BANGKOK, 18 February 2004 — Thailand will open a branch of a prestigious Egyptian Islamic university this year and has the backing of Bahrain, officials said yesterday as Thailand mulled restrictions on Islamic schools in its restive south.
“The idea of having an Islamic university is something that the Thai government has long considered,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said.
“Many Thai Muslims have to go abroad (for university-level Islamic study). We thought it would be a good idea to have a university of our own,” he said.
The plans gained momentum when Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai visited Egypt and met officials from Al-Azhar University to propose cooperation on a branch campus here.
“Two or three weeks ago Al-Azhar gave their approval and said they will cooperate,” Sihasak said. Last weekend Surakiart visited Bahrain, and received further backing from King Hamad ibn Issa Al-Khalifa.
“The king of Bahrain supports it and advised that the university should teach both religious and other secular subjects” such as accounting, law and engineering, a Thai Foreign Ministry statement said.
Sihasak said Bahrain could also send lecturers for temporary assignment, and Thailand hoped other countries with similar institutions could help too. The university aimed to open in September, if possible, although the Ministry of Interior was still considering where the school would be located, Sihasak added.
Thailand has hundreds of Islamic secondary schools but no Islamic university.
Thousands of Thai Muslims have traveled abroad for study in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, but some of the programs have caught flak. Thailand’s Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanjana warned last month that Thai students could be receiving terror training at Indonesian universities.
Planning for the university had begun well before Thailand’s latest bout of deadly violence in the south that has killed several soldiers, policemen, government officials and workers, local leaders and monks.
The unrest has forced Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to reevaluate the Islamic schools, with a source telling AFP that Thaksin was poised to approve strict new regulations on the institutions.
Thaksin emerged from talks with Muslim leaders yesterday to say he had no plans to shut down the schools, although revamping curricula was a priority.
“It is not about shutting down schools or refusing to open new schools, it’s about bringing them into line by introducing non-secular subjects,” he said.
