Bumiputera Recognition, Uneven Inclusion: Adaptive Integration Among the Siamese Minority in Kelantan, Malaysia
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Siamese Malaysians represent a small non-Muslim Bumiputera minority whose formal recognition has not necessarily translated into equivalent institutional incorporation. Access to institutional support and state resources remains uneven within Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim-dominant sociopolitical environment. This study examines how the Siamese of Terbak Village, Kelantan, navigate participation, belonging, and cultural continuity under these conditions. Drawing on 197 days of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and 15 in-depth interviews, the study finds that broader social and economic participation coexists with the maintenance of ethnic and religious boundaries. Community members navigate uneven institutional conditions through temple-centered community networks, selective interethnic engagement, multilingual strategies, resource mobilization, and pragmatic accommodation. Constraints remain evident in temple-school funding, land insecurity, and perceived employment disadvantages. The study conceptualizes these dynamics as adaptive integration: a form of minority incorporation in which broader participation, communal boundary maintenance, and adaptation to unequal institutional conditions occur simultaneously. The Siamese case illustrates how minority agency shapes the terms of institutional inclusion alongside formal recognition.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
• Ahmat, S. (1971). Kedah-Siam relations, 1821–1905. Journal of the Siam Society, 59(1), 97–117. https://thesiamsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/1971/03/JSS_059_1g_SharomAhmat_KedahSiamRelations.pdf
• Amnuay, R., Intaprom, W., & Srisopa, R. (2019). The role in politics of Malaysian of Thai race. The Social Sciences, 14(3), 127–134. https://makhillpublications.co/public/view-article/1818-5800/sscience.2019.127.134
• Barth, F. (Ed.). (1969). Ethnic groups and boundaries: The social organization of culture difference. Little, Brown.
• Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology, 46(1), 5–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x
• Biernacki, P., & Waldorf, D. (1981). Snowball sampling: Problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. Sociological Methods & Research, 10(2), 141–163. https://doi.org/10.1177/004912418101000205
• Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power (J. B. Thompson, Ed.; G. Raymond & M. Adamson, Trans.). Harvard University Press.
• Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
• Cheah, B. K. (2002). Malaysia: The making of a nation. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
• Chin, J. (2020). Malaysia: The 2020 putsch for Malay Islam supremacy. The Round Table, 109(3), 288–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2020.1760495
• Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2024). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (5th ed.). Sage.
• David, M. K., & Dealwis, C. (2009). Language choice, code switching and language shift: The Telugus of Kuching. In M. K. David (Ed.), Code switching in Malaysia (pp. 61–77). Peter Lang.
• Department of Statistics Malaysia. (2026). Population by state and ethnic group, Kelantan. https://data.gov.my/data-catalogue/population_state?state=kelantan&visual=table
• Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (2011). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
• Federal Constitution. (1957). Commissioner of Law Revision, Malaysia. https://lom.agc.gov.my/federal-constitution.php
• Fetterman, D. M. (2019). Ethnography: Step-by-step (4th ed.). Sage.
• Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Multilingual Matters.
• Fishman, J. A. (2001). Why is it so hard to save a threatened language? In J. A. Fishman (Ed.), Can threatened languages be saved? Reversing language shift, revisited: A 21st century perspective (pp. 1–22). Multilingual Matters.
• Giles, H., & Johnson, P. (1987). Ethnolinguistic identity theory: A social psychological approach to language maintenance. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 68, 69–99. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.1987.68.69
• Golomb, L. (1978). Brokers of morality: Thai ethnic adaptation in a rural Malaysian setting. University Press of Hawaii.
• Gomez, E. T., & Saravanamuttu, J. (Eds.). (2012). The New Economic Policy in Malaysia: Affirmative action, ethnic inequalities and social justice. NUS Press.
• Gordon, M. M. (1964). Assimilation in American life: The role of race, religion, and national origins. Oxford University Press.
• Government of Kelantan. (1930). The Malay Reservation Enactment, 1930 (Enactment No. 18 of 1930). https://ptg.kelantan.gov.my/index.php/ms/penerbitan/kaedah-dan-perundangan/481-enakmen-rizab-melayu-1930/file
• Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
• Hamayotsu, K. (2018). The political origins of Islamic courts in divided societies: The case of Malaysia. Journal of Law and Religion, 33(2), 248–270. https://doi.org/10.1017/jlr.2018.24
• Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2019). Ethnography: Principles in practice (4th ed.). Routledge.
