T

here is yet another push by Buddhist zealots to have Buddhism enshrined as the state religion in the new Thai Constitution.

This must be resisted at all costs.

Each night at 6 p.m. on any Thai television station, we get the national anthem sung by a big chorus of Thais of every persuasion and religion. It includes people readily identifiable as Muslim, and one as a Christian priest.

The slogan preceding it is '€œTogether we are stronger'€.

Thailand is already a de facto Buddhist state, and the head of state, His Majesty the King, is a Buddhist, as required by law in this country.

That is enough.

The people drafting the Constitution must strongly resist any temptation to cave in to these Buddhist pressure groups and instead stick to the principle of the separation of Church and state.

To do otherwise will further disenfranchise Muslim and other religious minorities and make a farce of the slogan '€œTogether we are stronger'€.

More than that, it makes them aliens in their own land. It will also probably be the nail in the coffin for any hope of peace in Thailand'€™s deep South in the foreseeable future.

Thailand must be a land and nation of inclusion, not exclusion. Only then can it truly grow stronger and prosper.

David Brown
The Nation/ANN/Bangkok