The Siamese Kingdom officially annexed parts of a Malay sultanate called Pattani a hundred years ago and then the British confirmed that annexation during their colonial rule of Malaya. Something like that in a nutshell...
So these "Thai" Muslims are actually Malays - in race, language, religion, customs etc. Basically, they are not of the Siamese race.
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2005/s1434675.htmThe Tak Bai massacre:
"In October last year, the Thai Army put down a Muslim-led demonstration by arresting hundreds, and then stacking them six-deep like logs onto trucks. During a six-hour journey, 85 Muslims died of asphyxiation.
The roots of the conflict go back a century or more, to when Buddhist Thailand annexed this predominantly Muslim region populated by ethnic Malays."Malaysia and Indonesia strongly protested against this massacre.
Of course, both sides have committed so many attrocities which side you choose in the end depend on whether you are Muslim or not.
Officially, KL does not support the insurgency. But for the average Malaysian Malay Muslim, where they stand is not hard to guess.
Further reading:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wothai244244525may04,0,2764127.story?coll=ny-worldnews-toputilityI apologise for taking this whole thing so far out of context. But for some of us who feel that MAF buys tanks or fighters to counter SAF, I tend to think we are giving ourselves too much credit. Thailand and Indonesia, on the other hand, are 2 of the oldest established Kingdoms in this region and they continue to have territorial aspirations.
The Malaysians know SG will not attack them without provocation nor do we really have the crazy idea of colonising their territory.
On the other hand, they have historically viewed Thailand as a powerful, often hostile Kingdom. And that Kingdom did invade and still occupy the Malay Sultanate of Pattani. And the Thais continue prove their reputation as a ruthless people.
If you look at the whole map of SE Asia, they are surrounded by Thailand and Indonesia and their few dozens PT-91 is not enough for squat.
...
Basically, if the occupation of Pattani did not occur, it would likely be a part of Malaysia today. Malaysia is not making any noise today because I think the Brits - in recognition of Thailand's annexation of Pattani, gave them Sabah and Sarawak in return (or something like that) so the Malaysians are keeping mum about Pattani. Else the whole thing unravels.
So while we annoy the Malaysians with our huge arsenal, they can see we are just being paranoid androids (with good cause, i add). But the Thais on the other hand, had been real bad boys. I'm sure no one here needs to be reminded that they let the Japs into Malaya during WW2.
The INDOs gave them Konfrontasi. And recently wanted to claim some land.
All we ever gave the Malaysians were petty little spats. So why would they view us as their biggest threat?