• Horstmann, A. (2006). Deconstructing citizenship from the border: Dual ethnic minorities and local reworking of citizenship at the Thailand–Malaysian frontier. In A. Horstmann & R. L. Wadley (Eds.), Centering the margin: Agency and narrative in Southeast Asian borderlands (pp. 155–176). Berghahn Books. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780857454393-010
• Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM). (2010). Report on the roundtable discussion on the rights of ethnic minorities and marginalised communities in Malaysia. https://suhakam.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Suhakam-Report-on-the-Roundtable-Discussion-on-the-Rights-of-Ethnic-Minorities-and-Marginalised-Communities-in-Malaysia.pdf
• Imran, M. S., Lim Abdullah, & Bustami, R. (2015). Evolution and identity of the Kelantan Peranakan Chinese: Issues and challenges. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 2(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v2i1.8
• Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia. (2024). Waktu bekerja [Working hours] (Version 1.0). https://docs.jpa.gov.my/docs/myppsm/PPSM/SR/Waktu-bekerja/
• Johnson, I. (2002, June 13–15). Movement and identity construction amongst Kelantan’s Thai community [Conference presentation]. First Inter-Dialogue Conference on Southern Thailand, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani, Thailand. https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ethnologie/South_Thai/working_paper/Johnson_Kelantan.pdf
• Johnson, I. (2010). New mosaics on old walls: Intimacy and architecture along the Malaysian-Thai frontier. Anthropological Quarterly, 83(2), 239–277. https://doi.org/10.1353/anq.0.0122
• Johnson, I. C. (2012). The Buddha on Mecca’s verandah: Encounters, mobilities, and histories along the Malaysian-Thai border. University of Washington Press.
• Kershaw, R. (1969). The Thais of Kelantan: A socio-political study of an ethnic outpost [Doctoral dissertation, SOAS University of London]. SOAS Research Online. https://soas-repository.worktribe.com/output/412285/the-thais-of-kelantan-a-socio-political-study-of-an-ethnic-outpost
• Kershaw, R. (1982). A little drama of ethnicity: Some sociological aspects of the Kelantan manora. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 10(1), 69–95. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853182X00056
• Kuroda, K. (2002, June 13–15). Siamese in Kedah under nation-state making [Conference presentation]. First Inter-Dialogue Conference on Southern Thailand, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani, Thailand. https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ethnologie/South_Thai/working_paper/Kuroda_Kedah.pdf
• Kuroda, K. (2015). A migrants' world from South Thailand to Kedah: A history of inland Kedah. In I. Tokoro (Ed.), Islam and cultural diversity in Southeast Asia (pp. 15–39). Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. https://tufs.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/11556
• Kymlicka, W. (2010). The rise and fall of multiculturalism? New debates on inclusion and accommodation in diverse societies. International Social Science Journal, 61(199), 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2451.2010.01750.x
• Likhitthammarot, P., & Samathi, A. (2021). Malaysia’s Bumiputera policy and the rights of Siamese people in Kedah and Kelantan. Songklanakarin Journal of Management Sciences, 38(2), 30–53. https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jms_psu/article/view/244146
• Makhfoz, M. A. F., Mazlan, M. Z., Abd Hazan, N. S., Muhammad, R., Amdan, R. A., Sapri, N., & Che Azis, N. H. (2016, May 15). Site inventory and analysis: Kampung Terbok, Tumpat, Kelantan. Prezi. https://prezi.com/1hjolzlyfkzg/introduction
• Ministry of National Unity. (2026, February 24). Menteri Perpaduan Negara menjawab pertanyaan YB Senator Tuan Niran Tan Kran di Dewan Negara [Minister of National Unity responds to a question from Senator Tuan Niran Tan Kran in the Dewan Negara]. https://www.perpaduan.gov.my/index.php/en/media-home/media-collection/publications/303-koleksi-media/galeri-foto/foto-feb-2026/1875-menteri-perpaduan-negara-menjawab-pertanyaan-yb-senator-tuan-niran-tan-kran-di-dewan-negara
• Neo, J. L. (2006). Malay nationalism, Islamic supremacy and the constitutional bargain in the multi-ethnic composition of Malaysia. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 13(1), 95–118. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181106777069950
• Norkaew, P. (2023). Khwam tueng khriat thang chatiphan nai Malaisia: Korani sueksa chatiphan Sayam nai rat Kalantan [Ethnic tensions in Malaysia: A case study of Siamese ethnicity in Kelantan state] [Master’s independent study, Chulalongkorn University]. https://doi.org/10.58837/chula.is.2023.447
• Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
• Nuansanong, K. (2017). Masyarakat Siam Kelantan, Malaysia: Sejarah migrasi, dialek komunikasi, pengajian bahasa Thai standard dan agama Buddha [The Siamese community of Kelantan, Malaysia: Migration history, communication dialect, standard Thai language learning, and Buddhism]. In N. A. Yusuff (Ed.), Masyarakat Siam Kelantan: Sejarah, sosiobudaya dan bahasa [The Siamese community of Kelantan: History, socioculture, and language] (pp. 37–56). Penerbit Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
• Parekh, B. (2000). Rethinking multiculturalism: Cultural diversity and political theory. Harvard University Press.
