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The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 65 Suwilai Premsrirat Figure 6: Chong reading materials 2. Patani Malay-Thai Mother Tongue › Based Bilingual Education Project in Southern Thailand The Patani Malay (PM) language is spoken by more than 1 million Muslim-Thai people in Southern Thailand living along the Thai-Malaysian border. In this area, language identity is an issue. It is believed to be one of the main causes underlying the political unrest and violence. The PM language is not officially accepted or used in education. It is also declining as evidenced in urban areas of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, where a mixed language or creole is being developed, and in Satun, where language death is obvious. Another big problem which is related is chronic under-achievement in schools. Children attend schools where Thai, the official/national language (but a language which is not their mother tongue), is the only Medium of Instruction and the content is not relevant to their local context. Because of this, the Patani Malay children scored the lowest in the national examinations given by the Ministry of Education. That means 35% - 40% of the grade 3 students are still illiterate. 54-75_mac9 5/3/12, 10:42 PM 65