Article Review
The article “Approaching a space of violence: State Buddhism in Southern Thailand,” was written by Michael Jerryson. In the text, Michael tried to argue religious differences and how followers or believers take their religious rules and policies. Furthermore, Michael elaborates on a situation in Southern Thailand where people adhered to Buddhism policies. The article describes the situation at Wat province, where every Buddhist goes for protection and other purposes. The article describes the aftermath of Martial Law in 2004 that resulted in people’s migration to evade war and related forms of bondage.
According to the text, Southern Thailand police and soldiers were obligated to protect and safeguard the monastery buildings from external attacks. The monasteries were the places where Thai monks lived and ensured harmony and peace in the Wat community.
The article illustrates the concept of militarization and how it was used to safeguard believers in Wat. In Thai, Buddhist villagers could escape from their original homes in the quest for people and a better living. During their movement in 2006, the Thai Buddhist villagers were abstracted by the police and soldiers since they were obligated to enhance peace in the Wat area.
The article denotes that it is hard to determine the population in Thai when choosing the various religions people follow. This leads the government to conduct a census every ten years. The text describes the long tradition of Thai Buddhism and Malay Muslim co-existence and interaction. Thai Buddhists had their practices, such as prohibition from wearing tarboosh and eating pork. On the other hand, the Malay Muslims were obligated not to go to Wat since it was considered an unholy place.
Militarization force the police and soldiers to come from different places to settle and protect Wat. The rationale to which Wat was that important is that it helped protect the people and the monks.