondok schools are
not registered, but still exist because of support from communities. In his opinion, there is a fine
like international line between what the government considers to be its duty and what constitutes a violation of
relations” religious rights.
He further describes the three aspects of Thai society’s own perception about religion, which
makes it difficult to determine acts of violation. “The first perception is that the Head of State is
not only the patron of Buddhism but also the patron of all religions practised in Thailand,
allowing equal acceptance to all religions within Thai society, though all are not exactly equal.
Second, Thai society considers itself as a free state which has no trouble with the co-existence of
religions due to a long experience in this regard. Third, Thai society, though regarding itself as a
Buddhist nation, takes pride in the power of reasoning of Buddhism, with no worries at all about
other religions.”
82 Dignity and Justice for All of Us
