On 2 March 2024 at 5.30PM, the Deep South Museum and Archives Initiative (DSMA) in collaboration with SEA Junction held the opening of the exhibition “Living Memories: 20 Years of Tak Bai”, with a discussion of the book “Tak Bai 2004: Taste of Memories” produced by DSMA. Both the exhibition, displayed at SEA Junction, Room 407-408, 4th Floor BACC from 2 to 10 March, and the book discussion were to commemorate the 20 years of the 2004 incident in Tak Bai, raised awareness of what is considered one of the deadliest incident to occur in the Southern Provinces and in Thailand, and sought justice for the victims.  This was the beginning of a series of events the DSMA holds in 2024, followed by a major exhibition entitled “Indelible 20 Years of Tak Bai” on 4 March – 31 July 2024 at the Princess Sirindhorn Anthropology Center.

The book and the exhibition activities are the result of interviews conducted with the families of the victims of Tak Bai, including those who died, were injured, or went missing, and other individuals that were in some ways involved in the incident. The experiences and recollections they’ve recounted weigh heavily against the silence of the years gone by.

This painful process of bringing silenced memories to light and the reasons why such memories matter to Thai society today was highlighted in the book discussion. The panel which followed by Q & A was moderated by Ekraj Sabur of the International Institute of Peace and Development Studies (IIPDS) and composed as follows:

Nualnoi Thammasatian, independent journalist
Kusra Mukdavijit, book editor of “Tak Bai 2004: Taste of Memories”
Nikarema Hayeeniloh, field researcher, Deep South Museum and Archives’ Initiative
Patporn Phoothong, researcher Deep South Museum and Archives’ Initiative

 

Photo Credit: Lattapol Jirapathomsakul