Women of the Deep South
Year: 2017
Location: Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces, Thailand
Camera / Format: Sony a7r IIISince 2004, Thailand's Deep South has been torn apart by a conflict between separatist insurgents and Thai government forces, resulting in nearly 7000 deaths and countless arrests. With so many men detained or killed, women are often left to shoulder the resp;onsibilities of their families.
Produced with the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF)
Grade 11 students chat during recess at Baan Ku Ching Lue Pah public school in Narathiwat province, Thailand on November 15, 2017.
A memorial frame in honor of slain Buddhist schoolteacher Juling Pongkanmon, made by the students at Baan Ku Ching Lue Pah public school in Narathiwat province, Thailand. On an evening in 2014, Pongkanmon was abducted and killed in a playroom at Baan Ku Ching Lue Pah kindergarten. To this day, the case remains unsolved.
Lawiyah Doloh, 46, speaks to us in her home after visiting her son Mulid at Ingkhayuth Borihan military camp 40km away. On November 8, 2017, Mulid and his brother Anas were arrested under charges of domestic terrorism for the possession of a mobile phone allegedly containing evidence against them. Anas was released after 7 days, but Mulid remains in prison. “A part of me and my family is missing. One of my children is not with us, and we are used to seeing him every day. I can’t tell you how this feels. I miss him”. Saiburi District, Pattani province, Thailand on November 22, 2017.
21 year-old Anas bin Ismael browses photos of his detainee brother in his family home in Saibury district, Pattani province, Thailand on November 22, 2017. On November 8, 2017, Anas and his brother Mulid were found in possession of a mobile phone that allegedly contained evidence of aiding nationalist insurgent groups. They were immediately arrested and sent to Ingkhayuth Borihan military camp for detention and questioning. Anas was released after 7 days, but Mulid remains in prison, where he has recently been charged with terrorism, being part of a rebel group and the illegal concealment of weapons.
Lawiyah Doloh, 46, waits to see her detained son Mulid in the reception area of Ingkhayuth Borihan military camp in Pattani, Thailand on November 22, 2017. On November 8, 2017, Lawiyah’s sons were arrested in their dorm and found in possession of a mobile phone that allegedly contained evidence of aiding nationalist insurgent groups. Though Anas was released after 7 days, Mulid has been charged with aiding terrorists and remains imprisoned.
A women’s group during their daily study
of Islamic holy books, at a community center in Ku Ching Lue Pah
village, Narathiwat province, Thailand on November 15, 2017. Villagers
here are frequently caught in the crossfire between Thai Army Rangers
and insurgent groups, with many being killed or indefinitely detained
under suspicion of aiding the nationalist rebels.
![The Kubor Islamic graveyard in Ku Ching Lue Pah village is where many local Muslim victims of the conflict are buried. Located within the Deep South’s “red zone” near the Thai-Malaysian border, Ku Ching Lue Pah village has seen many violent clashes between Thai Government forces and nationalist insurgent groups since the escalation of the conflict in 2004.]()
The Kubor Islamic graveyard in Ku Ching Lue Pah village is where many local Muslim victims of the conflict are buried. Located within the Deep South’s “red zone” near the Thai-Malaysian border, Ku Ching Lue Pah village has seen many violent clashes between Thai Government forces and nationalist insurgent groups since the escalation of the conflict in 2004.
![Former detainee Saodoh Maeroh, 51, works at her grocery shop in Ku Ching Lue Pah village, Narathiwat province, Thailand. In 2014, she was arrested under suspicion of aiding and abetting in the murder of a local teacher and sentenced to 3 years in prison. She was released on bail in 2017.]()
Former detainee Saodoh Maeroh, 51, works at her grocery shop in Ku Ching Lue Pah village, Narathiwat province, Thailand.
In 2014, she was arrested under suspicion of aiding and abetting in the murder of a local teacher and sentenced to 3 years in prison. She was released on bail in 2017.
