THE GREEN BODY IN RED SHIRT YELLOW PANTS: A RELIGIO-POLITICAL DISCOURSE OVER YELLOW-RED CONFLICT WITHIN MUSLIM THAI (CYBER) SOCIETY

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Patchrathanyarasm Salamat

Abstract

This paper examines the religio-political values among Thai Muslims through their cyber discourse over “Yellow-Red” political conflict during November 2008 to April 2009. The research shows that the two underlying stances of civic religion were controversial. Muslims who took the side of the “Red Shirts” proclaimed to have their “civic religion” in line with pro-democratic ideas—people’s sovereignty and liberty, freedom through election, and sacrifice in the name of democracy; the group was inclined to extract “politics” from “religion” and “Muslim” from “Islam”; and they pursued strong profound support to the ousted PM, Thaksin Shinawatra, whom they valued as a democratic hero who was wrongfully and unjustly treated by the aristocrats. The other Muslims insisted that God is Sovereign and He alone is deserving of sacrifice from Muslims; the only Muslims’ civic religion is civil Islam; and that the ousted PM himself is an unjust and corrupt ruler to those Muslims in the deep south of Thailand.


Keywords: Islam, Civic religion, Sovereignty, Democracy, Thai politics

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