• Parliament of Malaysia. (2001, December 3). Penyata rasmi Parlimen: Dewan Negara, Parlimen Kesepuluh, Penggal Ketiga, Mesyuarat Ketiga, Bil. 30, Isnin, 3 Disember 2001 [Official parliamentary report: Senate, Tenth Parliament, Third Session, Third Meeting, No. 30, Monday, December 3, 2001]. https://www.parlimen.gov.my/files/hindex/pdf/DN-03122001.pdf
• Pue, G. H., & Shamsul, A. B. (2011). Discourse on ‘Peranakanness’ with focus on the Peranakan Chinese community in contemporary Kelantan, Malaysia. In L. Dong (Ed.), International proceedings of economic development and research (IPEDR): Vol. 20. Humanities, society and culture (pp. 241–245). IACSIT Press.
• Pue, G. H., Ong, P. L., & Loo, H. C. (2019). Kelantan Peranakan Chinese language and marker of group identity. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 19(2), 33–51. https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2019-1902-03
• Raybeck, D. (1980). Ethnicity and accommodation: Malay-Chinese relations in Kelantan, Malaysia. Ethnic Groups, 2, 241–268.
• Razali, S., & Yusuff, N. A. (2017). Perkembangan aktiviti sosial dan ekonomi masyarakat Siam Kampung Dalam, Tumpat [Development of social and economic activities of Siamese community in Kampung Dalam, Tumpat]. In N. A. Yusuff (Ed.), Masyarakat Siam Kelantan: Sejarah, sosiobudaya dan bahasa [Kelantan Siamese community: History, socioculture and language] (pp. 119–126). Penerbit Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
• Rudmin, F. W. (2003). Critical history of the acculturation psychology of assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization. Review of General Psychology, 7(1), 3–37. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.7.1.3
• Sama-ae, P., & Tohleheng, M. (2017). Sejarah dan peranan wat di Kelantan [History and role of wats in Kelantan]. In N. A. Yusuff (Ed.), Masyarakat Siam Kelantan: Sejarah, sosiobudaya dan bahasa [Kelantan Siamese community: History, socioculture and language] (pp. 25–35). Penerbit Universiti Malaysia Kelantan.
• Samrong, N. N. (2014, January 8). Siamese Malaysians: They are part of our society. New Straits Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20140108111857/http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/siamese-malaysians-they-are-part-of-our-society-1.457322
• Sathian, M. R. (2017). Between worlds: Siamese (Thai) diaspora in the northern Malaysia region. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Thai Studies: Globalized Thailand? Connectivity, conflict, and conundrums of Thai studies (Vol. 4, pp. 1471–1479). Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University. https://icts13.chiangmai.cmu.ac.th/documents/FIINAL_R-SRI_NEW_MARCH_2019.pdf
• Sathian, M. R., & Ngeow, C. Y. (2014). Essentialising ethnic and state identities: Strategic adaptations of ethnic Chinese in Kelantan, Malaysia. Asian Studies Review, 38(3), 385–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2014.936361
• Shamsul, A. B. (1996a). Debating about identity in Malaysia: A discourse analysis. Southeast Asian Studies, 34(3), 476–499. https://doi.org/10.20495/tak.34.3_476
• Shamsul, A. B. (1996b). Nations-of-intent in Malaysia. In S. Tønnesson & H. Antlöv (Eds.), Asian forms of the nation (pp. 323–347). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315026640
• Shamsul, A. B. (2001). A history of an identity, an identity of a history: The idea and practice of “Malayness” in Malaysia reconsidered. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 32(3), 355–366. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463401000194
• Suwannathat-Pian, K. (1984/1985). The quiet affairs in the Siamese-Malay relations in the nineteenth century. Jebat: Malaysian Journal of History, Politics and Strategic Studies, 13, 19–28. http://journalarticle.ukm.my/489/1/1.pdf
• Tan, Y. S., & Ngah, K. (2013). Identity maintenance and identity shift: The case of the Tirok Chinese Peranakan in Terengganu. Asian Ethnicity, 14(1), 52–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2012.710401
• Tan, Y. S., Ngah, K., & Darit, S. M. (2018). Formation and negotiation of identity: The case of the Kelantan Kampung Pasir Parit Peranakan Chinese. Asian Ethnicity, 19(1), 16–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2017.1310614
• Tayeb, A. (2022). Explaining PAS’s dominance in Kelantan (Trends in Southeast Asia, Issue 17). ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. https://doi.org/10.1355/9789815011968
• Torii, T. (1997). The New Economic Policy and the United Malays National Organisation. The Developing Economies, 35(3), 209–239. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1049.1997.tb00846.x
• Winzeler, R. L. (1985). Ethnic relations in Kelantan: A study of the Chinese and Thai as ethnic minorities in a Malay state. Oxford University Press.
• Yusoff Ismail, M. (1987). Buddhism and ethnicity: The case of the Siamese of Kelantan. Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 2(2), 231–254. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41056730
• Yusoff Ismail, M. (2010). Buddhism in a Muslim state: Theravada practices and religious life in Kelantan. The Muslim World, 100(2–3), 321–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2010.01323.x