![Mrs. Fong Waewpetch, an elder from Sakai village in Yala province, Thailand, prepares chicken feet for her family’s evening meal on November 21, 2017. One of the few Thai Buddhists in the Muslim-majority village, her husband was shot and killed by insurgents in 2008. Today, her daughter Kallaya is the current deputy head of Baan Sakai village as well as president of the Affected and Healing Network, a group that seeks to reconcile Muslim and Buddhist victims of the conflict throughout the Deep South.]()
Mrs. Fong Waewpetch, an elder from Sakai village in Yala province, Thailand, prepares chicken feet for her family’s evening meal on November 21, 2017. One of the few Thai Buddhists in the Muslim-majority village, her husband was shot and killed by insurgents in 2008. Today, her daughter Kallaya is the current deputy head of Baan Sakai village as well as president of the Affected and Healing Network, a group that seeks to reconcile Muslim and Buddhist victims of the conflict throughout the Deep South.
![Women prepare for evening prayer in Pattani Central Mosque, Pattani province, Thailand on November 14, 2017]()
Women prepare
for evening prayer in Pattani Central Mosque, Pattani province, Thailand on
November 14, 2017.
The Kubor Islamic graveyard in Ku Ching Lue Pah village is where many local Muslim victims of the conflict are buried. Located within the Deep South’s “red zone” near the Thai-Malaysian border, Ku Ching Lue Pah village has seen many violent clashes between Thai Government forces and nationalist insurgent groups since the escalation of the conflict in 2004.
Former detainee Saodoh Maeroh, 51, works at her grocery shop in Ku Ching Lue Pah village, Narathiwat province, Thailand.
In 2014, she was arrested under suspicion of aiding and abetting in the murder of a local teacher and sentenced to 3 years in prison. She was released on bail in 2017.
Mrs. Fong Waewpetch, an elder from Sakai village in Yala province, Thailand, prepares chicken feet for her family’s evening meal on November 21, 2017. One of the few Thai Buddhists in the Muslim-majority village, her husband was shot and killed by insurgents in 2008. Today, her daughter Kallaya is the current deputy head of Baan Sakai village as well as president of the Affected and Healing Network, a group that seeks to reconcile Muslim and Buddhist victims of the conflict throughout the Deep South.
Women prepare
for evening prayer in Pattani Central Mosque, Pattani province, Thailand on
November 14, 2017.
A Majmu Syarif prayer book from the common bookshelf in the Pattani Central Mosque women’s prayer hall. Pattani, Thailand on November 14, 2017. The Majmu Syarif consists of important kitab (Islamic teachings) of everyday life everyday life including Solawat nabi to honoring recall the God.
A woman wears a
white mukena during evening prayer at Pattani Central Mosque, Thailand
on November 14, 2017.
Kamonwan “Ma’kham” Sridaeng (right), a 19 year-old activist and communications student at Rajaphat University in Yala, helps her grandmother Wanna Charoensiriworakul (72, left) care for her paralyzed grandfather Seng (78, bottom) at their home in Thepa sub district, Songkhla, Thailand on November 23, 2017. Having grown up in Muslim-majority schools with mostly Muslim friends, Ma’kham now organizes a small Buddhist cultural club as a part of her university student council activities.
Kamonwan “Ma’kham” Sridaeng, a 19 year-old student activist at Yala’s Rajaphat University, chats with her friends while cooling down in her room in Thepa sub district, Songkhla, Thailand on November 23, 2017. Having grown up with Muslim best friends in a majority-Muslim area, Ma’kham wants to become a police officer and work with communities to reconcile after being torn apart by the conflict.
“As an activist,
I want to tell the people who are behind the attacks ‘if this happened to
anyone in your family, how would you feel?’ Many families have lost their
leaders and they are struggling without them. We should work together instead
and reconcile, so that we can live peacefully in the community.”
Men face the mihrabas they perform the evening prayer in the prayer hall of Yala’s Central Mosque, in Yala province, Thailand on November 21, 2017. As Thailand’s southernmost province, Yala sees frequent guerilla clashes between Thai government forces and nationalist insurgents hiding in its mountains.