Southern Thailand to adopt ‘Pattani Malay’ as second working language

BANGKOK, January 4 (TNA) - Deputy Permanent Secretary for Justice Charnchao Chaiyanukij announced on Wednesday that the Pattani Malay dialect, also known as "Yawi", will become a working language, along with the Thai language, at government agencies under the Ministry of Justice in southern Thailand in the foreseeable future. Charnchao said that the plan, launched in late 2011 in four southernmost Thai provinces, is part of a national recognition of the Islamic language and the Thai Muslim community. According to the senior Thai official, the Ministry of Justice is also reinstating a justice development plan in the four southernmost provinces through fostering closer coordination with the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on community radio programmes and speeding up expanded participation of both Buddhist and Muslim Thais in regional policies and activities. (TNA)