This research utilized a historical comparative analysis to survey two regions of Thailand, where the majority of the population was Muslims. The regions included Satun province to the west coast of Thailand and Yala, Narathiwat and Songkhla provinces bordering Kelantan State of Malaysia and the Gulf of Thailand.
The formation of ethnic identity in Satun and Pattani took different paths and the variation of the development of these paths resulted in the violence between communities and terrorism that was quickly spreading. There was no problem of religious or ethnic conflicts in Satun when compared with the four provinces that encountered state resistance, violence, widespread terrorism, and pervasive insecurity and fear.
These clear different outcomes reflected the intensity of ethnic diversity in the country but with an ability to peacefully be integrated into the modern Thai state. In the end, the analysis focused on the effectiveness of the Thai government in dealing with the integration process in the two regions in the perspective of good governance that had positive results on the restive South as well as the potential to solve the conflict problems in the future.