Malay is the mother tongue of Patani people, however, the language tends to be taken over by Thai language once children enroll into the national education system in which all lessons from kindergartens to universities are conducted in Thai. Recommendation: The Thai government should support the use of Malay language in public life of the Malay Muslim youth and to recognize Malay language as a working language, including at government offices in Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat as well as in the four sub-districts of Songkhla province. The same practice should also apply to other languages of minority groups throughout Thailand. Languages will help them preserve their identities and will tremendously empower Malay Muslim youths, because it will provide them with more employment opportunities. On the other hand, Thailand will crucially benefit from the diversified use of different languages and the human capital of empowered youth. Item 3 – Minority youth and the media in the digital age: acceptance and opportunity In Thailand minority youths have access to the social media. Thanks to the government and the private sector in our country for their work on improvement of technology. However, one of the critical problems is the backlash that they receive when they generate discussions relating to politics and human rights violations that they have witnessed in their localities amidst the dynamics of the conflict. Their Facebook posts and photos are repeatedly used for discreditation and accusation, for example, often active youths are accused of being national traitors or separatists when they acknowledge the wrongdoings of the national security forces. Some victims have reported their cases to the police, but no investigation has been seriously conducted, and this might be counted as a form of discrimination. If the State does not try to understand and tolerate diversity of political views and if the state does not try to welcome discussions with minority youths, it would be difficult to mobilize inclusive development of the country. Recommendation: The Thai government should ensure security of young people who would like to take part in discussions through different media platforms and strive to tolerate pluralism in freedom of expressions.

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