OIC DELEGATION OBSERVES SOUTHERN THAILAND'S MUSLIM, BUDDHIST COMMUNITIES LIVING PEACEFULLY

By Muhammad Afiq Mohd Asri

NARATHIWAT (Thailand), June 13 (Bernama) -- The visit to southern Thailand by the ambassadors from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries has shown the delegation that the Muslim and Buddhist communities can coexist peacefully. 

Thai ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Darm Boontham, said he received positive feedbacks from the OIC delegation who had observed how the two communities of different faiths could coexist. 

"This makes me proud when two communities live peacefully in one village," he told reporters after the delegation visited the Islamic Cultural Heritage Museum and Al-Quran Learning Centre here Thursday.

Darm, who is also Thailand's permanent observer representative to OIC in Riyadh, said he was amazed by the art of Islamic heritage at the Al-Quran museum in Narathiwat.

He believes that by examining the true situation in southern Thailand, OIC nations can learn more about the lives of various religious communities. 

The three-day Ambassadors' Visit programme, which began on Tuesday, was co-organised by the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre and Thailand’s Foreign Ministry with the aim to showcase the strengths and development potential of Thailand's southern border provinces.

Thailand’s three southernmost provinces – Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat – are home to a predominantly Muslim population.

The programme, themed "Uplift the People's Quality of Life", was also participated by ambassadors from Brunei, Egypt and Iran, and diplomatic officers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nigeria and Uzbekistan.

-- BERNAMA