Landscapes of fear, horizons of trust: Villagers dealing with danger in Thailand's insurgent south

Abstract

Thai Buddhist and Malay Muslim neighbours in Thailand's Muslim-majority deep south face the challenge of managing everyday life in the midst of an enigmatic insurgency where both ethno-religious groups are victims of violence, but where the assailants are difficult to identify. This ethnographically-focused paper examines horizons of trust and suspicion as villagers confront threats to their safety, negotiate state authorities and encounter broader narratives about identity, allegiance and enemies. Although fear and suspicion sparked by the current violence have generated Buddhist–Muslim tensions in localities, neighbourhoods and village leaders also actively resist the multiple threats to their relationships and to inter-ethnic coexistence.