Success and challenges in developing a Pattani Malay - Thai Bilingual/Multilingual Education in southernmost provinces of Thailand

Thailand is linguistically and culturally diverse. Apart from Standard Thai, with its status as the nation's official language and its function as a language of wider communication for all ethnic groups, the country boasts more than 70 languages. Patani Malay is spoken by the majority in the 3 southernmost provinces of Thailand: Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat-including 5 districts of Songkla-where there is violence and political unrest. In this incident research is an action research which objectives of the study are to develop curriculum and learning method by using the Patani Malay Mothers Tongue-based bilingual education/Multilingual education (MTB-BE/MLE) in the primary school in four southern border provinces of Thailand and to empower, fostering self- esteem and positive attitudes to schooling among Patani Malay communities. The study found that Patani Malay is the language people use most in their daily lives, have most confidence in using and prefer to use more than any other language (Bahasa Malaysia, Standard Thai, or Southern Thai) and the use of the student's mother tongue in school can improve learning outcomes. Moreover, Patani Malay communities have more positive attitudes to Thai schooling system.