아세안

It is not easy to define the regional conflict in Southern Thailand which is unfolding in the Pattani region as the conflict is happening in the background of the multiple causes as it is a multi-tribal and multi-cultural society. This study is aimed at analyzing the regional conflict in the Southern Thailand by highlighting the Kresse temple incident from the cultural multiplicity along with some feasible solution to resolve the conflict. The Kresse Temple is known as the legendary death of Limtokiam, a Chinese official who sought an asylum in the 15th century, and his sister Limkoniau. A temple was set up in memory of his sister Limkoniau, who has since been worshiped by local natives. Seated in the middle of the Southern Thailand where many different tribes and religions coexist, the temple has a potential to become a regional catalyst to promote a harmonious coexistence among local natives as well as the sense of solidarity regardless of their religious association-Buddhist or Muslims. However, a tragic incident happened here when the local police and armed forces opened fire at protesters and terrorists, who demanded the government to designate the temple as a historical site and return it as a religious temple, fled to the temple, killing them all. The two incidents signaled that the central government would just ignore the religious or cultural background and approach the issue only from the political perspective, while either putting them under judicial disposal or cracking down on them with brutal force, thereby worsening the regional conflict even more. The local natives in the Southern Thailand have since been struggling with great agony as the pattern of the terrorist attack in the region is becoming increasingly atrocious in their nature. It is therefore, recommended to come up with some rational methods to resolve the conflict in the region from religious and cultural dimension based on the lessons learned from the Kresse Temple incident.