Thai Buddhist TS-Muslims customs in dialogue for peaceful co-existence in the Southern Thailand

Abstract

The religiously and culturally or traditionally pluralistic harmony and tolerance of Buddhists and Muslims in the southern part of Thailand is the necessary condition for the ever lasting peace, for it is based on the mutual respect for the diversity of pluralistic harmony between two religions. Tolerance is the essential condition of harmony in Buddhism as well as in Islam. Tolerance as the essence of sustainable harmony can be conducted through the method of inter-religious dialogue of life. To solve the problem in the Deep South of Thailand, both Thai-Buddhists and Thai-Muslims and Thai-Malay-Muslims, who have been living there in the three provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, for many decades, will have to build their trust through the dialogue of life through traditions or customs based on their religious doctrine of tolerance. Dialogue of life entails dialogue of action, religious doctrine and religious experiences.