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> But as soon as you get to the southern tip of Thailand, or any of these Islam based societies, things get very nasty very quickly There's an Islamic insurgen
by peteretep 8y ago
> But as soon as you get to the southern tip of Thailand, or any of these Islam based societies, things get very nasty very quickly
There's an Islamic insurgency / independence movement in the south of Thailand. It's far from the poorest region. Once you get into Malaysia any distance, it's as peaceful as the rest of Thailand again, if not more so. Hard to know what point you're making, other than your unfamiliarity with Northern Malaysia? Nearby you have countries with fairly recent Buddhist-led, Hindu-led, and avowedly secular conflict.
- jpatokal 8y agoAlso, the main driver for the insurgency is that the "peaceful and harmonious" Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) conquered what was then the Sultanate of Pattani in 1785 and have been trying to forcibly assimilate it ever since.
- craftyguy 8y agoI spent a few weeks traveling the length of Malaysia, and it was far less sketchy than some (touristy) parts of Thailand I was in the previous few weeks. The folks I met seemed quite peaceful, even when we discussed the international news at the time (brexit, donald and his talk of a muslim ban in the US, etc) and local politics.