By Chainarong Monthienvichienchai
THAILAND’s Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday, Sep 18 honored Catholic researcher Dr. Anna Padtheera Narkurairattana with the “Outstanding Democratic Innovation Award.”
The recognition highlights her team’s grassroots peacebuilding project in the country’s violence-torn southern border provinces.
The award was presented to Dr Narkurairattana, known to many as Ajarn Rung, and her team from the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University, west of Bangkok.
Their project, Friends of Different Religions and Sustainable Peacebuilding from Grassroots Communities, has been recognized as a pioneering model of democratic innovation rooted in community participation, interfaith dialogue, and holistic well-being.
Healing fractured ties
For two decades, the Deep South — where Buddhist and Muslim communities once coexisted — has been scarred by armed conflict fueled by historical, ethnic, and economic grievances. The violence has claimed thousands of lives, including religious leaders from both communities.
“The beheading of monks, beginning in 2004 and continuing to the killing of Phra Khru Prachoti Rattanarak in 2019, along with the loss of many Muslim leaders, shattered the bridge that once supported Buddhist-Muslim coexistence,” Padtheera told LiCAS News.
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